Pete Seeger, PS 197 and Kindergarten - "If I Had a Hammer"

This post is for my Kindergarten teacher at PS 197 in Brooklyn,Mrs. Gerber. Read on and you will find out why.

Of all the songs we learned as kids, few have had as many obstacles thrown in its way as was the case with the iconic song “If I Had a Hammer.” Most folks will remember the song as being a smash hit for Peter, Paul and Mary in the late 1950’s. But the songs beginnings were steeped in controversy when the Weavers did their original version of it in 1949 at the Peekskill concert with Paul Robeson, and then when the song was published in the “Sing Out” collection of songs the following year. People actually cancelled their subscriptions over this song.

Pete Seeger had spent the war years working as a Merchant Mariner aboard cargo vessels. After the war; in 1948; he founded the folk group known as the Weavers. They did folk songs along the line of Woody Guthrie, along with some original compositions and other folk ballads from around the world.
 

Their first hit was a 45 RPM with “Tzena, Tzena”as the A side; a song much heralded at the time by Israeli soldiers; backed with “Goodnight Irene”, written by Leadbelly, on the B side. It was a hit on Decca Records, which couldn’t press the record fast enough to keep up with the demand.

By 1957 they were banned from most radio stations and all of TV. Seeger would not be seen on a major network again until 1968 when he appeared on the Smothers Brothers Show. It all began with “If I Had a Hammer.” The House of Un-American Activities; which they clearly were; was in the middle of its decade long sweep of the entertainment industry looking for subversives; or Communists, when they set their sights on The Weavers and Pete Seeger.

HUAC was not only aimed at the Hollywood crowd; they were also involved with policing the meaning of song lyrics such as “The Rock Island Line”; and later on even “Louie, Louie”. For “Louie, Louie” the FBI infamously spent over one year and 100 agents in order to come to the conclusion that they had no idea what the lyrics were; let alone what they meant. With “If I Had a Hammer” their job was much simpler.

The song speaks about a hammer; the Soviet Union used one in its flag. The song spoke about “the danger” and “the love between my brothers” all across this land. (Peter, Paul and Mary added and my sisters to the lyrics for their recording, in addition to some changes in the melody.) Surely these “brothers” were comrades in the sense that they were allied with communism. And, as if that weren’t enough, the HUAC committee was very concerned just what was meant by “freedom” and “justice”.  (You have to laugh when you think that hey actually had to ask that last question!)

Seeger was charged with 10 counts of Contempt of Congress in 1955; a badge which he wore proudly; and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. His appeals went on in a court fight which lasted until 1962. And, although his career was interrupted, his fight was celebrated by his many loyal fans. In 1969 he launched the Clearwater Campaign to clean up the Hudson River in New York and was an activist until his death.

Here he is in 1956; already charged and being tried for Contempt; singing the song anyway. This is one of the earliest versions in which he sings “my brothers and my sisters.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rl-yszPdRTk

Now, here’s the part which will explain why this is dedicated to Mrs. Gerber;

We were actually singing this is Kindergarten at PS 197 in Brooklyn. It was 1959 and HUAC was still going and the blacklist had just been "broken" with Dalton Trumbo being listed as a screenwriter on "Spartacus". I have to wonder what risk the teacher was taking by using that song in class. New York's Feinberg Law of 1949 placed a security officer in charge of each school district. Their job was to know the politics of every teacher. Reading the wrong book could preclude your being hired. And voting the wrong way could get you fired.  

In 1955; only 4 years before my Kindergarten teacher sang this song with us; New York City teachers were required to inform upon their colleagues political views. Refusal meant dismissal. Of 40 teachers who were ordered to do so; 35 submitted and the remaining 5 were actually fired. In all, 60,000 public school teachers in NYC alone were investigated and 500 were forced to resign or were fired for political views. One actually committed suicide. That Mrs. Gerber sang this song with the class is a tribute to her individuality. The Board in charge of the Feinberg investigations remained in force for 2 more years; disbanding in 1961.

Oleans Street - My Secret Walks

There are so many places in Brooklyn, New York, where I grew up, that can leave you wondering, at times, where you really are. Years ago, when I still lived there, I had a habit of walking each evening from about 9 PM until about 2 AM. On any given night you could find me wandering around the streets. It was my habit to walk the area bounded by Sheepshead Bay to the South, and Cortelyou Road to the North, where the subway leaves the elevated line and goes underground.

My meanderings East and West were from Ocean Parkway to Flatbush Avenue, with a customary stop at the Wyckoff-Bennett House, pictured above, on East 22nd Street. The house is from 1763 and used to face South, it was moved sometime around 1900. When I was really little, we lived on Bedford Avenue and Kings Highway. It was 5 long blocks, but not too far to keep us from going there on Halloween. They gave out old silver dollars. This was about 1959.

While in Kindergarten across the street at Public School 197, Ms. Gerber used to take us across Kings Highway (6 lanes!) to see the house and garden. She told us that George Washington had slept there and that these trees had seen him! When I got older and would take my nightly walks I used to enjoy standing beneath the huge old trees that adorned the sidewalk in front of the house. Their leafy canopies offered me shelter from whatever it was I was trying to walk away from. I would rest there and then continue on my nightly quest for, I'm not sure what.

One evening, late, it was after dark, I found myself on the quietest street I could ever have imagined. It was called Oleans Street and could have been a lane in a small country town. I have thought often of the darkness and quiet beauty of this street over the many years since I left Brooklyn. I've often wondered how it got there, slanted amidst the neat rows of numbered and alphabetized streets that make up most of the borough. And while browsing the site Forgotten Brooklyn.com yesterday I got my answer.

Oleans Street runs for 2 blocks between East 22nd and East 24th Streets, and diagonally between Avenues N and O. This came about as a result of Ocean Avenue being straightened. Older maps indicate that it was curved in several places until it became a main route that runs all the way to Sheepshead Bay. Oleans Street was, at one time, a part of Ocean Avenue. You can still see the overhead power lines for the old trolley in this picture.

The most beautiful thing about this area were the gardens. I was raised in an apartment, and although my father kept window boxes of geraniums, we had nothing like these beautiful lawns and flower beds, which adorned the homes around Bedford Avenue, as well as my beloved Oleans Street. So, this was a magical place that I have always looked back upon with secret affection. I just didn't think anyone else knew about it!

The streets of Brooklyn are a hodge-podge of history. The old Dutch names recall the times of the earliest settlements, some of which were in nearby Gravesend and Flatbush. I was never bored as a child, there was always somewhere to go, or something to see. The past still seemed present when I was a child.

I'm not sure why, maybe it's the change in the weather, but I find myself looking back, more and more these last few days, to Brooklyn and the past. And though I know I'll never go back there, at least for any length of time, a part of me will always be walking those same streets, drinking it all in and remembering those walks. Still looking for, I'm not sure what..