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Category: African American History

A man playing a guitar and singing to a close crowd of a dozen or so men and women

Q & A with Journalist Vern Smith on the Voices of Civil Rights Project Collection

Posted by: Kate Stewart

Two weeks ago, Beth Domingo of AARP’s Life Reimagined Institute and journalist Vern Smith came to the American Folklife Center to talk with us about their work on the Voices of Civil Rights project (AFC 2005/015), sponsored by AARP and donated to the Library of Congress in 2005, and to hear about our recent work …

A man playing a guitar and singing to a close crowd of a dozen or so men and women

Researcher Spotlight: Jeannette Estruth

Posted by: Kate Stewart

The following is a Q & A with one of our long-term researchers, Jeannette Estruth. KS: Hi Jeannette! Tell us a little about your background and why you came to the Library of Congress and the American Folklife Center. JE: Hi Kate, thanks so much for inviting me to take part in the American Folklife …

A man playing a guitar and singing to a close crowd of a dozen or so men and women

Tracing the Long Journey of “We Shall Overcome”

Posted by: Kate Stewart

Although folksingers Pete Seeger, Guy Carawan, and Frank Hamilton registered copyright on “We Shall Overcome” in 1960, the song has a long and fascinating history with contributions from many activist-singers. We can trace it back to two separate songs from over a hundred years ago, the lyrics from “I’ll Overcome Some Day” written by the …