Question 1

True or false: Woody Guthrie painted his guitar with the motto 'This machine kills fascists.'

Accepted Answer

True. He famously scrawled that slogan on his acoustic guitar during World War II, using his music as a weapon against tyranny.

Question 2

True or false: Guthrie died from complications of Huntington’s disease, a genetic disorder he inherited from his mother.

Accepted Answer

True. He passed in 1967 after years of neurological decline. His mother Nora had the same disease, then misunderstood.

Question 3

True or false: Guthrie’s son Arlo Guthrie wrote the iconic protest anthem 'Alice's Restaurant.'

Accepted Answer

True. Arlo’s 1967 talking blues song is a satirical anti-draft story, inspired by a real Thanksgiving and arrest.

Question 4

True or false: Woody Guthrie once ran for U.S. President as a candidate for the Socialist Party.

Accepted Answer

False. He never ran for office, though he was a vocal socialist. His son Arlo later ran for mayor but lost.

Question 5

True or false: Woody Guthrie once performed at a White House dinner for President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Accepted Answer

False. Guthrie was never invited to the White House. He performed for migrant workers and union halls, not the elite.

Question 6

True or false: Guthrie’s song 'This Land Is Your Land' was originally a protest against private property and inequality.

Accepted Answer

True. He wrote it in 1940 as a rebuttal to 'God Bless America,' including verses about hunger and 'No Trespassing' signs.

Question 7

True or false: Woody Guthrie wrote the classic children's song 'This Little Light of Mine.'

Accepted Answer

False. That spiritual is traditional, popularized by civil rights activists. Guthrie wrote many kids' songs, but not this one.

Question 8

True or false: Woody Guthrie wrote a song criticizing the Ku Klux Klan called 'The Klan's Got a New Name.'

Accepted Answer

False. He wrote 'The Sinking of the Reuben James' about a naval tragedy, but no known Klan song exists under that title.

Woody Guthrie Trivia Questions