Anne Feeney, the influential folk musician and labor activist whose “You Went to Prison for Justice” served as a hymn to activists around the world, died of Covid-19 on Wednesday. She was 69 years old.
Her daughter, Amy Sue Berlin, confirmed the news on Wednesday night. “It is with a very heavy heart that we must announce the passing away of our courageous, brilliant and beautiful mother, Anne Feeney”, Berlin wrote on Facebook. “We were very lucky that she fought so hard to open her eyes and give us a few days to be with her before she finally decided it was time to let her go.”
Regular on the folk circuit, Feeney played more than 4,000 shows in the United States and Europe. Many of his shows included shows in union halls, for worker strikes and at rallies. In 2004, she performed at the March for Women’s Lives in Washington, DC and her 1999 performance during the World Trade Organization protests in Seattle was featured in the documentary, This is what democracy looks like.
Feeney released 12 albums and collaborated regularly with Pete Seeger, John Prine and Peter, Paul and Mary. Your “Did You Go to Prison for Justice?” Often sung at demonstrations, it was covered by Peter, Paul and Mary.
“Anne Feeney was a songwriter / activist deeply committed to the great tradition of Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie,” said Peter Yarrow, of Peter, Paul and Mary, in a statement. “She was cheerful and impetuous in her determination to use her music to uplift those who are most marginalized and to move towards greater justice on earth. For Annie, it was a lifestyle. Her song, ‘Have You Been to Jail for Justice’, which our trio recorded, was a hymn for all of us who joined Annie in the ‘good fight’ ”.
His dedicated activism began in his youth. She was inspired by her grandfather, William Patrick Feeney, a first generation Irish immigrant, miners’ organizer and violinist. In 1969, as a teenager, she performed publicly for the first time, singing a song by Phil Ochs in a protest against the Vietnam War.
She graduated from the University of Pittsburg School of Law in 1978 and served as a trial lawyer for 12 years, mostly representing refugees and survivors of domestic violence. Feeney served as president of Pittsburgh Musician’s Union from 1981 to 1997, the first and only woman to hold that position. She served on the executive board of the Pennsylvania chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW), and she was also an active member of the American Federation of Musicians and Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).
“The great folk musician Anne Feeney was a fearless and formidable force for justice and workers’ rights on stage, in the studio and on the pickets,” said Tom Morello in a statement. “Through his art and his example, our comrade IWW will continue to be a beacon of hope and solidarity for future generations.”