Gene Bluestein–American Studies professor
(May 1, 1928 – August 21, 2002)
Gene Bluestein (Evo’s father) was awarded a BA degree from Brooklyn College and MA and PhD degrees (in American Studies) from the University of Minnesota. His first job was teaching English at Michigan State University. He came to Fresno State University, now CSUF, in 1963. While there, he was awarded many local and national honors, including three teaching Fulbright fellowships (once to Finland and twice to Japan). He also taught in France in 1975, and in China in 1989. At CSUF, he and a colleague were instrumental in establishing a Black Studies program.
American Studies professor Gene Bluestein created a program sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts, which brought nationally-known folk artists to California State University Fresno, among them: Kenny Hall, Bessie Jones, Richard Hagopian, Jean Ritchie, Lydia Mendoza, and Dewey Balfa. The artists taught courses in their specialties and were available to local schools, at no charge. Bluestein has authored numerous scholarly articles and books. He retired from CSUF in 1992 and served as Professor of English Emeritus until his death in August 2002.
The Lomaxes were among the first to emphasize that American folk tradition could not be comprehended without taking into account the tremendously widespread interaction between African sources (which quickly became African-American) and the legacy of Anglo-Celtic culture. Hispanic and Latino sources were also notable in early times in many sections of the country, especially in the Southwest and West. And within the small compass of our national existence, many other ethnic sources were implanted and only waiting for the proper moment to blossom. For those like Whitman who declared even before the major periods of immigration, that the United States was a ‘teeming nation of nations,’ the genius of American culture was not in its purity but in its rapid absorption of its many traditions. –Gene Bluestein, from the book Poplore
Gene performed and recorded with his four children between 1974 and 1986.
Books by Gene Bluestein
The Voice of the Folk (University of Massachusetts Press)
Anglish-Yinglish (University of Nebraska Press)
Poplore (University of Georgia Press)
The Life and Death of a Polish Shtetl (University of Nebraska Press)
