Peter Seeger
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Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American folk singer and social activist. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, Seeger also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of the Weavers, notably their recording of
Lead Belly Huddie William Ledbetter (; January 20, 1888 – December 6, 1949), better known by the stage name Lead Belly, was an American folk music, folk and blues singer notable for his strong vocals, Virtuoso, virtuosity on the twelve-string guita ...
's " Goodnight, Irene", which topped the charts for 13 weeks in 1950. Members of the Weavers were blacklisted during the McCarthy Era. In the 1960s, Seeger re-emerged on the public scene as a prominent singer of
protest music A protest song is a song that is associated with a movement for social change and hence part of the broader category of ''topical'' songs (or songs connected to current events). It may be folk, classical, or commercial in genre. Among social mov ...
in support of international disarmament,
civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...
,
counterculture A counterculture is a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.Eric Donald Hirsch. ''The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy''. Hou ...
,
workers' rights Labor rights or workers' rights are both legal rights and human rights relating to labor relations between workers and employers. These rights are codified in national and international labor and employment law. In general, these rights influen ...
, and environmental causes. A prolific songwriter, his best-known songs include " Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" (with additional lyrics by
Joe Hickerson Joseph C. Hickerson (born October 20, 1935, in Highland Park, Illinois) is a folk singer and songleader. A graduate of Oberlin College, for 35 years (1963–1998) he was Librarian and Director of the Archive of Folk Song at the American Folklife ...
), "
If I Had a Hammer "If I Had a Hammer (The Hammer Song)" is a protest song written by Pete Seeger and Lee Hays. It was written in 1949 in support of the Progressive movement, and was first recorded by the Weavers, a folk music quartet composed of Seeger, Hays, ...
(The Hammer Song)" (with
Lee Hays Lee Elhardt Hays (March 14, 1914 – August 26, 1981) was an American folksinger and songwriter, best known for singing bass with the Weavers. Throughout his life, he was concerned with overcoming racism, inequality, and violence in soci ...
of the Weavers), "
Kisses Sweeter Than Wine "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine" is a popular song, with lyrics written and music adapted in 1950 by Pete Seeger and Lee Hays of The Weavers, and recorded by Jimmie Rodgers. The tune was adapted from Lead Belly's "If It Wasn't for Dicky" (1937), w ...
" (also with Hays), and " Turn! Turn! Turn!", which have been recorded by many artists both in and outside the folk revival movement. "Flowers" was a hit recording for the Kingston Trio (1962);
Marlene Dietrich Marie Magdalene "Marlene" DietrichBorn as Maria Magdalena, not Marie Magdalene, according to Dietrich's biography by her daughter, Maria Riva ; however Dietrich's biography by Charlotte Chandler cites "Marie Magdalene" as her birth name . (, ; ...
, who recorded it in English, German and French (1962); and Johnny Rivers (1965). "If I Had a Hammer" was a hit for Peter, Paul and Mary (1962) and Trini Lopez (1963) while
the Byrds The Byrds () were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1964. The band underwent multiple lineup changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (known as Jim McGuinn until mid-1967) remaining the sole cons ...
had a number one hit with "Turn! Turn! Turn!" in 1965. Seeger was one of the folk singers responsible for popularizing the spiritual " We Shall Overcome" (also recorded by
Joan Baez Joan Chandos Baez (; born January 9, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest and social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing more ...
and many other singer-activists), which became the acknowledged anthem of the
civil rights movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...
, soon after folk singer and activist
Guy Carawan Guy Hughes Carawan Jr. (July 28, 1927 – May 2, 2015) was an American folk music, folk musician and musicology, musicologist. He served as music director and song leader for the Highlander Research and Education Center in New Market, Tenn ...
introduced it at the founding meeting of the
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC, often pronounced ) was the principal channel of student commitment in the United States to the civil rights movement during the 1960s. Emerging in 1960 from the student-led sit-ins at segrega ...
(SNCC) in 1960. In the
PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
'' American Masters'' episode " Pete Seeger: The Power of Song", Seeger said it was he who changed the lyric from the traditional "We will overcome" to the more singable "We shall overcome".


Early years

Seeger was born on May 3, 1919, at the French Hospital, Midtown Manhattan. His family, which Seeger called "enormously Christian, in the
Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Catholic Church, Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become m ...
,
Calvinist Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...
New England tradition", traced its genealogy back over 200 years. A paternal ancestor, Karl Ludwig Seeger, a physician from
Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Würt ...
, Germany, had emigrated to America during the
American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...
and married into the old New England family of Parsons in the 1780s. Seeger's father, the
Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
-trained composer and musicologist Charles Louis Seeger Jr., was born in Mexico City, Mexico, to American parents. Charles established the first musicology curriculum in the United States at the
University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
, in 1913; helped found the American Musicological Society; and was a key founder of the academic discipline of
ethnomusicology Ethnomusicology is the study of music from the cultural and social aspects of the people who make it. It encompasses distinct theoretical and methodical approaches that emphasize cultural, social, material, cognitive, biological, and other dim ...
. Pete's mother, Constance de Clyver Seeger (née Edson), raised in
Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...
and trained at the
Paris Conservatory of Music The Conservatoire de Paris (), also known as the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue ...
, was a concert violinist and later a teacher at the
Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most el ...
.Dunaway (2008), p. 20. In 1912, his father, Charles Seeger, was hired to establish the music department at the University of California, Berkeley, but was forced to resign in 1918 because of his outspoken
pacifism Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaign ...
during
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. Charles and Constance moved back east, making Charles's parents' estate in
Patterson, New York Patterson is a town in Putnam County, New York, United States. The town is in the northeastern part of the county. Interstate 84 passes through the southwestern section of the town. The population was 11,541 at the 2020 census. The town is named ...
, just north of New York City, their base of operations. When baby Pete was eighteen months old, they set out with him and his two older brothers in a homemade trailer to bring musical uplift to the working people in the American South. Upon their return, Constance taught violin and Charles taught composition at the New York
Institute of Musical Art The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most e ...
(later Juilliard), whose president, family friend
Frank Damrosch Frank Heino Damrosch (June 22, 1859 – October 22, 1937) was a German-born American music conductor and educator. In 1905, Damrosch founded the New York Institute of Musical Art, a predecessor of the Juilliard School. Life and career Damrosch w ...
, was Constance's adoptive "uncle." Charles also taught part-time at the
New School for Social Research The New School for Social Research (NSSR) is a graduate-level educational institution that is one of the divisions of The New School in New York City, United States. The university was founded in 1919 as a home for progressive era thinkers. NSSR ...
. Career and money tensions led to quarrels and reconciliations, but when Charles discovered Constance had opened a secret bank account in her own name, they separated, and Charles took custody of their three sons. Beginning in 1936, Charles held various administrative positions in the federal government's Farm Resettlement program, the
WPA WPA may refer to: Computing *Wi-Fi Protected Access, a wireless encryption standard *Windows Product Activation, in Microsoft software licensing * Wireless Public Alerting (Alert Ready), emergency alerts over LTE in Canada * Windows Performance An ...
's Federal Music Project (1938–1940) and the wartime
Pan American Union The Organization of American States (OAS; es, Organización de los Estados Americanos, pt, Organização dos Estados Americanos, french: Organisation des États américains; ''OEA'') is an international organization that was founded on 30 April ...
. After
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, he taught
ethnomusicology Ethnomusicology is the study of music from the cultural and social aspects of the people who make it. It encompasses distinct theoretical and methodical approaches that emphasize cultural, social, material, cognitive, biological, and other dim ...
at the University of California, Berkeley, and
Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...
.Winkler (2009), p. 4. Charles and Constance divorced when Pete was seven and in 1932 Charles married his composition student and assistant,
Ruth Crawford Ruth Crawford Seeger (born Ruth Porter Crawford; July 3, 1901 – November 18, 1953) was an American composer and folk music specialist. Her music was a prominent exponent of the emerging modernist aesthetic and she became a central member of a g ...
, now considered by many to be one of the most important modernist composers of the 20th century. Deeply interested in folk music, Ruth had contributed musical arrangements to
Carl Sandburg Carl August Sandburg (January 6, 1878 – July 22, 1967) was an American poet, biographer, journalist, and editor. He won three Pulitzer Prizes: two for his poetry and one for his biography of Abraham Lincoln. During his lifetime, Sandburg ...
's extremely influential folk song anthology, the ''American Songbag'' (1927), and later created significant original settings for eight of Sandburg's poems. Pete's eldest brother, Charles Seeger III, was a radio astronomer, and his next older brother, John Seeger, taught in the 1950s at the
Dalton School The Dalton School, originally the Children's University School, is a private, coeducational college preparatory school in New York City and a member of both the Ivy Preparatory School League and the New York Interschool. The school is located in ...
in Manhattan and was the principal from 1960 to 1976 at Fieldston Lower School in
the Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
. Pete's uncle, Alan Seeger, a noted American war poet ("I Have a Rendezvous with Death"), had been one of the first American soldiers to be killed in
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. All four of Pete's half-siblings from his father's second marriage—Margaret (Peggy), Mike, Barbara, and Penelope (Penny)—became folk singers. Peggy Seeger, a well-known performer in her own right, married British folk singer and activist
Ewan MacColl James Henry Miller (25 January 1915 – 22 October 1989), better known by his stage name Ewan MacColl, was a folk singer-songwriter, folk song collector, labour activist and actor. Born in England to Scottish parents, he is known as one of the ...
. Mike Seeger was a founder of the
New Lost City Ramblers The New Lost City Ramblers, or NLCR, was an American contemporary old-time string band that formed in New York City in 1958 during the folk revival. Mike Seeger, John Cohen and Tom Paley were its founding members. Tracy Schwarz replaced Paley, w ...
, one of whose members, John Cohen, married Pete's half-sister Penny, also a talented singer, who died young. Barbara Seeger joined her siblings in recording folk songs for children. In 1935, Pete attended
Camp Rising Sun Camp Rising Sun is an international, full-scholarship, leadership summer program for students aged 14–16 by the Louis August Jonas Foundation (LAJF), a non-profit organization. Its seven-week program was operated from a boys' facility in Red ...
, an international leadership camp held every summer in upstate New York, which influenced his life's work. His final visit occurred in 2012.


