Description
The appearance of folk singer Joan Baez at the 1959 Newport Folk Festival spawned offers of lucrative recording and tour contracts, all of which she turned down. After performing at the festival in 1960, she finally consented to make her first album, which was an instant success. A woman of passionate convictions, Baez became increasingly identified with the civil rights movement and opposition to the Vietnam War, and the proceeds from many of her concerts went to financing those causes.This photograph was taken during the March on Washington to demand federal guarantees of full equality for African Americans. At the march's climactic gathering at the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963, Baez led the crowd in singing the civil rights movement's anthem, "We Shall Overcome." It was a moment that she came to count as one of the greatest honors of her life.
Image
Gelatin Silver Print
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
