Thinking About Pete Seeger

Sunday Salon Series Brings Wesleyan Professor to Discuss Legacy of Legendary Folk Singer

Pete Seeger

Pete Seeger is very possibly the most important U.S. folk singer of the 20th century, a central figure in the music of social movements from the labor movement of the 1930s to the environmental movement of today. For the past year Wesleyan Professor Rob Rosenthal has been working with Seeger on a forthcoming collection of his papers, The Pete Seeger Reader. At Green Street’s Sunday Salon Series, Rob will discuss this work, Seeger’s place in American music, and invite audience members to share their thoughts and memories of this beloved musician.

This informal lecture takes place on Sunday, April 25 from 2–4pm as part of the Sunday Salon Discussion Series, Green Street’s monthly discussion series for creative minds and curious individuals hosted by Wesleyan University Chemistry Professor David Beveridge. Each monthly salon includes plenty of opportunity for socializing as well as a reception with light refreshments.

Admission is $5 for the general public and $3 for Green Street members, seniors, and students. Green Street Arts Center is located at 51 Green Street, Middletown, CT. To register or get more information, please visit:  www.greenstreetartscenter.org or call (860) 685-7871.


More About Rob Rosenthal
As a professor of sociology at Wesleyan, Rosenthal is an expert on housing, homelessness, social movements and the culture of social movements. He received his bachelor’s degree from Rutgers University and his master’s of arts and Ph.D fromthe University of California Santa Barbara.

Rosenthal is the author of 18 published articles, seven of which cover the topic of homelessness. His book, Homeless in Paradise received the Association for Humanist Sociology Book Award in 1995.

He teaches Introductory Sociology, Urban Sociology, Housing and Public Policy, and Music in Social Movements to undergrads, and recently taught Music in Social Movements to students enrolled in the Graduate Liberal Studies Program. In this class, Rosenthal questions how the actual use of music can create movement cultures. Students listen to musicians such as Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie, Billie Holiday, Janis Joplin, Rage Against the Machine, and Public Enemy and discuss how their music relates to movements in the United States including the labor, civil rights, new left, woman’s, and current inner city movements.

Submitted by Adam Kubota, Center for the Arts

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