Obit: Death of Joe Hickerson (1935-2025)

Subject: Obit: Death of Joe Hickerson
From: Robert B. Waltz
Date: 18 Aug 25 - 06:01 PM

I have no details on this, but I have just heard that Joe Hickerson -- folklorist, recording artist, and the man who gave us the circularized version of "Where Have All the Flowers Gone" -- died on Sunday, August 17.

May his work survive despite all the attempts of the current administration.

Subject: RE: Obit: Death of Joe Hickerson (1935-2025)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 18 Aug 25 - 08:35 PM

Oh, he was such a magnificent person. The first time I met him, he already knew who I was and he treated ME like a celebrity, but yet he was a folk idol to me. Every time thereafter, he treated me like a long-lost friend. He was a true mensch, and such a nice person - and so funny.

Here's the obituary from the American Folklife Center:

The American Folklife Center is sad to relay news of the passing of Joe Hickerson. The former AFC Archive Head died peacefully yesterday morning at around 10:30 a.m. in his care home in Portland, Oregon. Joe was an important public face for AFC and for folklore and folk music more generally. His passing will be seen as the end of an era among folk music enthusiasts. The AFC staff sends condolences to all of Joe’s family and friends, especially his son Mike and his partner Ruth Bolliger.

Joe Hickerson was born on October 20, 1935. He learned to sing and play the guitar as a child and became seriously interested in folksong while at Oberlin College. During his senior year he was elected first President of the Oberlin Folk Song Club, helped organize the first Oberlin Folk Festival in May 1957, and joined an eight-piece folk group called "The Folksmiths," which toured summer camps in the summer following his graduation.

The following year, he entered graduate school at Indiana University, where he studied folklore, ethnomusicology, and anthropology under such legendary scholars as Richard M. Dorson and George Herzog, earning a masters degree in folklore. He also began to appear as a solo artist at folk clubs and coffeehouses, hosted a radio show, and got his start as a folklore archivist. In 1963, he was hired by the Library of Congress as a reference librarian in the Archive of Folk Song, which eventually became the American Folklife Center archive. Joe retired as head of the archive in 1998.

Joe was an important resource beyond AFC. For years he ran the “Song Finder” column in Sing Out! Magazine, in which he answered people’s questions about traditional songs and their appearances in the folk scene and in popular culture. As a musician, Joe recorded several albums of his own, and is best known as singer of the first folk revival recording of "Kumbaya" (with the Folksmiths) and co-author of "Where Have all the Flowers Gone" (with Pete Seeger).

At the link, see and hear Hickerson tell the story of his time at AFC in his own words, in an interview with American Folklife Center Ethnomusicologist and Folklorist Jennifer Cutting.
https://www.loc.gov/item/2021689471/?loclr=fbafc

Subject: RE: Obit: Death of Joe Hickerson (1935-2025)
From: GUEST,Wally Macnow
Date: 18 Aug 25 - 08:59 PM

Joe was a giant in the world of folk music and I don't know of anyone with the breadth of knowledge that he had. Nor do I know if there will be. We will miss him sorely.

Subject: RE: Obit: Death of Joe Hickerson (1935-2025)
From: GerryM
Date: 18 Aug 25 - 10:54 PM

Link to three of Joe Hickerson's albums on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcxuujSSojTwbxcuibmkp2w

Subject: RE: Obit: Death of Joe Hickerson (1935-2025)
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 19 Aug 25 - 10:27 AM

A great song leader according to Pete Seeger and Joe called himself a song finder. A tireless advocate for Folk Music whenever and wherever he found it. A sad loss to all those interested in Folk Music. My condolences, of course, to all those who know and love him. He has earned his place in the "In Memoriam" thread. RIP Joe.

Subject: RE: Obit: Death of Joe Hickerson (1935-2025)
From: Felipa
Date: 20 Aug 25 - 01:48 PM

We all owe a debt to Joe Hickerson for his prodigious research and archiving. I never met him but was pleasantly surprised to see and hear Joe Hickerson on a zoom singaround; I think within the past year.

Subject: RE: Obit: Death of Joe Hickerson (1935-2025)
From: Mark Ross
Date: 20 Aug 25 - 03:24 PM

Joe was a treasure. Always friendly and a great source of humor and folklore. He will be missed.

