Joe Hickerson

Joseph Charles Hickerson (October 20, 1935 – August 17, 2025), known professionally as Joe Hickerson, was an American folk singer, song finder, and musicologist. He led the Archive of Folk Song at the Library of Congress from 1963 to 1998.

Background Hickerson was born in Lake Forest, Illinois, on October 20, 1935, and grew up in New Haven, Connecticut. He graduated from Oberlin College with a B.S. in physics in 1957. While at Oberlin, he performed folk music with a group called The Folksmiths.

Career For 35 years (1963–1998), Hickerson was Librarian and Director of the Archive of Folk Song at the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress. In 1960, Hickerson added two verses to the original version of "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" created and recorded in 1958 by Pete Seeger, establishing a circular form for the song that became a standard that many others recorded. Along with Dave Guard, Hickerson is credited with the creation, also in 1960, of the Kingston Trio's version of "Bonny Hielan' Laddie".

Personal life and death Hickerson was married and divorced twice and had a son. and moved from the Washington, D.C. area to Portland, Oregon in 2013 to live closer to her.

Hickerson died at a care home in Portland on August 17, 2025, at the age of 89.

Discography We've Got Some Singing To Do (1958) The Folksmiths, featuring Joe Hickerson Folkways Records F-2407 Joe Hickerson With a Gathering of Friends (1970) Folk-Legacy Records Drive Dull Care Away Volumes 1 & 2 (1976) Folk-Legacy Records

Filmography The Wobblies 1979 (song performer)