Stories Behind the Songs

Stories Behind the Songs celebrates the transformative power of song. Throughout history, movements for social change have utilized the power of song to recount history and to inspire the people along their journey towards justice. Stories Behind the Songs brought singer/activists into the jail classroom to focus on social movements throughout the last and current century—including the Labor Movement, the Civil Rights Era, and contemporary struggles for racial and economic justice.

both these projects were brought into the jail and schools to each about the important social movements – I don't know how much we need to center it around the actual school projects – or just around the installation and exhibitions that we created.

Stories Behind the Songs: A Celebration of Music and Movement

BOTH projects were part of (community works) Making a Difference to celebrate diversity and promote a strong understanding of community in young people and adults today. Projects have included: The Long Walk to Freedom, honoring local unsung heroes of the civil rights movement, Rosie the Riveter, honoring women in the work place in WWII, If They Came for Me Today, looking at the Japanese American Internment through the eyes of those who were interned and impacted by the internment, The Legacy Continues, a look at youth activists today.

Each of the Making a Difference projects culminates with a professionally designed exhibit that reaches far beyond the initial classroom program. Many have traveled to museums and historical centers throughout California and the country. All end in local exhibits, panel discussions and forums that invite the greater community into dialogue.Stories Behind the Songs celebrates the transformative power of song. Throughout history, movements for social change have utilized the power of song to recount history and to inspire the people along their journey towards justice.

Stories Behind the Songs brought singer/activists into the jail classroom to focus on social movements throughout the last and current century—including the Labor Movement, the Civil Rights Era, and contemporary struggles for racial and economic justice. The visitors performed in the context of a US History class, enriching the curriculum and deepening students’ understanding of California history. The guests’ powerful songs served as a unique vehicle to spark the students’ enthusiasm, awakening their interest in historical topics.

Requiem

REQUIEM: THE REMAINS OF THE DAY, AUGUST 4, 2021, GREENVILLE, CA

I first went to Greenville after the Dixie Fire in November 2021 with the intention of photographing and interviewing people who had been displaced by the catastrophic fire. I drove 20 miles over the mountains on CA 89 from Quincy and down several miles until I came upon the actual site of Greenville and saw the almost unimaginable devastation of the fire. I was mesmerized by the charred and twisted images of the once-thriving community and began to document the impact of the fire on the landscape. The complete absence of the nearly 1000 residents in the midst of what remained of the charred remains of their personal possessions strangely evoked their presence. The result was the exhibit Requiem: The Remains of the Day.

The exhibit is a departure for me — devoid of people or portraits, I hoped that the raw landscapes with only the charred personal remains of its residents would ultimately evoke their presence. While much of my earlier work was about the survival of men and women and youth impacted by a criminal justice system that is skewed against the poor and marginalized, Requiem: The Remains of the Day is about the devastation and near obliteration of the small Sierra town caused in large part by manmade climate change and industrial greed. But, as is always the case, the impact of such disasters falls hardest on lower-income populations. Greenville was no exception; a town of 1000 lower working-class residents displaced, most never to return.

On August 4, 2021, at approximately 7:30 PM the Dixie Fire roared through the small town of Greenville, CA. Cresting the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range, the fire obliterated the gold rush era town, where many wooden buildings had stood for over a century. A gas station, church, hotel, museum, and bar were among the structures gutted, along with nearly 100 family homes, schools, and commercial businesses.

In less than 45 minutes much of the town of Greenville was essentially wiped off the map, reducing peoples’ lives to blistered, burned-out metal. Officially caused by a Pacific Gas and Electric Company equipment failure, the fire was fueled by climate change. Rising greenhouse gas emissions, increased temperatures, and drought, along with overgrown forests caused by decades of fire suppression and the rapid population growth at the edges of forests predisposed the land to devastating fire. According to the First Street Foundation, one in six Americans live in areas with significant wildfire risk; minority communities face the greatest risk. Human-caused global warming, while not the only factor, has created “the most significant economic climate risk across the country.”

As a young girl in the late 1950s, I heard my parents and older siblings whispering about the fear of nuclear war with Cuba. Fast forward decades, today the conversation is less about imminent nuclear war on our soil or at least more about the existential global threat of manmade climate change.

I hope that Requiem: Remains of the Day will serve as a warning and a challenge that tells the story of a nearly “invisible” villain — the catastrophic impact of climate change on the small Sierra town of Greenville. It is a call for action. This villain poses an alarming threat not just to this small Sierra town but to all our towns — to our planet.

— Ruth Morgan

The photographs in this series are printed at 40 x 60 inches with the exception of the overview image from the hill, which is 56 x 84 inches. A selection of images from the series is available below. More images are available by request.

Click here for exhibition details, installation views, a video, and the curator’s statement. View the digital exhibition catalogue here.