With the bombing of Pearl Harbor and American entry into World War II, the Almanac Singers switched course from their early focus on peace and union songs. They began to sing and perform in support of the war effort and strongly in opposition to fascism, as evidenced by this songbook. Always a loose collective, in the spring of 1942 the group began to splinter, and several members settled in Detroit to live and perform at union rallies. “Anti Fascist Songs of the Almanac Singers,” was published in Detroit, perhaps around this time. A month later, Pete Seeger was drafted into the army signaling the end of the Almanac Singers as a performing and recording group. 

This image accompanies the audio recording of “Belt Line Girl,” one of twenty songs you can listen to in the exhibit Labor Sings! Songs from the 1930s and 1940s, featuring highlights from the extraordinary compact disc collection by Ron Cohen and Dave Samualson, Songs for Political Action.