Pete Seeger '40, who dropped out of Harvard in the late 1930s to pursue a lifelong career as a singer and political activist, gave a concert in Manhattan Friday evening at Symphony Space, at 95th and Broadway, along with Arlo Guthrie and others. Then, as the New York Times City Room blog reported next day, with a video-clip augment:
About 11 p.m., Mr. Seeger, 92, emerged from Symphony Space wearing a red knit cap and carrying two canes. He then set off south, walking at a brisk pace and accompanied by a crowd of about 600, some of them carrying placards declaring support for the self-declared 99 percent that have been occupying Zuccotti Park [Occupy Wall Street] for five weeks.
Almost two hours later, the procession reached Columbus Circle, where Seeger led others in singing "We Shall Overcome."
Seeger was awarded the Harvard Arts Medal in 1996. For more on his career, read Harvard Magazine's Open Book excerpt from the biography by Alec Wilkinson published on Seeger's ninetieth birthday, The Protest Singer: An Intimate Portrait of Pete Seeger .
