John Taylor, Professor of Economics at Stanford University and developer of the "Taylor Rule" for setting interest rates | Stanford University
John Taylor, Professor of Economics at Stanford University and developer of the "Taylor Rule" for setting interest rates | Stanford University
Next month, PBS will broadcast a documentary titled "Singing for Justice," which focuses on the life of lesser-known folk singer Faith Petric. The film, co-directed by Stanford historian Estelle Freedman and Stanford alum Christie Herring, will debut on KQED in the Bay Area on March 14 at 8 p.m., coinciding with Women's History Month.
Faith Petric was well-known within the Bay Area music community for hosting jam sessions of the San Francisco Folk Music Club at her home. Freedman first met Petric in the 1980s when Petric had retired from her state job and dedicated herself to folk music full-time. She traveled extensively, performing songs that often protested oppression.
Freedman began working on an oral history of Petric's life in the 1990s, unaware of how extensive it would become. “I had no idea, when I began the oral history in the 1990s, what a life she had had,” Freedman said. “I was just blown away. She would just toss out, ‘Well, when I was at Selma…’ ‘Wait, you marched in Selma in 1965?!’ She was everywhere.”
The documentary explores Petric's journey from being born in rural Idaho to attending Whitman College and joining protest movements concerned with unionizing and the Spanish Civil War. Moving to San Francisco in 1937, she raised a child as a single mother and left her job around 1970 to focus on music for over four decades.
Petric's archives provided rich material for the film. A box of VHS tapes with archival performances inspired Freedman to pursue this project further. Jan Krawitz recommended Herring as a collaborator due to her experience with social justice documentaries like "The Campaign." Herring noted that they were given an unusual archive due to Petric’s detailed documentation of her life.
The collaboration between Freedman and Herring brought together different generations and fields. “We had a really unique collaboration,” Herring said about their partnership. “Multigenerational, from different fields. We share a love of the music and this project, and it’s been a wonderful journey to be on.”
Support from Stanford's Department of History helped complete the film with funding assistance and undergraduate interns aiding in organizing Petric’s archives. Early screenings have kept Petric’s memory alive through audience engagement during showings.
“Singing for Justice” will also be screened at The Roxie in San Francisco on February 22 before its national airing on PBS following its KQED debut on March 14.
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