Career


Early work

At four, Seeger was sent away to boarding school, but came home two years later when his parents learned the school had failed to inform them he had contracted
scarlet fever Scarlet fever, also known as Scarlatina, is an infectious disease caused by ''Streptococcus pyogenes'' a Group A streptococcus (GAS). The infection is a type of Group A streptococcal infection (Group A strep). It most commonly affects childr ...
. He attended first and second grades in Nyack, New York, where his mother lived, before entering boarding school in Ridgefield, Connecticut. Despite being classical musicians, his parents did not press him to play an instrument. On his own, the otherwise bookish and withdrawn boy gravitated to the
ukulele The ukulele ( ; from haw, ukulele , approximately ), also called Uke, is a member of the lute family of instruments of Portuguese origin and popularized in Hawaii. It generally employs four nylon strings. The tone and volume of the instrumen ...
, becoming adept at entertaining his classmates with it while laying the basis for his subsequent remarkable audience rapport. At thirteen, Seeger enrolled in the
Avon Old Farms School , motto_translation = Aspiring and Persevering , address = 500 Old Farms Road , city = Avon , state = Connecticut , zipcode = 06001 , country = United St ...
in Avon, Connecticut, from which he graduated in 1936. He was selected to attend
Camp Rising Sun Camp Rising Sun is an international, full-scholarship, leadership summer program for students aged 14–16 by the Louis August Jonas Foundation (LAJF), a non-profit organization. Its seven-week program was operated from a boys' facility in Red ...
, the
George E. Jonas Foundation George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...
's international summer leadership program. During the summer of 1936, while traveling with his father and stepmother, Pete heard the five-string
banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...
for the first time at the
Mountain Dance and Folk Festival The Mountain Dance and Folk Festival, held annually in Asheville, North Carolina, is the oldest continuously running folk festival in the United States. History Started initially by Bascom Lamar Lunsford as an offshoot of the larger Asheville Rhod ...
in western
North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...
near Asheville, organized by local
folklorist Folklore studies, less often known as folkloristics, and occasionally tradition studies or folk life studies in the United Kingdom, is the branch of anthropology devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currenc ...
, lecturer, and traditional music performer
Bascom Lamar Lunsford Bascom Lamar Lunsford (March 21, 1882 – September 4, 1973) was a folklorist, performer of traditional Appalachian music, and lawyer from western North Carolina. He was often known by the nickname "Minstrel of the Appalachians." Biography ...
, whom Charles Seeger had hired for Farm Resettlement music projects. The festival took place in a covered baseball field. There the Seegers:
watched square-dance teams from Bear Wallow, Happy Hollow, Cane Creek, Spooks Branch, Cheoah Valley, Bull Creek, and
Soco Gap Soco Gap (el. ) is a mountain pass between the Plott Balsam Range, to its south, and the Balsam Mountains, to its north. Also known as Ahalunun'yi (), meaning "Ambush Place" or Uni'halu'na (), meaning "where they ambushed;" named after the occa ...
; heard the five-string banjo player
Samantha Bumgarner "Aunt" Samantha Bumgarner (October 31, 1878 - December 24, 1960) was an American early country and folk music performer and singer from Dillsboro, North Carolina. She won much praise for her work with the fiddle and banjo. In 1924, accompanied b ...
; and family string bands, including a group of Indians from the Cherokee reservation who played string instruments and sang ballads. They wandered among the crowds who camped out at the edge of the field, hearing music being made there as well. As Lunsford's daughter would later recall, those country people "held the riches that Dad had discovered. They could sing, fiddle, pick the banjos, and guitars with traditional grace and style found nowhere else but deep in the mountains. I can still hear those haunting melodies drift over the ball park."Judith Tick, ''Ruth Crawford Seeger'', p. 239.
For the Seegers, experiencing the beauty of this music firsthand was a "conversion experience." Pete was deeply affected and, after learning basic strokes from Lunsford, spent much of the next four years trying to master the five-string banjo. The teenage Seeger also sometimes accompanied his parents to regular Saturday evening gatherings at the
Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...
loft of painter and art teacher Thomas Hart Benton and his wife Rita. Benton, a lover of Americana, played "Cindy" and " Old Joe Clark" with his students
Charlie Charlie may refer to: Characters * "Charlie," the head of the Townsend Agency', from the ''Charlie's Angels'' franchise * Charlie, a character on signs for the CharlieCard, a smart card issued by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority * ...
and
Jackson Pollock Paul Jackson Pollock (; January 28, 1912August 11, 1956) was an American painter and a major figure in the abstract expressionist movement. He was widely noticed for his " drip technique" of pouring or splashing liquid household paint onto a hor ...
; friends from the "hillbilly" recording industry; and
avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...
composers
Carl Ruggles Carl Ruggles (born Charles Sprague Ruggles; March 11, 1876 – October 24, 1971) was an American composer, painter and teacher. His pieces employed " dissonant counterpoint", a term coined by fellow composer and musicologist Charles Seeger to ...
and
Henry Cowell Henry Dixon Cowell (; March 11, 1897 – December 10, 1965) was an American composer, writer, pianist, publisher and teacher. Marchioni, Tonimarie (2012)"Henry Cowell: A Life Stranger Than Fiction" ''The Juilliard Journal''. Retrieved 19 June 202 ...
. It was at one of Benton's parties that Pete heard " John Henry" for the first time. Seeger enrolled at
Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...
on a partial scholarship, but as he became increasingly involved with politics and folk music, his grades suffered and he lost his scholarship. He dropped out of college in 1938. He dreamed of a career in journalism and took courses in art as well. His first musical gig was leading students in folk singing at the
Dalton School The Dalton School, originally the Children's University School, is a private, coeducational college preparatory school in New York City and a member of both the Ivy Preparatory School League and the New York Interschool. The school is located in ...
, where his aunt was principal. He polished his performance skills during a summer stint of touring New York state with the Vagabond Puppeteers (Jerry Oberwager, 22; Mary Wallace, 22; and Harriet Holtzman, 23), a traveling
puppet theater A puppet is an object, often resembling a human, animal or mythical figure, that is animated or manipulated by a person called a puppeteer. The puppeteer uses movements of their hands, arms, or control devices such as rods or strings to mov ...
"inspired by rural education campaigns of post-revolutionary Mexico." One of their shows coincided with a strike by dairy farmers. The group reprised its act in October in New York City. An article in the October 2, 1939, ''
Daily Worker The ''Daily Worker'' was a newspaper published in New York City by the Communist Party USA, a formerly Comintern-affiliated organization. Publication began in 1924. While it generally reflected the prevailing views of the party, attempts were m ...
'' reported on the Puppeteers' six-week tour this way: That fall, Seeger took a job in Washington, D.C., assisting
Alan Lomax Alan Lomax (; January 31, 1915 – July 19, 2002) was an American ethnomusicologist, best known for his numerous field recordings of folk music of the 20th century. He was also a musician himself, as well as a folklorist, archivist, writer, sch ...
, a friend of his father's, at the
Archive of American Folk Song The Archive of Folk Culture (originally named The Archive of American Folk Song) was established in 1928 as the first national collection of American folk music in the United States of America. It was initially part of the Music Division of the Libr ...
of the
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
. Seeger's job was to help Lomax sift through commercial " race" and "
hillbilly Hillbilly is a term (often derogatory) for people who dwell in rural, mountainous areas in the United States, primarily in southern Appalachia and the Ozarks. The term was later used to refer to people from other rural and mountainous areas west ...
" music and select recordings that best represented American folk music, a project funded by the music division of the Pan American Union (later the
Organization of American States The Organization of American States (OAS; es, Organización de los Estados Americanos, pt, Organização dos Estados Americanos, french: Organisation des États américains; ''OEA'') is an international organization that was founded on 30 April ...
), of whose music division his father, Charles Seeger, was head (1938–53). Lomax also encouraged Seeger's folk-singing vocation, and Seeger was soon appearing as a regular performer on Alan Lomax and
Nicholas Ray Nicholas Ray (born Raymond Nicholas Kienzle Jr., August 7, 1911 – June 16, 1979) was an American film director, screenwriter, and actor best known for the 1955 film ''Rebel Without a Cause.'' He is appreciated for many narrative features pr ...
's weekly Columbia Broadcasting show ''Back Where I Come From'' (1940–41) alongside Josh White, Burl Ives,
Lead Belly Huddie William Ledbetter (; January 20, 1888 – December 6, 1949), better known by the stage name Lead Belly, was an American folk music, folk and blues singer notable for his strong vocals, Virtuoso, virtuosity on the twelve-string guita ...
, and
Woody Guthrie Woodrow Wilson Guthrie (; July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American singer-songwriter, one of the most significant figures in American folk music. His work focused on themes of American socialism and anti-fascism. He has inspired ...
(whom he had first met at
Will Geer Will Geer (born William Aughe Ghere; March 9, 1902 – April 22, 1978) was an American actor, musician, and social activist, who was active in labor organizing and other movements in New York and Southern California in the 1930s and 1940s. In Ca ...
's Grapes of Wrath benefit concert for migrant workers on March 3, 1940). ''Back Where I Come From'' was unique in having a
racially integrated Racial integration, or simply integration, includes desegregation (the process of ending systematic racial segregation). In addition to desegregation, integration includes goals such as leveling barriers to association, creating equal opportunity ...
cast. The show was a success, but was not picked up by commercial sponsors for nationwide broadcasting because of its integrated cast. During the war, Seeger also performed on nationwide radio broadcasts by Norman Corwin. From 1942 to 1945, Seeger served in the
Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
, as an Entertainment Specialist. In 1949, Seeger worked as the vocal instructor for the progressive
City and Country School The City and Country School is a progressive independent pre-school and elementary school for children aged 2–14 that is located in the Greenwich Village section of New York City. Founding City and Country School was founded by Caroline Pra ...
in
Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...
, New York.


