Protest Music

Archival Materials

Archival materials are primary sources, meaning that they contain firsthand accounts of events and were created contemporaneous to those events or later recalled by eyewitnesses. Many of the materials in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's Library & Archives are unique and can't be found anywhere else! Archival materials are available onsite only at the Library & Archives. Please make an appointment to come in to view them.

photo of Lloyd Price and band playing to wounded military Woman is the nigger of the world picture sleeve

Images: Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Collection; Lloyd Price Papers; Alan Freed Collection; Sing Out! Records; Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Collection.

Valery Saifudinov: "The Power of Music is Freedom"

Archival Collections

Bluefield Auditorium Posters
This collection includes concert posters for performances held at the auditorium in Bluefield, West Viriginia, and illustrates how shows were promoted to segregated audiences. Performers included Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Ruth Brown, The Coasters, Fats Domino, the Five Satins, Ernie Freeman, Etta James, Little Richard, and "Big" Joe Turner.
Bomp! Records Collection
The Bomp! Records Collection contains zines and newspapers created documenting youth and counterculture during the 1960s, as well as the indie underground culture of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s in the United States.
Gayle Wald Riot Grrrl Collection
The Gayle Wald Riot Grrrl Collection consists mainly of correspondence, flyers, radio show playlists, stickers, zines, and other materials related to the 1990s Riot Grrrl movement. The collection provides a look into the Riot Grrrl movement from the perspective of performers, record labels, fans, and critics.
Immaculate Funk Collection
The Immaculate Funk Collection contains video interviews used to create the documentary film, Immaculate Funk: The Jerry Wexler Story. The collection documents Wexler's influence on the development of mainstream R&B, whether he was scrapping the "race records" tag in favor for "rhythm and blues," or using the largely white Muscle Shoals team as support on Aretha Franklin's career-defining hits. Wexler is viewed as an avid music enthusiast who shattered color boundaries in music at a time when race relations in the U.S. were at a boiling point.
Kill Rock Stars Collection
The Kill Rock Stars Collection documents independent and riot grrrl artists through the business files of the Kill Rock Stars (KRS) record label. Artist files cover riot grrrls like Bikini Kill and Sleater-Kinney and consist of press releases, clippings, photographs, tour dates, radio reports, biographical information, artist proofs, and poster art.
Sing Out! Records
The Sing Out! Records document folk and related genres of music as they serve "the common cause of humanity." The collection contains information and imagery on a variety of social and political issues, including the civil and women’s rights movements, labor rights, economic and social justice, freedom of assembly, and the anti-nuclear and anti-war movements. The collection is particularly rich in its depiction of women and minorities in music.

Tom Morello Says 100% of Music Is Political

Archival Items

Use the following search terms in the online catalog to find information about posters, documents and photographs available in the Library & Archives related to the following topics:

"Alice's Restaurant"
Amnesty International
Arlo Guthrie
Armed Forces Radio
Artists Against Apartheid
Band Aid
Concert for Bangladesh
Concert for New York City
Earth Day
Farm Aid
Harry Belafonte
Joan Baez
Lilith Fair
Live Aid
Marvin Gaye
No Nukes
Pete Seeger
Public Enemy
Rage Against the Machine
Rock Against Racism
Rock the Vote
Toronto Peace Festival
USA for Africa
Vietnam
Woodstock
Woody Guthrie

CWRU - Comparative-Historical Sociology: Protest Music - Archival Materials

Protest Music

Archival Materials

Valery Saifudinov: "The Power of Music is Freedom"

Archival Collections

Tom Morello Says 100% of Music Is Political

Archival Items

American Musicological Society / Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Lecture by Mark Clague - Jimi Hendrix and “The Star-Spangled Banner”

Bono Tells Story of U2's "Bullet the Blue Sky"

Woodstock at 50 - Interviews & Exhibit

2017 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony Performance of "Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos)" by Joan Baez

Backstage at the 2013 Hall of Fame Inductions with Harry Belafonte

CWRU - Comparative-Historical Sociology: Protest Music - Archival Materials

Protest Music

​Archival Materials

Valery Saifudinov: "The Power of Music is Freedom"

Archival Collections

Tom Morello Says 100% of Music Is Political

Archival Items

American Musicological Society / Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Lecture by Mark Clague - Jimi Hendrix and “The Star-Spangled Banner”

Bono Tells Story of U2's "Bullet the Blue Sky"

Woodstock at 50 - Interviews & Exhibit

2017 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony Performance of "Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos)" by Joan Baez

Backstage at the 2013 Hall of Fame Inductions with Harry Belafonte

Archival Materials