Subject: RE: Obit: Death of Joe Hickerson (1935-2025)
From: Charley Noble
Date: 20 Aug 25 - 08:37 PM

Joe will certainly be missed but he will be well remembered for his grace and his good work in our folk music community.

Charlie Ipcar

Subject: RE: Obit: Death of Joe Hickerson (1935-2025)
From: voyager
Date: 20 Aug 25 - 09:43 PM

I enjoyed Joe's presence at local DC folk events (FSGW Getaway?). Now we know Where Have All the Flowers Gone?.

Funny sidebar here about where have all the camp counsellors gone.

Thank you for your life in music.
voyager

Subject: RE: Obit: Death of Joe Hickerson (1935-2025)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 20 Aug 25 - 11:16 PM

Here's the tribute from Smithsonian Folkways Recordings:

We remember folk singer, folklorist, songwriter, and archivist Joe Hickerson (1935–2025), who passed away on Sunday, August 17, at eighty-nine years old.

Hickerson served as the librarian and director of the Archive of Folk Song at the Library of Congress from 1963 to 1998, helped establish the Folklore Society of Greater Washington, wrote the column “Song Finder” for Sing Out! Magazine, and co-authored the song “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” with Pete Seeger. He distributed Folkways LPs from Moe Asch while at Oberlin College and was a close friend to many at Smithsonian Folkways. He appears on several albums in our collection, including recordings as part of The Folksmiths and The New Golden Ring, as well as his own albums on Folk-Legacy Records, titled ‘Joe Hickerson With a Gathering of Friends’ (1970) and ‘Drive Dull Care Away, Vol. 1 & 2’ (1976).

As an introduction to the records ‘Drive Dull Care Away,’ Hickerson wrote: “Most folklore, and the best of the folksong revival, exists through time (tradition) and is passed on by word of mouth (oral transmission) or by example. But the highest qualities of both folklore and the revival are evinced during the actual events of telling, singing, or doing, and generally in the context of small groups of people. I usually begin my programs with the song entitled ‘Drive Dull Care Away,’ for in its chorus is embodied this idea of esprit with a conciseness and elegance which match the joy of singing it: ‘And now we’re here with our friends so dear, we’ll Drive Dull Care Away.’”

To learn more about Hickerson, see our website for his album liner notes, and hear him in conversation with Smithsonian Folkways archivist Jeff Place and radio host Sam Litzinger on Sound Sessions Radio: s.si.edu/3Jm7e0I

https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1357431946390112&set=a.325166009616716

Subject: RE: Obit: Death of Joe Hickerson (1935-2025)
From: GUEST,John Moulden
Date: 21 Aug 25 - 04:18 PM

Joe was a wonderful human being. I met him via a transatlantic link in about 1980 and subsequently at the Library of Congress where he knew everybody (including occasional visitors from Ireland), everything and, most importantly for a librarian, where everything was. I greatly enjoyed his singing which had a great range of themes and relative seriousness. I think, since it was his time to go, he's well out of America at present, but those of us who knew and revered him will miss his wit and humanity; a man worth remembering.

Subject: RE: Obit: Death of Joe Hickerson (1935-2025)
From: GUEST,Coronatone
Date: 24 Aug 25 - 07:59 PM

When COVID came along and Harry Tuft of Denver Folklore Center famme had to stop his monthly Hootenannies at Swallow Hill, he started monthly Zoom Hoots and sent word out to all his friends. There I got to meet Joe Hickerson who Harry had long talked about. He always went first and always had a interesting story about the song before singing it acapella. He showed up every month until recently. Sorry to hear of his passing and I'll keep him and his family in my thoughts.

Subject: Obit: Joe Hickerson (New York Times obit)
From: GUEST,Guest
Date: 26 Aug 25 - 09:50 AM

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/26/arts/music/joe-hickerson-dead.html

Joe Hickerson, 89, Dies; Helped Preserve America’s Folk Song Tradition

He was both the longtime archivist of folk music at the Library of Congress and a widely respected singer and songwriter.
by Clay Risen

Joe Hickerson, a singer and songwriter who as the lead archivist for folk music at the Library of Congress for more than 25 years helped expand and preserve America’s trove of field songs, sea shanties and other traditional tunes, died on Aug. 17 in Portland, Ore. He was 89. His partner, Ruth Bolliger, confirmed the death, at a care facility.

