Seeger, Pete (1919-2014), was an American folk singer, musician, and composer. He first gained fame during the 1940’s, singing about ordinary working people, war, and social problems. Seeger’s musical style and concern with social issues influenced Joan Baez and many other folk singers. Seeger’s best-known songs include “If I Had a Hammer (The Hammer Song)” (written with Lee Hays in 1949) and “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” (written with Joe Hickerson in 1961). Seeger also helped popularize the spiritual “We Shall Overcome.” It became an anthem for the civil rights movement in the United States in the 1950’s and 1960’s.
Peter Seeger was born on May 3, 1919, in New York City. He became interested in folk music at a folk music festival in 1935. He entered Harvard University in 1936 but left in 1938 to travel around the country, singing and painting. In 1940, he helped found the Almanac Singers, a folk group. Seeger sang with the Weavers, a folk quartet, from 1948 to the late 1950’s, when he became a solo performer.
Seeger’s career was harmed by a conflict with a congressional committee investigating suspected Communists in the entertainment industry. In 1955, Seeger refused to answer questions from the House Committee on Un-American Activities regarding his political beliefs and associations. That refusal led to his conviction for contempt of Congress in 1961. An appeals court overturned the conviction in 1962, but for several years Seeger was banned from network television appearances, and some organizations picketed his concerts. In time, the controversy greatly diminished.
In 1966, Seeger founded the non-profit Hudson River Sloop Clearwater organization with his wife, Toshi. The group seeks to protect the river and surrounding wetlands and waterways through advocacy and public education. It is known for its sailing vessel, the sloop Clearwater, and for an annual music and environmental festival on the riverfront.
A selection of Seeger’s writings on folk music was published as The Incompleat Folksinger (1973). Seeger also wrote the autobiographical Where Have All the Flowers Gone (1993), as well as Pete Seeger’s Storytelling Book (2000), a retelling of several classic folk tales. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996 as a performer who had an early influence on rock music . Seeger won a 2009 Grammy Award for best traditional folk album for Pete Seeger at 89 (2008). Seeger died on Jan. 27, 2014.
