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Category: Civil Rights

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 …

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

The Voices of Civil Rights Project Collection

Posted by: Kate Stewart

In addition to my work cataloging new oral histories for the Civil Rights History Project, I am also working on other collections related to the civil rights movement and African American history. One of these collections is the Voices of Civil Rights Project, a nationwide initiative of AARP conducted over the years 2003 to 2005. …