Early activism

In 1936, at the age of 17, Pete Seeger joined the Young Communist League (YCL), then at the height of its influence. In 1942, he became a member of the
Communist Party USA The Communist Party USA, officially the Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA), is a communist party in the United States which was established in 1919 after a split in the Socialist Party of America following the Russian Revo ...
(CPUSA) itself, but he left in 1949. In the spring of 1941, the twenty-one-year-old Seeger performed as a member of the
Almanac Singers The Almanac Singers was an American New York City-based folk music group, active between 1940 and 1943, founded by Millard Lampell, Lee Hays, Pete Seeger, and Woody Guthrie. The group specialized in topical songs, mostly songs advocating an anti- ...
along with Millard Lampell, Cisco Houston,
Woody Guthrie Woodrow Wilson Guthrie (; July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American singer-songwriter, one of the most significant figures in American folk music. His work focused on themes of American socialism and anti-fascism. He has inspired ...
, Butch Hawes and Bess Lomax Hawes, and Lee Hays. Seeger and the Almanacs cut several albums of
78s A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), or simply a record, is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts near ...
on
Keynote A keynote in public speaking is a talk that establishes a main underlying theme. In corporate or commercial settings, greater importance is attached to the delivery of a keynote speech or keynote address. The keynote establishes the framework fo ...
and other labels: ''
Songs for John Doe ''Songs for John Doe'' is the 1941 debut album and first released product of the Almanac Singers, an influential early folk music group. The album was released in May 1941, at a time when World War II was raging but the United States remained neu ...
'' (recorded in late February or March and released in May 1941), ''
Talking Union "Talking Union" is a talking blues song written by members of the Almanac Singers. The song tells of the common struggles that a union organizer faces while starting a new labor union. The song helped name the record album ''Talking Union & Other ...
'', and an album each of sea shanties and pioneer songs. Written by Millard Lampell, ''
Songs for John Doe ''Songs for John Doe'' is the 1941 debut album and first released product of the Almanac Singers, an influential early folk music group. The album was released in May 1941, at a time when World War II was raging but the United States remained neu ...
'' was performed by Lampell, Seeger, and Hays, joined by Josh White and Sam Gary. It contained lines, such as "It wouldn't be much thrill to die for Du Pont in Brazil," that were sharply critical of Roosevelt's unprecedented peacetime draft (enacted in September 1940). This anti-war/anti-draft tone reflected the Communist Party line after the 1939
Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact , long_name = Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , image = Bundesarchiv Bild 183-H27337, Moskau, Stalin und Ribbentrop im Kreml.jpg , image_width = 200 , caption = Stalin and Ribbentrop shaking ...
, which maintained that the war was "phony" and a mere pretext for big American corporations to get Hitler to attack Soviet Russia. Seeger has said he believed this line of argument at the time, as did many fellow members of the Young Communist League (YCL). Though nominally members of the Popular Front, which was allied with Roosevelt and more moderate liberals, the YCL's members still smarted from Roosevelt and
Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from 1 ...
's
arms embargo An arms embargo is a restriction or a set of sanctions that applies either solely to weaponry or also to "dual-use technology." An arms embargo may serve one or more purposes: * to signal disapproval of the behavior of a certain actor * to maintain ...
on Loyalist Spain (which Roosevelt later called a mistake), and the alliance frayed in the confusing welter of events. A June 16, 1941, review in ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'' magazine, which, under its owner,
Henry Luce Henry Robinson Luce (April 3, 1898 – February 28, 1967) was an American magazine magnate who founded ''Time'', ''Life'', ''Fortune'', and ''Sports Illustrated'' magazine. He has been called "the most influential private citizen in the America ...
, had become very interventionist, denounced the Almanacs' ''John Doe'', accusing it of scrupulously echoing what it called "the mendacious Moscow tune" that "Franklin Roosevelt is leading an unwilling people into a J.P. Morgan war." Eleanor Roosevelt, a fan of folk music, reportedly found the album "in bad taste," though President Roosevelt, when the album was shown to him, merely observed, correctly, as it turned out, that few people would ever hear it. More alarmist was the reaction of eminent German-born Harvard Professor of Government Carl Joachim Friedrich, an adviser on domestic propaganda to the United States military. In a review in the June 1941 ''
Atlantic Monthly ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...
'', entitled "The Poison in Our System," he pronounced ''Songs for John Doe'' "strictly subversive and illegal," "whether Communist or Nazi financed," and "a matter for the attorney general," observing further that "mere" legal "suppression" would not be sufficient to counteract this type of populist poison, the poison being folk music and the ease with which it could be spread. While the U.S. had not officially declared war on the Axis powers in the summer of 1941, the country was energetically producing arms and ammunition for its allies overseas. Despite the boom in manufacturing this concerted rearming effort brought, African Americans were barred from working in defense plants. Racial tensions rose as Black labor leaders (such as
A. Philip Randolph Asa Philip Randolph (April 15, 1889 – May 16, 1979) was an American labor unionist and civil rights activist. In 1925, he organized and led the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first successful African-American led labor union. In ...
and Bayard Rustin) and their white allies began organizing protests and marches. To combat this social unrest, President Roosevelt issued
Executive Order 8802 Executive Order 8802 was signed by President of the United States, President Franklin D. Roosevelt on June 25, 1941, to prohibit ethnic or racial discrimination in the nation's defense industry. It also set up the Fair Employment Practice Committ ...
(the Fair Employment Act) on 25 June 1941. The order came three days after Hitler broke the non-aggression pact and invaded the Soviet Union, at which time the Communist Party quickly directed its members to get behind the draft and forbade participation in strikes for the duration of the war—angering some leftists. Copies of ''Songs for John Doe'' were removed from sale, and the remaining inventory destroyed, though a few copies may exist in the hands of private collectors. The Almanac Singers' ''Talking Union'' album, on the other hand, was reissued as an LP by Folkways (FH 5285A) in 1955 and is still available. The following year, the Almanacs issued '' Dear Mr. President'', an album in support of Roosevelt and the war effort. The title song, "Dear Mr. President", was a solo by Pete Seeger, and its lines expressed his lifelong credo: Seeger's critics, however, continued to bring up the Almanacs' repudiated ''Songs for John Doe''. In 1942, a year after the ''John Doe'' album's brief appearance (and disappearance), the FBI decided that the now-pro-war Almanacs were still endangering the war effort by subverting recruitment. According to the New York ''World Telegram'' (February 14, 1942), Carl Friedrich's 1941 article "The Poison in Our System" was printed up as a pamphlet and distributed by the Council for Democracy (an organization that Friedrich and
Henry Luce Henry Robinson Luce (April 3, 1898 – February 28, 1967) was an American magazine magnate who founded ''Time'', ''Life'', ''Fortune'', and ''Sports Illustrated'' magazine. He has been called "the most influential private citizen in the America ...
's right-hand man,
C. D. Jackson General Charles Douglas (C. D.) Jackson (March 16, 1902 – September 18, 1964) was a United States government propagandist and senior executive of Time Inc. As an expert on psychological warfare he served in the Office of Strategic Services in W ...
, Vice President of ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'' magazine, had founded "to combat all the Nazi, fascist, communist, pacifist" antiwar groups in the United States). Seeger served in the U.S. Army in the Pacific. Billboard Magazine – Article on Pete Seegar 12/19/2015, https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/military-fbi-woody-guthrie-pete-seeger-wartime-world-war-two-6813894/ He was trained as an airplane mechanic, but was reassigned to entertain the American troops with music. Later, when people asked him what he did in the war, he always answered: "I strummed my banjo." After returning from service, Seeger and others established People's Songs, conceived as a nationwide organization with branches on both coasts and designed to "create, promote and distribute songs of labor and the American People." With Pete Seeger as its director, People's Songs worked for the 1948 presidential campaign of Roosevelt's former Secretary of Agriculture and Vice President,
Henry A. Wallace Henry Agard Wallace (October 7, 1888 – November 18, 1965) was an American politician, journalist, farmer, and businessman who served as the 33rd vice president of the United States, the 11th U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, and the 10th U.S. S ...
, who ran as a third-party candidate on the Progressive Party ticket. Despite having attracted enormous crowds nationwide, however, Wallace won only in New York City, and following the election, he was excoriated for accepting the help in his campaign of Communists and fellow travelers, such as Seeger and singer Paul Robeson.


Spanish Civil War songs

Seeger had been a fervent supporter of the Republican forces in the
Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...
. In 1943, with Tom Glazer and Bess and Baldwin Hawes, he recorded an album of 78s called ''
Songs of the Lincoln Battalion ''Songs of the Lincoln Brigade'' is a 1940 album by several members of the Almanac Singers: Baldwin 'Butch' Hawes, Bess Lomax Hawes and Pete Seeger, along with Tom Glazer Thomas Zachariah Glazer (September 2, 1914 – February 21, 2003) ...
'' on Moe Asch's Stinson label. This included such songs as "
There's a Valley in Spain Called Jarama "Jarama Valley" also known as "El Valle del Jarama" is a song from the Second Spanish Republic. Referring to the Spanish Civil War Battle of Jarama, the song uses the tune of Red River Valley. The battle was fought from 6–27 February 1937, in t ...
" and " Viva la Quince Brigada". In 1960, this collection was re-issued by Moe Asch as one side of a Folkways LP called ''Songs of the Lincoln and International Brigades''. On the other side was a reissue of the legendary ''Six Songs for Democracy'' (originally recorded in Barcelona in 1938 while bombs were falling), performed by Ernst Busch and a chorus of members of the
Thälmann Battalion The Thälmann Battalion was a battalion of the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War. It was named after the imprisoned German communist leader Ernst Thälmann (born 16 April 1886, executed 18 August 1944) and included approximately 1,50 ...
, made up of volunteers from Germany. The songs were "Moorsoldaten" ( "Peat Bog Soldiers", composed by political prisoners of German concentration camps); " Die Thaelmann-Kolonne", "Hans Beimler", "Das Lied Von Der Einheitsfront" ("Song of the United Front" by Hanns Eisler and
Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a pl ...
), "Der Internationalen Brigaden" ("Song of the International Brigades"), and "Los cuatro generales" ("The Four Generals", known in English as "The Four Insurgent Generals").


