Born to parents who loved and taught music,
Pete Seeger fell in love with the banjo and folk music at an early
age. Seeger left Harvard University in the middle of his sophomore
year, setting out to absorb American folk music from its source in
communities across the country. He formed his first folk group, The
Almanac Singers, with Woody Guthrie and other musicians in 1940.
They traveled throughout the U.S. and Mexico as singer-activists,
bolstering labor movements and other social causes. In 1942 Seeger
joined the U.S. Army and continued playing music, often performing
for his fellow soldiers. In 1945, after being discharged from the
Army as a corporal. Seeger founded People’s Songs, Inc., a
musicians’ union helping bind the labor movement to folk music in
an effort to advance both. In 1948 he co-founded the famous
Weavers, a folk-singing quartet that recorded many hit songs. Many
of Seeger’s recordings supported civil rights and the environment
while protesting war.
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