Pete Seeger, folk singer and activist, gets own stamp
who died in 2014 at age 94, wrote or co-wrote “If I Had a Hammer,” “Turn, Turn, Turn,” and “Where Have All the Flowers Gone.” He is also credited with popularizing “We Shall Overcome,” an anthem of the civil rights movement.“He was not only a champion of traditional American music, he was also celebrated as a unifying power by promoting a variety of causes, such as civil rights, workers’ rights, social justice, the peace movement and protecting the environment,” said Tom Foti, the postal service’s product solutions vice president.While Seeger, a lifelong activist, was exiled from commercial airplay in the 1950s and 1960s after an appearance before the House Un-American Activities Committee for his Communist affiliations, his career never slowed and he continued to record and tour.He won Grammy Awards, was inducted into both the Songwriters and Rock and Roll halls of fame, and earned both the National Medal of the Arts and the Kennedy Center Honors.He remained an activist late into his life — walking through the streets of Manhattan leading an Occupy Movement protest in 2011.Seeger joins a long list of musical performers to appear on a US postage stamp, including Elvis Presley, Thelonious Monk, Ray Charles and Frank Sinatra.The Seeger stamps are sold in panes of 16 resembling a vintage 45 rpm record sleeve, according to the postal service.