Group recordings

As a self-described "split tenor" (between a tenor and a countertenor), Pete Seeger was a founding member of two highly influential folk groups: the
Almanac Singers The Almanac Singers was an American New York City-based folk music group, active between 1940 and 1943, founded by Millard Lampell, Lee Hays, Pete Seeger, and Woody Guthrie. The group specialized in topical songs, mostly songs advocating an anti- ...
and the Weavers. The Almanac Singers, which Seeger co-founded in 1941 with
Millard Lampell Millard Lampell (born Milton Lampell, January 23, 1919 – October 3, 1997) was an American movie and television screenwriter who first became publicly known as a member of the Almanac Singers in the 1940s. Early life and career Lampell was bor ...
and Arkansas singer and activist
Lee Hays Lee Elhardt Hays (March 14, 1914 – August 26, 1981) was an American folksinger and songwriter, best known for singing bass with the Weavers. Throughout his life, he was concerned with overcoming racism, inequality, and violence in soci ...
, was a topical group, designed to function as a singing newspaper promoting the industrial unionization movement, racial and religious inclusion, and other progressive causes. Its personnel included, at various times: Woody Guthrie, Bess Lomax Hawes,
Sis Cunningham Agnes "Sis" Cunningham (February 19, 1909 – June 27, 2004) was an American musician, best known for her involvement as a performer and publicist of folk music and protest songs. She was the founding editor of ''Broadside'' magazine, which she p ...
, Josh White, and
Sam Gary Sam Gary (February 19, 1917 – July 20, 1986) was an American blues and folk singer known for his collaboration with Josh White. Born in Florida, Gary in the 1940s was a member of Josh White and His Carolinians and the Almanac Singers. In ...
. As a controversial Almanac singer, the 21-year-old Seeger performed under the stage name "Pete Bowers" to avoid compromising his father's government career. In 1950, the Almanacs were reconstituted as the Weavers, named after the title of an 1892 play by Gerhart Hauptmann, about a workers' strike (which contained the lines "We'll stand it no more, come what may!"). They did benefits for strikers, at which they sang songs such as "Talking Union", about the struggles for unionisation of industrial workers such as miners and automobile workers. Besides Pete Seeger (performing under his own name), members of the Weavers included charter Almanac member Lee Hays, Ronnie Gilbert, and Fred Hellerman; later Frank Hamilton, Erik Darling, and Bernie Krause serially took Seeger's place. In the atmosphere of the 1950s red scare, the Weavers' repertoire had to be less overtly topical than that of the Almanacs had been, and its progressive message was couched in indirect language—arguably rendering it even more powerful. The Weavers on occasion performed in tuxedos (unlike the Almanacs, who had dressed informally) and their managers refused to let them perform at political venues. The Weavers' string of major
hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from ''Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization in ...
s began with " On Top of Old Smoky" and an arrangement of
Lead Belly Huddie William Ledbetter (; January 20, 1888 – December 6, 1949), better known by the stage name Lead Belly, was an American folk music, folk and blues singer notable for his strong vocals, Virtuoso, virtuosity on the twelve-string guita ...
's signature waltz, " Goodnight, Irene", which topped the charts for 13 weeks in 1950 and was covered by many other pop singers. On the flip side of "Irene" was the Israeli song "
Tzena, Tzena, Tzena "Tzena, Tzena, Tzena" (), sometimes "Tzena, Tzena", is a song, written in 1941 in Hebrew. Its music is by Issachar Miron (a.k.a. Stefan Michrovsky), a Polish emigrant in what was then the British Mandate of Palestine (now Israel), and the lyrics a ...
". Other Weavers hits included "Dusty Old Dust" ("So Long It's Been Good to Know You" by Woody Guthrie), "
Kisses Sweeter Than Wine "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine" is a popular song, with lyrics written and music adapted in 1950 by Pete Seeger and Lee Hays of The Weavers, and recorded by Jimmie Rodgers. The tune was adapted from Lead Belly's "If It Wasn't for Dicky" (1937), w ...
" (by Hays, Seeger, and Lead Belly), and the Zulu song by Solomon Linda, "
Wimoweh "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" is a song originally written and recorded by Solomon Linda under the title "Mbube" for the South African Gallo Record Company in 1939. Linda's original was written in isiZulu, while the English version's lyrics were wri ...
" (about Shaka), among others. The Weavers' performing career was abruptly derailed in 1953, at the peak of their popularity, when blacklisting prompted radio stations to refuse to play their records and all their bookings were canceled. They briefly returned to the stage, however, at a sold-out reunion at Carnegie Hall in 1955 and in a subsequent reunion tour, which produced a hit version of
Merle Travis Merle Robert Travis (November 29, 1917 – October 20, 1983) was an American country and western singer, songwriter, and guitarist born in Rosewood, Kentucky, United States. His songs' lyrics often discussed both the lives and the economic expl ...
's " Sixteen Tons", as well as LPs of their concert performances. "
Kumbaya "''Kum ba yah''" ("''Come by here''") is an African American spiritual song of disputed origin, but known to be sung in the Gullah culture of the islands off South Carolina and Georgia, with ties to enslaved West Africans. The song is thought ...
", a Gullah black spiritual dating from slavery days, was also introduced to wide audiences by Pete Seeger and the Weavers (in 1959), becoming a staple of Boy and Girl Scout campfires. In the late 1950s, the Kingston Trio was formed in direct imitation of (and homage to) the Weavers, covering much of the latter's repertoire, though with a more buttoned-down, uncontroversial, and mainstream collegiate persona. The Kingston Trio produced another phenomenal succession of ''Billboard'' chart hits and, in its turn, spawned a legion of imitators, laying the groundwork for the 1960s commercial folk revival. In the documentary film '' Pete Seeger: The Power of Song'' (2007), Seeger states that he resigned from the Weavers when the three other band members agreed to perform a jingle for a cigarette commercial.


Banjo and 12-string guitar

In 1948, Seeger wrote the first version of his now-classic ''How to Play the Five-String Banjo'', a book that many
banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...
players credit with starting them off on the instrument. He went on to invent the ''long-neck'' or ''Seeger'' banjo. This instrument is three frets longer than a typical banjo, is slightly longer than a bass guitar at 25 frets, and is tuned a minor third lower than the normal 5-string banjo. Hitherto strictly limited to the Appalachian region, the five-string banjo became known nationwide as the American folk instrument par excellence, largely thanks to Seeger's championing of and improvements to it. According to an unnamed musician quoted in
David King Dunaway David King Dunaway is an American historian. He is a professor of English at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, New Mexico; he was previously on the faculty of San Francisco State University in San Francisco. He was also the first cons ...
's biography, "by nesting a resonant chord between two precise notes, a melody note and a chiming note on the fifth string," Pete Seeger "gentrified" the more percussive traditional
Appalachia Appalachia () is a cultural region in the Eastern United States that stretches from the Southern Tier of New York State to northern Alabama and Georgia. While the Appalachian Mountains stretch from Belle Isle in Newfoundland and Labrador, Ca ...
n "frailing" style, "with its vigorous hammering of the forearm and its percussive rapping of the fingernail on the banjo head." Although what Dunaway's informant describes is the age-old droned frailing style, the implication is that Seeger made this more acceptable to mass audiences by omitting some of its percussive complexities, while presumably still preserving the characteristic driving rhythmic quality associated with the style. From the late 1950s on, Seeger also accompanied himself on the
12-string guitar A twelve-string guitar (or 12-string guitar) is a steel-string guitar with 12 strings in six courses, which produces a thicker, more ringing tone than a standard six-string guitar. Typically, the strings of the lower four courses are tuned in o ...
, an instrument of Mexican origin that had been associated with
Lead Belly Huddie William Ledbetter (; January 20, 1888 – December 6, 1949), better known by the stage name Lead Belly, was an American folk music, folk and blues singer notable for his strong vocals, Virtuoso, virtuosity on the twelve-string guita ...
, who had styled himself "the King of the 12-String Guitar." Seeger's distinctive custom-made guitars had a triangular soundhole. He combined the long scale length (approximately 28") and capo-to-key techniques that he favored on the banjo with a variant of drop-D (DADGBE) tuning, tuned two whole steps down with very heavy strings, which he played with thumb and finger picks.


Introduction of the "Steel Pan" to U.S. audiences

In 1956, then "Peter" Seeger (see film credits) and his wife, Toshi, traveled to Port of Spain,
Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...
, to seek out information on the steelpan, steel drum, or "ping-pong" as it was sometimes called. The two searched out a local panyard director, Isaiah, and proceeded to film the construction, tuning and playing of the then-new national instrument of Trinidad and Tobago. He was attempting to include the unique flavor of the steelpan in American folk music.


McCarthy era

In the 1950s, and indeed consistently throughout his life, Seeger continued his support of civil and labor rights, racial equality, international understanding, and anti-militarism (all of which had characterized the Wallace campaign), and he continued to believe that songs could help people achieve these goals. However, with the ever-growing revelations of
Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...
's atrocities and the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, he became increasingly disillusioned with Soviet Communism. He left the CPUSA in 1949, but remained friends with some who did not leave it, although he argued with them about it."Pete Seeger: The Power of Song"
– PBS American Masters, February 27, 2008
On August 18, 1955, Seeger was subpoenaed to testify before the
House Un-American Activities Committee The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly dubbed the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloy ...
(HUAC). Alone among the many witnesses after the 1950 conviction and imprisonment of the Hollywood Ten for contempt of Congress, Seeger refused to plead the Fifth Amendment (which would have asserted that his testimony might be self-incriminating) and instead, as the Hollywood Ten had done, refused to name personal and political associations on the grounds that this would violate his
First Amendment First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...
rights: "I am not going to answer any questions as to my association, my philosophical or religious beliefs or my political beliefs, or how I voted in any election, or any of these private affairs. I think these are very improper questions for any American to be asked, especially under such compulsion as this." Seeger's refusal to answer questions that he believed violated his fundamental constitutional rights led to a March 26, 1957, indictment for
contempt of Congress Contempt of Congress is the act of obstructing the work of the United States Congress or one of its committees. Historically, the bribery of a U.S. senator or U.S. representative was considered contempt of Congress. In modern times, contempt of Co ...
; for some years, he had to keep the federal government apprised of where he was going any time he left the Southern District of New York. He was convicted in a jury trial of contempt of Congress in March 1961, and sentenced to ten one-year terms in jail (to be served simultaneously), but in May 1962, an appeals court ruled the indictment to be flawed and overturned his conviction. In 1960, the
San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
school board told him that he could not play a scheduled concert at a high school unless he signed an oath pledging that the concert would not be used to promote a communist agenda or an overthrow of the government. Seeger refused, and the
American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...
obtained an
injunction An injunction is a legal and equitable remedy in the form of a special court order that compels a party to do or refrain from specific acts. ("The court of appeals ... has exclusive jurisdiction to enjoin, set aside, suspend (in whole or in pa ...
against the school district, allowing the concert to go on as scheduled. Almost 50 years later, in February 2009, the San Diego School District officially extended an apology to Seeger for the actions of its predecessors.


