“Songs are funny things. They can slip across borders. Proliferate in prisons. Penetrate hard shells. I always believed that the right song at the right moment could change history.” - Pete Seeger

Pete Seeger has lived his life singing for peace, social justice and the environment. Beginning in the late 1930s, he joined Woody Guthrie and began to work for and sing about the rights of migrant workers. They worked together to promote and popularize traditional and pioneer music, a precursor of what is now known as folk music.

His belief in the value of music and of community led to his involvement in defending labor rights, racial and religious inclusiveness and equality, and international disarmament. He was an early supporter of the civil rights movement during the 1940s, and throughout the 1950s and 60s participated with Martin Luther King in marches in the South, both as a marcher and as a performer. His version of “We Shall Overcome” became the anthem of the movement.

His opposition to the arms race and the war in Vietnam culminated in his rendition of John Lennon’s “Give Peace a Chance” at the Washington DC anti-war gathering in 1969 and engaged more than 500,000 people in an 8 minutes sing-a-long of the song.

“At some point, Pete Seeger decided he’d be a walking, singing reminder of all of America’s history. He’d be a living archive of America’s music and conscience, a testament of the power of song and culture to nudge history along, to push American events towards more humane and justified ends. He would have the audacity and the courage to sing in the voice of the people.” Bruce Springsteen
His banjo reads (insert jpg of banjo with this machine…)
Pete became an environmental activist after reading the biologist Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring written in 1962. Her original inspiration was to write books and articles about the beauty of nature and to help parents to engage their children: “If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement and mystery of the world we live in.”

Linda Lear, in her tribute to Rachel Carson said: “She challenged the practices of agricultural scientists and the government, and called for a change in the way humankind viewed the natural world.” Rachel Carson was named one of the 100 most influential people of the century by Time magazine.

After reading Paul Ehrlich’s book about overpopulation, The Population Bomb, and Barry Commoner’s book about renewable energy, The Poverty of Power, he was introduced to the story of Alexander Hamilton writing one of the Federalist Papers going up the Hudson to Poughkeepsie on a sloop. Taking a sail on the Hudson River, Pete noticed how dirty and polluted it had become and decided that working to educate and clean up the river was an important cause. In 1969 he founded The Clearwater Project www.clearwater.org. Its mission is “to defend and restore the Hudson River for the benefit of its eco-system and human communities. Its 106 foot sloop is a floating classroom to inspire tomorrow’s environmental leaders.” At 90, Pete is still advocating with his banjo and a song. His belief is to be active in one’s own community as it will benefit us all. He likes to quote Rene Dubos, “think globally, act locally.”