Washington: Pete Seeger honored with National Portrait Gallery photo
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The National Portrait Gallery on Tuesday marked the death of musician and social activist Pete Seeger by placing a portrait of the folk singer on display in the museum’s first-floor gallery. Seeger died Monday at age 94.
The photograph by Sid Grossman shows a young Seeger with his banjo in hand and an exuberant smile, sometime between 1946 and 1948. At the time, Seeger was active at labor rallies in the U.S. and organized the quartet the Weavers.
“Blacklisted for his leftist politics in the 1950s, Seeger resurfaced in the 1960s and sparked a folk revival with such classics as ‘If I Had a Hammer,’ ‘Where Have All the Flowers Gone?’ and ‘Turn! Turn! Turn!’ ” the gallery’s announcement said.
Grossman, a New York City photographer who documented the working class and the labor movement, also felt the sting of being blacklisted. He co-founded the Photo League in 1936, a cooperative of photographers joined in part by social causes. The league was declared “subversive” and blacklisted by the Department of Justice in 1947. He died in 1955.
Visitors may see the Seeger portrait (and take pictures) at the gallery. It will be on display indefinitely.
Info: National Portrait Gallery
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