Folk music revival

To earn money during the blacklist period of the late 1950s and early 1960s, Seeger worked gigs as a music teacher in schools and summer camps, and traveled the college campus circuit. He also recorded as many as five albums a year for Moe Asch's
Folkways Records Folkways Records was a record label founded by Moses Asch that documented folk, world, and children's music. It was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution in 1987 and is now part of Smithsonian Folkways. History The Folkways Records & Service ...
label. As the nuclear disarmament movement picked up steam in the late 1950s and early 1960s, Seeger's anti-war songs, such as " Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" (co-written with
Joe Hickerson Joseph C. Hickerson (born October 20, 1935, in Highland Park, Illinois) is a folk singer and songleader. A graduate of Oberlin College, for 35 years (1963–1998) he was Librarian and Director of the Archive of Folk Song at the American Folklife ...
), " Turn! Turn! Turn!" adapted from the
Book of Ecclesiastes Ecclesiastes (; hbo, קֹהֶלֶת, Qōheleṯ, grc, Ἐκκλησιαστής, Ekklēsiastēs) is one of the Ketuvim ("Writings") of the Hebrew Bible and part of the Wisdom literature of the Christian Old Testament. The title commonly use ...
, and " The Bells of Rhymney" by the Welsh poet Idris Davies (1957), gained wide currency. Seeger was the first person to make a studio recording of "
Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream "Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream" (also known as "The Strangest Dream") is a song written by American folk singer-songwriter Ed McCurdy in 1950. Due to McCurdy's connection with fellow musicians, it was common in repertoires within the fol ...
" in 1956. Seeger also was closely associated with the
Civil Rights Movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...
and in 1963 helped organize a landmark
Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...
concert, featuring the youthful Freedom Singers, as a benefit for the
Highlander Folk School The Highlander Research and Education Center, formerly known as the Highlander Folk School, is a social justice leadership training school and cultural center in New Market, Tennessee. Founded in 1932 by activist Myles Horton, educator Don West (e ...
in Tennessee. This event, and Martin Luther King Jr.'s
March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, also known as simply the March on Washington or The Great March on Washington, was held in Washington, D.C., on August 28, 1963. The purpose of the march was to advocate for the civil and economic righ ...
in August of that same year, brought the civil rights anthem " We Shall Overcome" to wide audiences. He sang it on the 50-mile walk from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, along with 1,000 other marchers. By this time, Seeger was a senior figure in the 1960s folk revival centered in
Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...
, as a longtime columnist in '' Sing Out!'', the successor to the People's Songs ''Bulletin'', and as a founder of the topical ''Broadside'' magazine. To describe the new crop of politically committed folk singers, he coined the phrase "Woody's children," alluding to his associate and traveling companion, Woody Guthrie, who by this time had become a legendary figure. This urban folk-revival movement, a continuation of the activist tradition of the 1930s and 1940s and of People's Songs, used adaptations of traditional tunes and lyrics to effect social change, a practice that goes back to the
Industrial Workers of the World The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), members of which are commonly termed "Wobblies", is an international labor union that was founded in Chicago in 1905. The origin of the nickname "Wobblies" is uncertain. IWW ideology combines genera ...
or Wobblies' ''Little Red Song Book'', compiled by Swedish-born union organizer Joe Hill (1879–1915). (The ''Little Red Song Book'' had been a favorite of Woody Guthrie, who was known to carry it around.) Seeger toured Australia in 1963. His single "
Little Boxes "Little Boxes" is a song written and composed by Malvina Reynolds in 1962, which became a hit for her friend Pete Seeger in 1963, when he released his cover version. The song is a social satire about the development of suburbia, and associat ...
", written by Malvina Reynolds, was number one in the nation's Top 40. That tour sparked a folk boom throughout the country at a time when popular music tastes, post– Kennedy assassination, competed between folk, the surfing craze, and the British rock boom that gave the world
the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
and
The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...
, among others. Folk clubs sprang up all over the nation; folk performers were accepted in established venues; Australian performers singing Australian folk songs—many of their own composing—emerged in concerts and festivals, on television, and on recordings; and overseas performers were encouraged to tour Australia. The long television blacklist of Seeger began to end in the mid-1960s when he hosted a regionally broadcast educational folk-music television show, ''
Rainbow Quest ''Rainbow Quest'' (1965–66) was a U.S. television series devoted to folk music and hosted by Pete Seeger. It was videotaped in black-and-white and featured musicians playing in traditional American music genres such as traditional folk music, ...
''. Among his guests were
Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his ca ...
, June Carter,
Reverend Gary Davis Reverend Gary Davis, also Blind Gary Davis (born Gary D. Davis, April 30, 1896 – May 5, 1972), was a blues and gospel singer who was also proficient on the banjo, guitar and harmonica. Born in Laurens, South Carolina and blind since infancy ...
, Mississippi John Hurt, Doc Watson,
the Stanley Brothers The Stanley Brothers were an American bluegrass duo of singer-songwriters and musicians, made up of brothers Carter Stanley (August 27, 1925 – December 1, 1966) and Ralph Stanley (February 25, 1927 – June 23, 2016). Ralph and Carter perform ...
,
Elizabeth Cotten Elizabeth "Libba" Cotten ( Nevills; January 5, 1893 – June 29, 1987) was an American folk and blues musician. She was a self-taught left-handed guitarist who played a guitar strung for a right-handed player, but played it upside down. This po ...
,
Patrick Sky Patrick Sky (born Patrick Linch; October 2, 1940May 26, 2021) was an American musician, folk singer, songwriter, and record producer. He was noted for his album ''Songs That Made America Famous'' (1973). He was of Irish and Native American anc ...
,
Buffy Sainte-Marie Buffy Sainte-Marie, (born Beverly Sainte-Marie, February 20, 1941) is an Indigenous Canadian-American (Piapot Cree Nation) singer-songwriter, musician, composer, visual artist, educator, pacifist, and social activist. While working in these are ...
,
Tom Paxton Thomas Richard Paxton (born October 31, 1937) is an American folk singer-songwriter who has had a music career spanning more than fifty years. In 2009, Paxton received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
,
Judy Collins Judith Marjorie Collins (born May 1, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter and musician with a career spanning seven decades. An Academy Award-nominated documentary director and a Grammy Award-winning recording artist, she is known for her ec ...
, Hedy West,
Donovan Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946), known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter, and record producer. He developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelic rock and world mus ...
, The Clancy Brothers, Richard Fariña and
Mimi Fariña Margarita Mimi Baez Fariña (April 30, 1945 – July 18, 2001) was an American singer-songwriter and activist, the youngest of three daughters to a Scottish mother and Mexican-American physicist Albert Baez. She was the younger sister of t ...
,
Sonny Terry Saunders Terrell (October 24, 1911 – March 11, 1986), known as Sonny Terry, was an American Piedmont blues and folk musician, who was known for his energetic blues harmonica style, which frequently included vocal whoops and hollers and oc ...
and Brownie McGhee, Mamou Cajun Band,
Bernice Johnson Reagon Bernice Johnson Reagon (born Bernice Johnson on October 4, 1942) is a song leader, composer, scholar, and social activist, who in the early 1960s was a founding member of the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee's (SNCC) Freedom Singers in t ...
, the Beers Family, Roscoe Holcomb,
Malvina Reynolds Malvina Reynolds (August 23, 1900 – March 17, 1978) was an American folk/blues singer-songwriter and political activist, best known for her songwriting, particularly the songs "Little Boxes", "What Have They Done to the Rain" and "Morningtown ...
, Sonia Malkine, and
Shawn Phillips Shawn Phillips (born February 3, 1943) is an American singer-songwriter and musician, primarily influential in the 1960s and 1970s. His work is rooted in folk rock but straddles other genres, including jazz fusion and funk. Phillips has reco ...
. Thirty-nine hour-long programs were recorded at WNJU's
Newark Newark most commonly refers to: * Newark, New Jersey, city in the United States * Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey; a major air hub in the New York metropolitan area Newark may also refer to: Places Canada * Niagara-on-the ...
studios in 1965 and 1966, produced by Seeger and his wife Toshi, with Sholom Rubinstein. The Smothers Brothers ended Seeger's national blacklisting by broadcasting him singing "
Waist Deep in the Big Muddy "Waist Deep in the Big Muddy" is a song written by Pete Seeger in 1967 and made famous because of its censorship from ''The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour''. Story The song tells the story of a platoon wading in a river in Louisiana on a practice ...
" on their CBS variety show on February 25, 1968, after his similar performance in September 1967 was censored by CBS. In November 1976, Seeger wrote and recorded the anti-death penalty song "Delbert Tibbs", about the death-row inmate
Delbert Tibbs Delbert Lee Tibbs (June 19, 1939 – November 23, 2013) was an American man who was wrongfully convicted of murder and rape in 1974 in Florida and sentenced to death. Later exonerated, Tibbs became a writer and anti-death penalty activist. Early ...
, who was later
exonerated Exoneration occurs when the conviction for a crime is reversed, either through demonstration of innocence, a flaw in the conviction, or otherwise. Attempts to exonerate convicts are particularly controversial in death penalty cases, especially w ...
. Seeger wrote the music and selected the words from poems written by Tibbs. Seeger also supported the Jewish Camping Movement. He came to Surprise Lake Camp in Cold Spring, New York, over the summer many times. He sang and inspired countless campers.


