Guy Carawan, American singer and musicologist (b. 1927)
Guy Hughes Carawan Jr. (July 28, 1927 – May 2, 2015) was an American folk musician and musicologist. He served as music director and song leader for the Highlander Research and Education Center in New Market, Tennessee.
Carawan is famous for introducing the protest song "We Shall Overcome" to the American Civil Rights Movement, by teaching it to the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in 1960. A union organizing song based on a black spiritual, it had been a favorite of Zilphia Horton (d. 1956) wife of the founder of the Highlander Folk School. Carawan reintroduced it at the school when he became its new music director in 1959. The song is copyrighted in the name of Horton, Frank Hamilton, Carawan and Pete Seeger.Carawan sang and played banjo, guitar, and hammered dulcimer. He frequently performed and recorded with his wife, singer Candie Carawan. The couple had two children, Evan Carawan and Heather Carawan. Occasionally Guy was accompanied by their son Evan Carawan, who plays mandolin and hammered dulcimer.
2015May, 2
Guy Carawan
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Events on 2015
- 29Apr
2015 Baltimore protests
A baseball game between the Baltimore Orioles and the Chicago White Sox sets the all-time low attendance mark for Major League Baseball. Zero fans were in attendance for the game, as the stadium was officially closed to the public due to the 2015 Baltimore protests. - 3May
Charlie Hebdo shooting
Two gunmen launch an attempted attack on an anti-Islam event in Garland, Texas, which was held in response to the Charlie Hebdo shooting. - 14Jul
New Horizons
NASA's New Horizons probe performs the first flyby of Pluto, and thus completes the initial survey of the Solar System. - 20Jul
Cuba-United States relations
The United States and Cuba resume full diplomatic relations after five decades. - 14Aug
Cuba-United States relations
The US Embassy in Havana, Cuba re-opens after 54 years of being closed when Cuba-United States relations were broken off.