NEWPORT, RI – Famed folk singer Pete Seeger of Beacon was honored on Thursday as he was inducted into the Postal Service’s Music Icons Forever stamp series at the Jane Pickens Theater in Newport, Rhode Island.
“It is an honor to see a photo of my father I’d taken some 60 years ago become this wonderful Forever stamp,” said Dan Seeger. “My dad did most of his correspondence by handwritten letters – and I can imagine him smiling and of course appreciating this great honor because he relied on the U.S. Mail with its simplicity and honestly, knowing that thoughts and ideas can go from the sender over a tremendous expanse to a single receiver and get delivered.”
Pete Seeger (1919-2014) revived and championed traditional American music. He adopted and popularized the song “We Shall Overcome,” which became the anthem of the civil rights movement.
His own compositions included “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?,” “If I had a Hammer,” “Turn! Turn! Turn!,” and “Little Boxes.”
It was Pete Seeger’s idea to clean up the Hudson River that led to the creation of the sloop Clearwater in 1969 and the organization Clearwater.