Pete Seeger and Bob Dylan

Pete Seeger was one of the earliest backers of
Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
; he was responsible for urging A&R man John Hammond to produce Dylan's first LP on Columbia, and for inviting him to perform at the Newport Folk Festival, of which Seeger was a board member. There was a widely repeated story that Seeger was so upset over the extremely loud amplified sound that Dylan, backed by members of the Butterfield Blues Band, brought into the 1965 Newport Folk Festival that he threatened to disconnect the equipment. There are multiple versions of what went on, some fanciful. What is certain is that tensions had been running high between Dylan's manager Albert Grossman and Festival board members (who besides Seeger also included Theodore Bikel, Bruce Jackson,
Alan Lomax Alan Lomax (; January 31, 1915 – July 19, 2002) was an American ethnomusicologist, best known for his numerous field recordings of folk music of the 20th century. He was also a musician himself, as well as a folklorist, archivist, writer, sch ...
, festival MC Peter Yarrow, and George Wein) over the scheduling of performers and other matters. Two days earlier, there had been a scuffle and a brief exchange of blows between Grossman and Alan Lomax, and the board, in an emergency session, had voted to ban Grossman from the grounds, but had backed off when George Wein pointed out that Grossman also managed highly popular draws Odetta and Peter, Paul and Mary. Seeger has been portrayed as a folk "purist" who was one of the main opponents to Dylan's "going electric," but when asked in 2001 about how he recalled his "objections" to the electric style, he said:
I couldn't understand the words. I wanted to hear the words. It was a great song, " Maggie's Farm," and the sound was distorted. I ran over to the guy at the controls and shouted, "Fix the sound so you can hear the words." He hollered back, "This is the way they want it." I said "Damn it, if I had an axe, I'd cut the cable right now." But I was at fault. I was the MC, and I could have said to the part of the crowd that booed Bob, "you didn't boo Howlin' Wolf yesterday. He was electric!" Though I still prefer to hear Dylan acoustic, some of his electric songs are absolutely great. Electric music is the vernacular of the second half of the twentieth century, to use my father's old term.


Vietnam War era and beyond

A longstanding opponent of the arms race and of the Vietnam War, Seeger
satirically Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or e ...
attacked then-President
Lyndon Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...
with his 1966 recording, on the album ''
Dangerous Songs!? ''Dangerous Songs!?'' is a studio album by Pete Seeger and was released in 1966 on the Columbia Records label. Track listing Personnel *Pete Seeger *Fred Hellerman Fred Hellerman (May 13, 1927 – September 1, 2016) was an American folk ...
'', of Len Chandler's children's song "
Beans in My Ears "Beans in My Ears" is a song written by Len Chandler that was a hit single in 1964 when covered by The Serendipity Singers. Background The song was written and sung by protest singer and contributing editor to folk-centric ''Broadside Magazin ...
". Beyond Chandler's lyrics, Seeger said that "Mrs. Jay's little son Alby" had "beans in his ears," which, as the lyrics imply, ensures that a person does not hear what is said to them. To those opposed to continuing the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
, the phrase implied that "Alby Jay," a loose pronunciation of Johnson's nickname "LBJ," did not listen to anti-war protests as he too had "beans in his ears." During 1966, Seeger and
Malvina Reynolds Malvina Reynolds (August 23, 1900 – March 17, 1978) was an American folk/blues singer-songwriter and political activist, best known for her songwriting, particularly the songs "Little Boxes", "What Have They Done to the Rain" and "Morningtown ...
took part in environmental activism. The album ''
God Bless the Grass ''God Bless The Grass'' is the sixth studio album by Pete Seeger, released on January 17, 1966 by Columbia Records as CL 2432 (mono) and CS 9232 (stereo). The album cover was designed by R. O. Blechman. ''God Bless The Grass'' focuses on environm ...
'' was released in January of that year and became the first album in history wholly dedicated to songs about environmental issues. Their politics were informed by the same ideologies of nationalism, populism, and criticism of big business. Seeger attracted wider attention starting in 1967 with his song "
Waist Deep in the Big Muddy "Waist Deep in the Big Muddy" is a song written by Pete Seeger in 1967 and made famous because of its censorship from ''The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour''. Story The song tells the story of a platoon wading in a river in Louisiana on a practice ...
", about a
captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
—referred to in the lyrics as "the big fool"—who drowned while leading a platoon on maneuvers in
Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
during World War II. With its lyrics about a platoon being led into danger by an ignorant captain, the song's anti-war message was obvious—the line "the big fool said to push on" is repeated several times. In the face of arguments with the management of CBS about whether the song's political weight was in keeping with the usually light-hearted entertainment of the ''
Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour ''The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour'' was an American comedy and variety show television show, television series hosted by the Smothers Brothers and initially airing on CBS from 1967 to 1969. The series was a major success, especially conside ...
'', the final lines were "Every time I read the paper/those old feelings come on/We are waist deep in the Big Muddy and the big fool says to push on." The lyrics could be interpreted as an allegory of Johnson as the "big fool" and the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
as the foreseeable danger. Although the performance was cut from the September 1967 show, after wide publicity, it was broadcast when Seeger appeared again on the Smothers' Brothers show on February 25, 1968. At the November 15, 1969, Vietnam Moratorium March on Washington, DC, Seeger led 500,000 protesters in singing
John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...
's song " Give Peace a Chance" as they rallied across from the White House. Seeger's voice carried over the crowd, interspersing phrases like "Are you listening, Nixon?" between the
chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song) or refrain, line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in which all verse ...
es of protesters singing, "All we are saying ... is give peace a chance." Inspired by Woody Guthrie, whose guitar was labeled "This machine kills fascists,"
photo A photograph (also known as a photo, image, or picture) is an image created by light falling on a photosensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic image sensor, such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are now created ...
Seeger's banjo was emblazoned with the motto "This Machine Surrounds Hate and Forces It to Surrender." In the documentary film ''The Power of Song'', Seeger mentions that he and his family visited North Vietnam in 1972. Being a supporter of progressive labor unions, Seeger had supported Ed Sadlowski in his bid for the presidency of the
United Steelworkers of America The United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union, commonly known as the United Steelworkers (USW), is a general trade union with members across North America. Headqua ...
. In 1977, Seeger appeared at a fundraiser in Homestead, Pennsylvania. In 1978, Seeger joined American folk, blues, and jazz singer Barbara Dane at a rally in New York for striking coal miners. He also headlined a benefit concert—with bluegrass artist Hazel Dickens—for the striking coal miners of Stearns, Kentucky, at the Lisner Auditorium in Washington, D.C. on June 8, 1979. In 1980, Pete Seeger performed in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The performance was later released by Smithsonian Folkways as the album ''Singalong Sanders Theater, 1980''.


Hudson River sloop ''Clearwater''

In 1966, Seeger and his wife Toshi founded the
Hudson River Sloop Clearwater The Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, Inc. is a non-profit organization based in Beacon, New York that seeks to protect the Hudson River and surrounding wetlands and waterways through advocacy and public education. Founded by folk singer Pete Seege ...
, a nonprofit organization based in
Poughkeepsie, New York Poughkeepsie ( ), officially the City of Poughkeepsie, separate from the Town of Poughkeepsie around it) is a city in the U.S. state of New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsi ...
, that sought to protect the Hudson River and surrounding wetlands and waterways through advocacy and public education. It constructed a floating ambassador for this environmental mission, the sloop ''Clearwater'', and began an annual music and environmental festival, today known as the Great Hudson River Revival.


Reflection on support for Soviet Communism

In 1982, Seeger performed at a benefit concert for the 1982 demonstrations in Poland against the Polish government. His biographer David King Dunaway, David Dunaway considers this the first public manifestation of Seeger's decades-long personal dislike of communism in its Soviet form.David King Dunaway (2008), p. 103. In the late 1980s, Seeger also expressed disapproval of violent revolutions, remarking to an interviewer that he was really in favor of incremental change and that "the most lasting revolutions are those that take place over a period of time." In his autobiography ''Where Have All the Flowers Gone'' (1993, 1997, reissued in 2009), Seeger wrote, "Should I apologize for all this? I think so." He went on to put his thinking in context:
How could Hitler have been stopped? Maxim Litvinov, Litvinov, the Soviet delegate to the League of Nations in '36, proposed a worldwide quarantine but got no takers. For more on those times check out pacifist Dave Dellinger's book, ''From Yale to Jail ... '' At any rate, today I'll apologize for a number of things, such as thinking that Stalin was merely a "hard driver" and not a "supremely cruel misleader." I guess anyone who calls himself a Christian should be prepared to apologize for the Inquisition, the burning of heretics by Protestants, the slaughter of Jews and Muslims by Crusades, Crusaders. White people in the U.S.A. ought to apologize for Indian removal, stealing land from Native Americans and Slavery in the United States, enslaving blacks. Europeans could apologize for worldwide conquests, Mongolians for Genghis Khan. And supporters of Roosevelt could apologize for his support of Somoza family, Somoza, of Dixiecrat, Southern White Democrats, of Francoist Spain, Franco Spain, for putting Japanese American internment, Japanese Americans in concentration camps. Who should my granddaughter Moraya apologize to? She's part African, part European, part Chinese, part Japanese, part Native American. Let's look ahead.
In a 1995 interview, however, he insisted that "I still call myself a communist, because communism is no more what Russia made of it than Christianity is what the churches make of it." In later years, as the aging Seeger began to garner awards and recognition for his lifelong activism, he also found himself criticized once again for his opinions and associations of the 1930s and 1940s. In 2006, David Boaz—Voice of America and NPR commentator and president of the Libertarianism, libertarian Cato Institute—wrote an opinion piece in ''The Guardian'', entitled "Stalin's Songbird," in which he excoriated ''The New Yorker'' and ''The New York Times'' for lauding Seeger. He characterized Seeger as "someone with a longtime habit of following the party line" who had only "eventually" parted ways with the CPUSA. In support of this view, he quoted lines from the
Almanac Singers The Almanac Singers was an American New York City-based folk music group, active between 1940 and 1943, founded by Millard Lampell, Lee Hays, Pete Seeger, and Woody Guthrie. The group specialized in topical songs, mostly songs advocating an anti- ...
' May 1941 ''Songs for John Doe'', contrasting them darkly with lines supporting the war from ''Dear Mr. President'', issued in 1942, after the United States and the Soviet Union had entered the war. In 2007, in response to criticism from historian Ronald Radosh, Ron Radosh, a former Trotskyite who now writes for the conservative ''National Review,'' Seeger wrote a song condemning Stalin, "Big Joe Blues":
I'm singing about old Joe, cruel Joe. He ruled with an iron hand. He put an end to the dreams Of so many in every land. He had a chance to make A brand new start for the human race. Instead he set it back Right in the same nasty place. I got the Big Joe Blues. Keep your mouth shut or you will die fast. I got the Big Joe Blues. Do this job, no questions asked. I got the Big Joe Blues.
The song was accompanied by a letter to Radosh, in which Seeger stated, "I think you're right, I should have asked to see the gulags when I was in U.S.S.R. [in 1965]."Daniel J. Wakin
"This Just In: Pete Seeger Denounced Stalin Over a Decade Ago"
''New York Times'', September 1, 2007. Accessed October 16, 2007.


