Joe Hickerson, folk musician and lead archivist of folk music at the Library of Congress, dies at 89

It was at a leftist summer camp in the Catskills that Joe Hickerson came up with the final two verses to Pete Seeger’s popular song “Where Have All the Flowers Gone.” The new verses turned the song into a cyclical ballad that drove home its anti-war message.

“He was so proud of that, it was actually on his business card,” said Stephen Winick, folklife specialist at the Library of Congress.

Hickerson enjoyed a long career as a folk musician and archivist of folk music at the Library of Congress. He died on August 17th at the age of 89. The cause of death was congestive heart failure.

He was born in Lake Forest, Illinois in 1935, and grew up in New Haven, Connecticut, the youngest of two boys. His father, James Allen Hickerson, was a professor of math education at New Haven State Teachers