Music in Activism

From their family legacy of the Folk Music Center in Claremont to music’s role in activism, Ellen Harper ’87 P’95 P’96 and Peter Harper ’96 P’27 had much to discuss during a public conversation about Ellen’s memoir, Always a Song, at Pitzer’s Family Weekend on November 9. Mother and son reminisced about how music has shaped their entire lives.  

Ellen Harper has been around the folk music scene since an early age. In the opening section of her memoir, she writes: “My life has seen an endless flow of musicians, activists, and artists eddying through my home and the Folk Music Center my parents founded and I maintain today.”

Her parents opened the Folk Music Center in 1958. Ellen’s mother, Dorothy Chase, performed and taught music, and her father, Charles Chase, repaired any instruments that came his way. Ellen learned to play, perform, and teach guitar and other folk instruments at her mother’s knee. Later she would raise her children in the Folk Music Center’s atmosphere, too.  

“The Folk Music Center revolutionized music in Claremont,” she said. “Before we opened, it was only classical music here.” 

Peter has become a musician in his own right, producing albums and touring all over the country and throughout the country. He looked back at his childhood at the music center with fondness.

“The Folk Music Center is one of the last remaining spaces that holds magic in the world,” he said.

That magic creates a space for community engagement through music. Ellen and Peter both emphasized the value of creating such space in the realm of protests and activism.

“Guitars are the weapons we use [in the fight],” said Ellen.

Her son agreed.

“I don’t think we are a listening culture right now [as we were back in the folk music era],” he said. “We’re a talking culture—and not talking to or with each other, but at each other.”

Ellen and Peter recalled how Pitzer students have invited the Folk Music Center to events in the past. They expressed hope that one day that will happen again, combining the power of songs and community building.

Three generations of Harpers have attended Pitzer, including Peter’s son and Ellen’s grandson Saul Harper ’27. In many ways, their family reflects the College’s legacy as well as their own. It is a legacy that fearlessly engages with the world through creativity and a collective sound that stands out from all the rest.