Later work

On March 16, 2007, Pete Seeger, his sister Peggy Seeger, Peggy, his brothers Mike Seeger, Mike and John, his wife Toshi, and other family members spoke and performed at a symposium and concert sponsored by the American Folklife Center in honor of the Seeger family, held at the
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
in Washington, D.C., where Pete Seeger had been employed by the Archive of American Folk Song 67 years earlier. In September 2008, Appleseed Recordings released ''At 89'', Seeger's first studio album in 12 years. On September 29, 2008, the 89-year-old singer-activist, once banned from commercial TV, made a rare national TV appearance on the ''Late Show with David Letterman'', singing "Take It From Dr. King". On January 18, 2009, Seeger and his grandson Tao Rodríguez-Seeger joined Bruce Springsteen and the crowd in singing the Woody Guthrie song "This Land Is Your Land" in the finale of Barack Obama's inaugural concert in Washington, D.C.Tommy Stevenson
"'This Land Is Your Land' Like Woody Wrote It"
, ''Truthout'', January 19, 2009. Accessed February 3, 2014.
Maria Puente and Elysa Gardner

''USA Today'', January 19, 2008. Accessed January 20, 2009.
The performance was noteworthy for the inclusion of This Land Is Your Land#Confirmation of two other verses, two verses not often included in the song, one about a "private property" sign the narrator cheerfully ignores, and the other making a passing reference to a Great Depression, Depression-era relief office. The former's final line, however, "This land was made for you and me," is modified to "That side was made for you and me." Over the years, he lent his fame to support numerous environmental organizations, including South Jersey's Bayshore Center, the home of New Jersey's tall ship, the oyster schooner ''A.J. Meerwald''. Seeger's benefit concerts helped raise funds for groups so they could continue to educate and spread environmental awareness. On May 3, 2009, at the Clearwater Concert, dozens of musicians gathered in New York at Madison Square Garden to celebrate Seeger's 90th birthday (which was later televised on Public Broadcasting Service, PBS during the summer), ranging from Dave Matthews, John Mellencamp, Billy Bragg, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Morello, Eric Weissberg, Ani DiFranco and Roger McGuinn to
Joan Baez Joan Chandos Baez (; born January 9, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest and social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing more ...
, Richie Havens, Joanne Shenandoah, R. Carlos Nakai, Bill Miller (musician), Bill Miller, Joseph Fire Crow, Margo Thunderbird,
Tom Paxton Thomas Richard Paxton (born October 31, 1937) is an American folk singer-songwriter who has had a music career spanning more than fifty years. In 2009, Paxton received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, and Arlo Guthrie. Cuban singer-songwriter Silvio Rodríguez was also invited to appear, but his visa was not approved in time by the United States government. Consistent with Seeger's longtime advocacy for environmental concerns, the proceeds from the event benefited the
Hudson River Sloop Clearwater The Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, Inc. is a non-profit organization based in Beacon, New York that seeks to protect the Hudson River and surrounding wetlands and waterways through advocacy and public education. Founded by folk singer Pete Seege ...
, a non-profit organization founded by Seeger in 1966, to defend and restore the Hudson River. Seeger's 90th birthday was also celebrated at The College of Staten Island on May 4. On September 19, 2009, Seeger made his first appearance at the 52nd Monterey Jazz Festival, which was particularly notable because the festival does not normally feature folk artists. In 2010, still active at the age of 91, Seeger co-wrote and performed the song ''God's Counting on Me, God's Counting on You, "''God's Counting on Me, God's Counting on You" with Lorre Wyatt, commenting on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. A performance of the song by Seeger, Wyatt, and friends was recorded and filmed aboard the sloop ''Clearwater'' in August for a single and video produced by Richard Barone and Matthew Billy, released on election day, November 6, 2012. On October 21, 2011, at age 92, Pete Seeger was part of a solidarity march with Occupy Wall Street to Columbus Circle in New York City. The march began with Seeger and fellow musicians exiting Symphony Space (95th and Broadway), where they had performed as part of a benefit for Seeger's Clearwater organization. Thousands of people crowded Pete Seeger by the time they reached Columbus Circle, where he performed with his grandson, Tao Rodríguez-Seeger, Arlo Guthrie, David Amram, and other celebrated musicians. The event, promoted under the name OccupyTheCircle, was livestreamed, and was dubbed by some "the Pete Seeger March." In January 2012, Seeger joined the Rivertown Kids in paying tribute to his friend Bob Dylan, performing Dylan's "Forever Young (Bob Dylan song), Forever Young" on the Amnesty International album ''Chimes of Freedom (album), Chimes of Freedom.'' This song, Seeger's last single, marked Seeger's only music video, which went viral in the wake of his death two years later. On December 14, 2012, Seeger performed, along with Harry Belafonte, Jackson Browne, Common (rapper), Common, and others, at a concert to bring awareness to the 37-year-long ordeal of Native American activist Leonard Peltier. The concert was held at the Beacon Theatre (New York City), Beacon Theater in New York City. On April 9, 2013, Hachette Audio Books issued an audiobook entitled ''Pete Seeger: The Storm King; Stories, Narratives, Poems''. This two-CD spoken-word work was conceived of and produced by noted percussionis
Jeff Haynes
and presents Pete Seeger telling the stories of his life against a background of music performed by more than 40 musicians of varied genres. The launch of the audiobook was held at the Dia:Beacon on April 11, 2013, to an enthusiastic audience of around two hundred people, and featured many of the musicians from the project (among them Samite (musician), Samite, Dar Williams, Dave Eggar, an
Richie Stearns
of the Horse Flies and Natalie Merchant) performing live under the direction of producer and percussionis
Haynes
April 15, 2013, Sirius XM Book Radio presented the Dia:Beacon concert as a special episode of ''Cover to Cover Live with Maggie Linton and Kim Alexander,'' entitled "Pete Seeger: The Storm King and Friends." On August 9, 2013, one month widowed, Seeger was in New York City for the 400-year commemoration of the Two Row Wampum Treaty between the Iroquois and the Dutch. On an interview he gave that day to Democracy Now!, Seeger sang "I Come and Stand at Every Door", as it was also the 68th anniversary of the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, bombing of Nagasaki. On September 21, 2013, Pete Seeger performed at Farm Aid at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga Springs, New York. Joined by Wille Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp, and Dave Matthews, he sang "This Land Is Your Land", and included a verse he said he had written specifically for the Farm Aid concert.


Personal life

Seeger married Toshi Seeger, Toshi Aline Ohta in 1943, whom he credited with being the support that helped make the rest of his life possible. The couple remained married until Toshi's death in July 2013. Their first child, Peter Ōta Seeger, was born in 1944 and died at six months, while Pete was deployed overseas. Pete never saw him. They went on to have three more children: Daniel (an accomplished photographer and filmmaker), Mika Seeger, Mika (a potter and muralist), and Tinya (a potter), as well as grandchildren Tao Rodríguez-Seeger (a musician), Cassie (an artist), Kitama Cahill-Jackson (a psychotherapist), Moraya (a marriage and family therapist married to the NFL player Chris DeGeare), Penny, and Isabelle, and great-grandchildren Dio and Gabel. Tao, a folk musician in his own right, sings and plays guitar, banjo, and harmonica with the Mammals. Kitama Jackson is a documentary filmmaker who was associate producer of the 2007
PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
documentary '' Pete Seeger: The Power of Song''. When asked by Beliefnet about his religious or spiritual beliefs, and his definition of God, Seeger replied: He was a member of a Unitarian Universalism, Unitarian Universalist Church in New York. Seeger lived in Beacon, New York. He and Toshi purchased their land in 1949 and lived there first in a trailer, then in a log cabin they built themselves. He remained engaged politically and maintained an active lifestyle in the Hudson Valley region of New York throughout his life. For years during the Iraq War, Seeger maintained a weekly protest vigil alongside Route 9 in Wappingers Falls, near his home. He told a ''New York Times'' reporter that "working for peace was like adding sand to a basket on one side of a large scale, trying to tip it one way despite enormous weight on the opposite side." He went on to say, "Some of us try to add more sand by teaspoons ... It's leaking out as fast as it goes in and they're all laughing at us. But we're still getting people with teaspoons. I get letters from people saying, 'I'm still on the teaspoon brigade.'" Toshi died in Beacon on July 9, 2013, at the age of 91, and Pete died at New York–Presbyterian Hospital in New York City on January 27, 2014, at the age of 94.


Legacy

Response and reaction to Seeger's death quickly poured in. President Barack Obama noted that Seeger had been called "America's tuning fork" and that he believed in "the power of song" to bring social change, "Over the years, Pete used his voice and his hammer to strike blows for workers' rights and civil rights; world peace and environmental conservation, and he always invited us to sing along. For reminding us where we come from and showing us where we need to go, we will always be grateful to Pete Seeger." Folksinger and fellow activist Billy Bragg wrote that "Pete believed that music could make a difference. Not change the world, he never claimed that – he once said that if music could change the world he'd only be making music – but he believed that while music didn't have agency, it did have the power to make a difference." Bruce Springsteen said of Seeger's death, "I lost a great friend and a great hero last night, Pete Seeger," before performing " We Shall Overcome" while on tour in South Africa.


