Joe Hickerson, Songwriter, Longtime Folk Music Archivist at Library of Congress Dies at 89

Joe Hickerson, a singer-songwriter who served as the lead archivist for folk music at the Library of Congress for 25 years has died at 89. According to The New York Times, Hickerson passed away on Aug. 17 at a care facility in Portland, Ore., as confirmed by his partner, Ruth Bolliger.

At the height of folk revival, Hickerson began what became more than a quarter-century tenure at the Library of Congress in 1963, swiftly establishing himself as a knowledgeable guide to the sometimes convoluted collections of recordings, documents and oral histories that were vital to performers, songwriters and historians of the genre. The Times noted that Hickerson was a physical embodiment of the massive library’s holdings, thanks to his work memorizing hundreds of traditional songs from around the worl