Toshi Seeger (1922-2013) was a filmmaker and activist who brought attention to the importance of America's folk music including traditional African-American work songs and the music of her husband, the singer, Pete Seeger.
Seeger was born in 1922 in Germany; she was the daughter of a Japanese exile and an American mother. The family moved to New York when she was six-months old. Toshi graduated from a Manhattan high school in 1940.
In 1943, Toshi married Pete Seeger who she had met four years earlier. They had three children. Pete Seeger called his wife "the brains of the family," according to the New York Times.
Toshi was an activist who wanted to preserve America's folk music as well as the environment.
She helped create the Newport Folk Festival in 1960 and later the Clearwater Festival designed to bring awareness to the Hudson River clean-up.
Filmmaking became a natural extension of her efforts to preserve the history of American folk music. Her films included Afro-American Work Songs (1966) and the Emmy-winning documentary Pete Seeger: The Power of Song (2007). She also produced the TV show Rainbow Quest which her husband hosted from 1965 to 1966.
Toshi died in July 2013 just nine days shy of her 70th wedding anniversary. Her husband died six months later.
Toshi is survived by her children, grand-children and one great-grandchild. Seeger Fest will be held this summer to celebrate Toshi and her husband and their important work.--Heidi Durrow
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Mixed Experience History Month is the annual blog post series created by The New York Times best-selling author Heidi Durrow celebrating the history of the Mixed experience. Established in 2007, Mixed Experience History Month is an effort to highlight the long history of folks and events involved in the Mixed experience. Please look for more profiles of people, places and events of the Mixed experience every weekday of May at Lightskinned-ed Girl, the blog! Thanks for reading. And check out some of the previous year's profiles: 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013. Copyright 2014.
