Studs Terkel (Life and Work)

Louis 'Studs' Terkel was born in New York City in 1912, raised in Chicago, and spent six decades as a radio broadcaster, author, and oral historian. His mother ran a rooming house; Terkel absorbed from childhood the practice of listening to strangers' stories. After law school and a brief acting career, he found his métier in radio—hosting The Studs Terkel Program on WFMT Chicago for forty-five years (1952–1997). His landmark oral histories—Division Street: America (1967), Hard Times (1970), Working (1974), The Good War (1984)—recorded testimony from hundreds of ordinary Americans, revealing work as the site where identity is constructed, dignity is sought, and meaning is negotiated. Working became his most influential book, establishing the 'mark' concept and documenting the severance between workers and the products of their labor. He received the Pulitzer Prize (1985), the National Humanities Medal (1997), and remained a public voice for the uncelebrated until his death at ninety-six.