Mr. Hickerson arrived at the Library of Congress in 1963, fresh from Indiana University’s renowned folklore studies program. It was the height of the folk revival, and the library, which already had a massive collection of recordings and documents, became the go-to resource for thousands of performers, songwriters and historians.

He quickly became their guide through the ages, making sense of the thicket of oral histories and competing genealogies that populated the archive. If someone wanted to know the real story behind the evolution of a centuries-old Irish dirge, he was the one to call on.

Mr. Hickerson himself embodied an archive, having memorized hundreds of traditional songs from around the world. He knew the lyrics and the melodies, the history of each song and the specific folkways from which the songs emerged.

As a performer, he played guitar and sang in a stripped-down style. Calling himself “vintage pre-plugged paleo-acoustic” he preferred to sing before small groups; his concerts became conversations with the audience.
“I’ve been fortunate in that I’ve been able to do it from both ends,” he told The Seattle Times in 2007, referring to his dual role as archivist and singer. “One scholar said to be able to do that, you must have a split personality. I think they’re both fun.”
Like many folk singers of his generation, Mr. Hickerson idolized Pete Seeger. After hearing Mr. Seeger perform his “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” in 1955, he wrote two more verses, which Mr. Seeger later incorporated into the song. The verses are:

Where have all the soldiers gone?
Long time passing.
Where have all the soldiers gone?
Long time ago.
Where have all the soldiers gone?
Gone to graveyards, every one.
When will they ever learn? When will they ever learn?

and

Where have all the graveyards gone?
Long time passing.
Where have all the graveyards gone?
Long time ago.
Where have all the graveyards gone?
Gone to flowers, every one.
When will they ever learn? When will they ever learn?

Joseph Charles Hickerson was born on Oct. 20, 1935, in Lake Forest, Ill. When he was 3, his family moved to New Haven, Conn., where his father, J. Allen Hickerson, was the chairman of the education department of New Haven State Teachers College (today Southern Connecticut State University). His mother, Elizabeth (Hogg) Hickerson, worked in the student records office at Yale.

A guitar player since he was a child, Joe first discovered folk music after hearing Mr. Seeger play at a rally for the Progressive Party during the 1948 presidential campaign. He studied physics at Oberlin College in Ohio, where he immersed himself in the school’s budding folk-music scene. He was the first president of the Oberlin Folk Song Club, helped organize the college’s first folk festival and had his own group, the Folksmiths. He graduated in 1957; a year later, the group released an album, “We’ve Got Some Singing to Do,” which contained the first known commercial recording of “Kumbaya” (listed as “Kum Ba Yah” on the album).

Mr. Hickerson’s two marriages ended in divorce. Along with Ms. Bolliger, he is survived by his son, Michael, and a grandson.

He enrolled at Indiana University in 1957, intent on receiving a doctorate in folklore and ethnomusicology. While there, he wrote a 1,300-item annotated bibliography of North American Indian music. But the pull of archival work led him to leave with a master’s degree in 1963, the same year he joined the Library of Congress. While working at the library, he recorded the albums “Folk Songs and Ballads Sung by Joe Hickerson With a Gathering of Friends” (1970) and a two-volume collection of traditional songs, “Drive Dull Care Away” (1976). He also helped found the Folklore Society of Greater Washington.

Mr. Hickerson retired from the library in 1998 but remained active as a performer and lecturer in the Washington area until 2013, when he moved to Portland to be near Ms. Bolliger.

Whether sitting with his guitar or standing behind a podium, Mr. Hickerson liked to make the same point: Folk music was music in its purest form, meant to communicate, entertain and lift up.
“In the beginning there were the folk, and they sang songs,” he said in an interview for “Singing Out: An Oral History of America’s Folk Music Revivals” (2010), by David King Dunaway and Molly Beer. “They did not sing folk songs; they did not know that term. They sang songs. Along comes the collector, who collects the songs and calls them folk songs.”

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Formatting added for readability. ---mudelf

Subject: RE: Obit: Joe Hickerson (New York Times obit)
From: Desert Dancer
Date: 26 Aug 25 - 10:32 AM

Link without paywall: Joe Hickerson, 89, Dies; Helped Preserve America’s Folk Song Tradition

~ Becky in Oregon