Tributes

* A proposal was made in 2009 to name the Walkway Over the Hudson in his honor. * A posthumous suggestion that Seeger's name be applied to the Tappan Zee Bridge Replacement, replacement Tappan Zee Bridge being built over the Hudson River was made by a local town supervisor. Seeger's boat, the sloop ''Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, Clearwater'', is based at Beacon, New York, just upriver from the bridge and frequently sails down to Manhattan to continuing spreading Seeger's message and music. * Oakwood Friends School, located in Poughkeepsie New York, not far from Seeger's home, performed " Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" at one of their worship meetings. The collaboration was with three teachers (playing guitar and vocals) as well as a student harmonica player and a student vocalist. * A free five-day memorial called Seeger Fest took place on July 17–21, 2014, featuring Judy Collins, Peter Yarrow, Harry Belafonte, Anti-Flag, Michael Glabicki of Rusted Root, Steve Earle, Holly Near, Fred Hellerman, Guy Davis, DJ Logic, Paul Winter Consort, Dar Williams, DJ Kool Herc, The Rappers Delight Experience, Tiokasin Ghosthorse, David amram, Mike + Ruthy, Tom Chapin, James Maddock, The Chapin Sisters, Rebel Diaz, Sarah Lee Guthrie & Johnny Irion, Elizabeth Mitchell, Emma's Revolution, Toni Blackman, Kim & Reggie Harris, Magpie, Abrazos Orchestra, Nyraine, George Wein, The Vanaver Caravan, White Tiger Society, Lorre Wyatt, AKIR, Adira & Alana Amram, Aurora Barnes, The Owens Brothers, The Tony Lee Thomas Band, Jay Ungar & Molly Mason, New York City Labor Chorus, Roland Moussa, Roots Revelators, Kristen Graves, Bob Reid, Hudson River Sloop Singers, Walkabout Clearwater Chorus, Betty & The baby Boomers, Work O' The Weavers, Jacob Bernz * Sarah Armour, and Amanda Palmer. * In 2006, thirteen folk music songs made popular by Pete Seeger were reinterpreted by Bruce Springsteen on his fourteenth studio album, ''We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions''. * In 2014, Wepecket Island Records recorded a Pete Seeger tribute album calle
''For Pete's Sake''
* In 2020, Kronos Quartet released Long Time Passing, an album of all new arrangements of Pete Seeger's music commissioned by the FreshGrass Foundation and released on Smithsonian Folkways. * On July 21, 2022, the United States Postal Service issued a Pete Seeger Non-denominated_postage#Forever_stamps, "Forever" stamp. The stamp is based on a photograph of Seeger playing a long neck banjo, taken by Seeger's son Daniel some time in the early 1960s. It's a commemorative in the Music Icons series, with a print quantity of 22,000,000.


Awards

Seeger received many awards and recognitions throughout his career, including: * Induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame (1972) * The Eugene V. Debs Award (1979) * The Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Award (1986) * The Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (1993) * The National Medal of Arts from the National Endowment for the Arts (1994) * Kennedy Center Honors, Kennedy Center Honor (1994) * The Harvard Arts Medal (1996) * The James Smithson Bicentennial Medal (1996) * Induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1996) * Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album of 1996 for his record ''Pete'' (1997) * The Felix Varela Medal, Cuba's highest honor for "his humanistic and artistic work in defense of the environment and against racism" (1999) * The Schneider Family Book Award for his children's picture book ''The Deaf Musicians''. (2007) * The Mid-Hudson Civic Center Hall of Fame (2008)- Seeger and Arlo Guthrie performed the first public concert at the Poughkeepsie, New York not-for-profit family entertainment venue, close to Seeger's home, in 1976. Grandson Tao Rodríguez-Seeger accepted the Hall of Fame plaque on behalf of his grandfather. * Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album of 2008 for his record ''At 89'' (2009) * The Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Award for his commitment to peace and social justice as a musician, songwriter, activist, and environmentalist that spans over sixty years. (2008) * The Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize (2009) *Grammy Award for Best Musical Album for Children of 2010 for his record album ''Tomorrow's Children'' with the Rivertown Kids and Friends (2011) * George Peabody Medal (2013) * Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album of 2013 nomination for ''Pete Seeger: The Storm King; Stories, Narratives, Poems'' (2014) *
Woody Guthrie Woodrow Wilson Guthrie (; July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American singer-songwriter, one of the most significant figures in American folk music. His work focused on themes of American socialism and anti-fascism. He has inspired ...
Prize (2014) (inaugural recipient)


Discography

* ''American Folk Songs for Children'' (1953) * ''American Industrial Ballads'' (1956) * ''American Favorite Ballads, Vol. 2'' (1958) * ''Gazette, Vol. 1'' (1958) * ''Sleep-Time: Songs & Stories'' (1958) * ''
God Bless the Grass ''God Bless The Grass'' is the sixth studio album by Pete Seeger, released on January 17, 1966 by Columbia Records as CL 2432 (mono) and CS 9232 (stereo). The album cover was designed by R. O. Blechman. ''God Bless The Grass'' focuses on environm ...
'' (1966) * ''
Dangerous Songs!? ''Dangerous Songs!?'' is a studio album by Pete Seeger and was released in 1966 on the Columbia Records label. Track listing Personnel *Pete Seeger *Fred Hellerman Fred Hellerman (May 13, 1927 – September 1, 2016) was an American folk ...
'' (1966) * ''Rainbow Race'' (1973) * ''American Folk Songs for Children'' (1990) * ''At 89'' (2008)


See also

* List of banjo players * List of peace activists * Tom Winslow – Clearwater singer and songwriter * Union Boys


Notes


References

*Dunaway, David K. ''How Can I Keep from Singing: The Ballad of Pete Seeger''. [McGraw Hill (1981), DaCapo (1990)] Revised Edition. New York: Villard Trade Paperback, 2008 , , ,
Audio Version
*Dunaway, David K. ''Pete Seeger: How Can I Keep From Singing''. three one-hour radio documentaries, Public Radio International, 2008 *Dunaway, David K. ''The Pete Seeger Discography.'' Scarecrow Press: Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2010. *Forbes, Linda C. "Pete Seeger on Environmental Advocacy, Organizing, and Education in the Hudson River Valley: An Interview with the Folk Music Legend, Author and Storyteller, Political and Environmental Activist, and Grassroots Organizer." ''Organization & Environment'', 17, No. 4, 2004: pp. 513–522. *Gardner, Elysa. "Seeger: A 'Power' in music, politics." USA Today, February 27, 2008. p. 8D. *Seeger, Pete. ''How to Play the Five-String Banjo'', New York: People's Songs, 1948. 3rd edition, New York: Music Sales Corporation, 1969. . *Tick, Judith. ''Ruth Crawford Seeger: A Composer's Search for American Music''. Oxford University Press, 1997. *Wilkinson, Alec
"The Protest Singer: Pete Seeger and American folk music,"
''The New Yorker'', April 17, 2006, pp. 44–53. *Wilkinson, Alec. ''The Protest Singer: An Intimate Portrait of Pete Seeger''. New York: Knopf, 2009. * *


Further reading

* Briggs, John, ''Pete Seeger, The People's Singer'', Atombank Books, 2015, * "The Music Man" (profile and interview). In ''Something to Say: Thoughts on Art and Politics in America'', text by Richard Klin, photos by Lily Prince, Leapfrog Press, 2011. * Reich, Susanna
''Stand Up and Sing! Pete Seeger, Folk Music and the Path to Justice''
Bloomsbury, 2017. * Renehan, Edward
''Pete Seeger vs. the Un-Americans: A Tale of the Blacklist''
New Street Communications, LLC, 2014. * Seeger, Pete (Edited by Rob and Sam Rosenthal)
''Pete Seeger: In His Own Words''
Paradigm Publishers, 2012. . * Seeger, Pete (Edited by Ronald D. Cohen and James Capaldi)
''The Pete Seeger Reader''
Oxford University Press, 2014. * Seeger, Pete (Edited by Jo Metcalf Schwartz), ''The Incompleat Folksinger'', New York: Simon and Schuster, 1972.

Also, reprinted in a Bison Book edition, Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1992. .


External links

* * * * *
"Pete Seeger's FBI File Reveals How the Folk Legend First Became a Target of the Feds"
''Mother Jones'', 2015 * ;Films * * *
''Memory and Imagination: New Pathways'', Library of Congress documentary

"Legendary Folk Singer & Activist Pete Seeger Turns 90, Thousands Turn Out for All-Star Tribute Featuring Bruce Springsteen, Joan Baez, Bernice Johnson Reagon and Dozens More"
on ''Democracy Now!'', May 2009 (video, audio, and print transcript) {{DEFAULTSORT:Seeger, Pete Pete Seeger, 1919 births 2014 deaths 20th-century American guitarists Activists for African-American civil rights Activists from New York (state) American acoustic guitarists American anti-war activists American anti–Vietnam War activists American banjoists American blues singer-songwriters American street performers American communists American environmentalists American folk guitarists American folk singers American folk-song collectors American male guitarists United States Army personnel of World War II American pacifists American people of English descent American people of German descent American social commentators American socialists American tenors American Unitarian Universalists Camp Rising Sun alumni CBS Records artists Columbia Records artists Fast Folk artists Folk musicians from New York (state) Grammy Award winners Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners Guitarists from New York (state) Harvard University alumni Hollywood blacklist Kennedy Center honorees Members of the Communist Party USA Military personnel from New York City Music festival founders Nonviolence advocates Pantheists People from Beacon, New York People from Greenwich Village People from Manhattan People from Nyack, New York People from Patterson, New York Political music artists Seeger family Songster musicians Sony Music artists The Weavers members United States National Medal of Arts recipients Vanguard Records artists Folkways Records artists United States Army non-commissioned officers Flying Fish Records artists Avon Old Farms alumni United States Army Band musicians Singer-songwriters from New York (state) Environmental musical artists