The Two Families and an Archive that Launched Pete Seeger

The Two Families and an Archive that Launched Pete Seeger
Illustrated lecture by Anthony Seeger, Curator and Director Emeritus, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings and Distinguished Professor of Ethnomusicology Emeritus, University of California, Los Angeles
Chair: Courtney CJ Woods, Public Diplomacy Officer, Embassy of USA
How did Pete Seeger (1919-2014) become the charismatic banjo-playing musician that had such a large impact on music and musicians around the world, including India? His start can be traced to two families and a unique group of field recordings collected for the United States Library of Congress. One family was Pete’s own, comprised of his musicologist father Charles Seeger and composer stepmother Ruth Crawford Seeger as well as their children Mike, Peggy, Barbara and Penny. The other family was the Lomaxes: folklorist/collector John, and his children, especially Alan and Ness. The archive was called the Archive of American Folk Songs. Its first honorary curator was John Lomax; its first employee was his son Alan. Its first paid intern was Pete Seeger. The two families changed how American music, as distinct from European music, became part of the educational system and cultural life of the United States. A contemporary once said: “Charles Seeger and Alan Lomax provided the fuel, aimed him in a certain direction, and Pete took off like a rocket.” Tony (Anthony) Seeger, one of Pete Seeger’s nephews and himself an archivist, will describe the remarkable combination of circumstances, musical influences, institutions, and sounds that influenced Pete in his early years. Tony will illustrate his talk with photos, and recordings, as well as songs on his 5-string banjo. He hopes his audience will join him on a few of them