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Pete Seeger Labeled 'Subversive' After Speaking Out Against Plan to Deport Japanese
Newly released 1,700-page FBI file shows the US government 'went to lengths' to track beloved folk icon
Dec 18, 2015
The late beloved singer and activist Pete Seeger inspired countless worldwide with his songs about peace and equality, and--according to his newly released FBI file--he also inspired the ire of the U.S. government, which spied on the folk icon for decades and labeled him a "subversive" for his Communist sympathies.
The 1,700-page tome, handed over by the National Archives under the Freedom of Information Act, was revealed in an Associated Press report on Saturday.
Among the revelations was that the U.S. military launched an investigation into the young singer in 1942 after Seeger sent a letter to the California American Legion condemning the group's resolution "advocating the deportation of all Japanese, citizens or not, and barring all Japanese descendants from citizenship."
"We're fighting precisely to free the world of such Hitlerism, such narrow jingoism," Seeger wrote in the letter, which was penned as the U.S. government was actively forcing Japanese-American citizens to live in government internment camps.
After scouring his letters and school records and interviewing family members, ex-landlords, and friend Woody Guthrie, the U.S. military eventually concluded that Seeger's association with known communists and his Japanese-American fiancee, the late Toshi Seeger "pointed to a risk of divided loyalty," the AP reports.
In one excerpt, the investigator who interviewed Guthrie reportedly noted the singer's guitar, famously emblazoned with "This Machine Kills Fascists." Of the inscription, the investigator wrote: "It is this agent's opinion that this bears out the belief that the Almanac Players"--of which Guthrie and Singer belonged--" were active singing Communist songs and spreading propaganda."
The AP notes that the FBI went to "lengths...to keep tabs on the singer's travels, performances, and rally appearances at least into the 1970s." Seeger, who died in January 2014, was an active singer and activist until his death at age 94.
According to the reporting, the National Archives plans to release additional Seeger files in the future.
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Lauren McCauley is a former senior editor for Common Dreams covering national and international politics and progressive news. She is now the Editor of Maine Morning Star. Lauren also helped produce a number of documentary films, including the award-winning Soundtrack for a Revolution and The Hollywood Complex, as well as one currently in production about civil rights icon James Meredith. Her writing has been featured on Newsweek, BillMoyers.com, TruthDig, Truthout, In These Times, and Extra! the newsletter of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. She currently lives in Kennebunk, Maine with her husband, two children, a dog, and several chickens.
The late beloved singer and activist Pete Seeger inspired countless worldwide with his songs about peace and equality, and--according to his newly released FBI file--he also inspired the ire of the U.S. government, which spied on the folk icon for decades and labeled him a "subversive" for his Communist sympathies.
The 1,700-page tome, handed over by the National Archives under the Freedom of Information Act, was revealed in an Associated Press report on Saturday.
Among the revelations was that the U.S. military launched an investigation into the young singer in 1942 after Seeger sent a letter to the California American Legion condemning the group's resolution "advocating the deportation of all Japanese, citizens or not, and barring all Japanese descendants from citizenship."
"We're fighting precisely to free the world of such Hitlerism, such narrow jingoism," Seeger wrote in the letter, which was penned as the U.S. government was actively forcing Japanese-American citizens to live in government internment camps.
After scouring his letters and school records and interviewing family members, ex-landlords, and friend Woody Guthrie, the U.S. military eventually concluded that Seeger's association with known communists and his Japanese-American fiancee, the late Toshi Seeger "pointed to a risk of divided loyalty," the AP reports.
In one excerpt, the investigator who interviewed Guthrie reportedly noted the singer's guitar, famously emblazoned with "This Machine Kills Fascists." Of the inscription, the investigator wrote: "It is this agent's opinion that this bears out the belief that the Almanac Players"--of which Guthrie and Singer belonged--" were active singing Communist songs and spreading propaganda."
The AP notes that the FBI went to "lengths...to keep tabs on the singer's travels, performances, and rally appearances at least into the 1970s." Seeger, who died in January 2014, was an active singer and activist until his death at age 94.
According to the reporting, the National Archives plans to release additional Seeger files in the future.
Lauren McCauley
Lauren McCauley is a former senior editor for Common Dreams covering national and international politics and progressive news. She is now the Editor of Maine Morning Star. Lauren also helped produce a number of documentary films, including the award-winning Soundtrack for a Revolution and The Hollywood Complex, as well as one currently in production about civil rights icon James Meredith. Her writing has been featured on Newsweek, BillMoyers.com, TruthDig, Truthout, In These Times, and Extra! the newsletter of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. She currently lives in Kennebunk, Maine with her husband, two children, a dog, and several chickens.
The late beloved singer and activist Pete Seeger inspired countless worldwide with his songs about peace and equality, and--according to his newly released FBI file--he also inspired the ire of the U.S. government, which spied on the folk icon for decades and labeled him a "subversive" for his Communist sympathies.
The 1,700-page tome, handed over by the National Archives under the Freedom of Information Act, was revealed in an Associated Press report on Saturday.
Among the revelations was that the U.S. military launched an investigation into the young singer in 1942 after Seeger sent a letter to the California American Legion condemning the group's resolution "advocating the deportation of all Japanese, citizens or not, and barring all Japanese descendants from citizenship."
"We're fighting precisely to free the world of such Hitlerism, such narrow jingoism," Seeger wrote in the letter, which was penned as the U.S. government was actively forcing Japanese-American citizens to live in government internment camps.
After scouring his letters and school records and interviewing family members, ex-landlords, and friend Woody Guthrie, the U.S. military eventually concluded that Seeger's association with known communists and his Japanese-American fiancee, the late Toshi Seeger "pointed to a risk of divided loyalty," the AP reports.
In one excerpt, the investigator who interviewed Guthrie reportedly noted the singer's guitar, famously emblazoned with "This Machine Kills Fascists." Of the inscription, the investigator wrote: "It is this agent's opinion that this bears out the belief that the Almanac Players"--of which Guthrie and Singer belonged--" were active singing Communist songs and spreading propaganda."
The AP notes that the FBI went to "lengths...to keep tabs on the singer's travels, performances, and rally appearances at least into the 1970s." Seeger, who died in January 2014, was an active singer and activist until his death at age 94.
According to the reporting, the National Archives plans to release additional Seeger files in the future.
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