The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) honoured famed folk singer Pete Seeger on a stamp last week.
The first-day-of-issue ceremony for the stamp, which belongs to USPS’s “Music Icon” series, took place at the Jane Pickens Theater in Newport, R.I., on July 21.
Born in 1919, Seeger celebrated the unifying power of singing together and promoting the role traditional music played in addressing social and political causes. His adaptation of We Shall Overcome became a civil rights anthem. Led by his ringing tenor voice and emblematic five-string banjo, his sing-along concerts mixed traditional songs and Seeger originals like If I Had a Hammer and Turn! Turn! Turn!
During his long career, the charismatic and idealistic performer became a folk hero to generations.