Anne Feeney
Encyclopedia
Anne Feeney is a political activist
, folk
musician
and singer-songwriter
.
, Pennsylvania
to Annabelle Runner and Edward J. Feeney. She has a sister, Kathleen, born May 3, 1953. The family moved to the nearby Brookline neighborhood
of the city of Pittsburgh in 1954. She graduated from Resurrection elementary school in 1964.
Feeney graduated from Fontbonne Academy
, a Catholic girls' high school run by the Sisters of St. Joseph
, in 1968. After saving for one year, she purchased a Martin
D-28 guitar that she retired from service after 40 years. The Vietnam War and Civil Rights Movement
were influential events that shaped her politics and songwriting. Feeney was also influenced by her grandfather, William Patrick Feeney, who was a mineworker
s' organizer
and violin
ist who also used his music in the service of political and labor causes.
In 1972 she was arrested in Miami at the Republican National Convention
where she was protesting Richard Nixon
's re-nomination for President of the United States. The charges were subsequently dismissed. Later that year she co-founded Pittsburgh Action Against Rape, which still provides services to rape victims in the Pittsburgh area. She graduated from the University of Pittsburgh
in 1974 with a Liberal Studies degree. In 1976 she joined a bluegrass band - Cucumber Rapids. Feeney played rhythm guitar and acoustic double bass. The other members of the band were John Wiley Nelson (guitar), Paul Boas (harmonica), Gary Mohler (guitar and dobro) and Bill Vandivier (banjo, bass and trumpet). Later on, Larry Zierath (mandolin) replaced Gary Mohler, and violinist John Mattes joined the band shortly thereafter. The group disbanded in 1977. Feeney married labor attorney Ron Berlin on November 19, 1977. She graduated from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law
in 1978. Feeney is the mother of two children, Dan (1979) and Amy (1981) Berlin. She worked for 12 years as a trial attorney and served as president of the Pittsburgh Musicians' Union
(the only woman ever elected to this position) from 1997-1998. Feeney's marriage to Ron Berlin ended in divorce in 1995. She has always been involved in community activism and regional performances at political and labor rallies. She is a member of the Industrial Workers of the World
as well as the American Federation of Musicians.
Since 1991, Feeney has toured North America
and the world to perform and participate in political and labor rallies and events. Her first recording, Look to the Left, was released in 1992. Since then she has released several more albums, most recently Dump the Bosses Off Your Back. Feeney and her daughter Amy Berlin performed Feeney's song "Ain't I a Woman" at the "March for Women's Lives" in Washington, DC, on April 25, 2004.
Anne Feeney's music has been recorded by Peter, Paul and Mary
and played in concert as well. Political cartoonist Mike Konopacki
included Feeney's recording of "Union Maid
" in a flash animation in 2003. Feeney's music is frequently featured on the broadcast radio program Democracy Now!
and her anthem "Have You Been to Jail for Justice?" is featured in the documentaries This is What Democracy Looks Like, Isn't This a Time: A Tribute to Harold Leventhal and Get Up/Stand Up: The History of Pop and Protest.
In 2002, she married Swedish political artist Julie Leonardsson.
In August of 2010, while touring in Sweden, Feeney was diagnosed with small cell lung cancer. She is currently undergoing treatment for that, as well as a MAC infection in her lungs. Feeney's friends around North America have been holding benefit events to provide her living expenses since she will be unable to work for some time. Benefit concerts have been organized in Vancouver, BC, Berkeley, CA, Eugene, OR, Ft. Lauderdale, FL, Lexington, KY and most recently Pittsburgh, PA.
Activism
Activism consists of intentional efforts to bring about social, political, economic, or environmental change. Activism can take a wide range of forms from writing letters to newspapers or politicians, political campaigning, economic activism such as boycotts or preferentially patronizing...
, folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
and singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
.
Life and career
Anne Feeney was born in CharleroiCharleroi, Pennsylvania
Charleroi is a borough in Washington County, Pennsylvania, along the Monongahela River, 25 miles south of Pittsburgh. Charleroi was settled in 1890 and incorporated in 1891. The population in 1900 stood at 5,930; in 1910, 9,615; in 1920, 11,516, and in 1940, 10,784...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
to Annabelle Runner and Edward J. Feeney. She has a sister, Kathleen, born May 3, 1953. The family moved to the nearby Brookline neighborhood
Brookline (Pittsburgh)
-Early settlement:Brookline was a part of the larger West Liberty Borough before its absorption intoPittsburgh in 1908. Early in its history, the area was mostly inhabited by miners and farmers...
of the city of Pittsburgh in 1954. She graduated from Resurrection elementary school in 1964.
Feeney graduated from Fontbonne Academy
Fontbonne Academy
Fontbonne Academy is a private Roman Catholic college preparatory High School for girls, located in Milton, Massachusetts, USA. It is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston. It was started in 1954 by the Sisters of St. Joseph. The school was fully accredited in 1959 by the New...
, a Catholic girls' high school run by the Sisters of St. Joseph
Sisters of St. Joseph
The title Sisters of St. Joseph applies to several Roman Catholic religious congregations of women. The largest and oldest of these was founded in Le Puy-en-Velay, France...
, in 1968. After saving for one year, she purchased a Martin
C. F. Martin & Company
C.F. Martin & Company is a US guitar manufacturer established in 1833 by Christian Frederick Martin. Martin is highly regarded for its steel-string guitars, and is a leading mass manufacturer of flattop acoustics with models that retail for thousands of dollars and vintage instruments that often...
D-28 guitar that she retired from service after 40 years. The Vietnam War and Civil Rights Movement
Civil rights movement
The civil rights movement was a worldwide political movement for equality before the law occurring between approximately 1950 and 1980. In many situations it took the form of campaigns of civil resistance aimed at achieving change by nonviolent forms of resistance. In some situations it was...
were influential events that shaped her politics and songwriting. Feeney was also influenced by her grandfather, William Patrick Feeney, who was a mineworker
Miner
A miner is a person whose work or business is to extract ore or minerals from the earth. Mining is one of the most dangerous trades in the world. In some countries miners lack social guarantees and in case of injury may be left to cope without assistance....
s' organizer
Union organizer
A union organizer is a specific type of trade union member or an appointed union official. A majority of unions appoint rather than elect their organizers....
and violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
ist who also used his music in the service of political and labor causes.
In 1972 she was arrested in Miami at the Republican National Convention
Republican National Convention
The Republican National Convention is the presidential nominating convention of the Republican Party of the United States. Convened by the Republican National Committee, the stated purpose of the convocation is to nominate an official candidate in an upcoming U.S...
where she was protesting Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
's re-nomination for President of the United States. The charges were subsequently dismissed. Later that year she co-founded Pittsburgh Action Against Rape, which still provides services to rape victims in the Pittsburgh area. She graduated from the University of Pittsburgh
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...
in 1974 with a Liberal Studies degree. In 1976 she joined a bluegrass band - Cucumber Rapids. Feeney played rhythm guitar and acoustic double bass. The other members of the band were John Wiley Nelson (guitar), Paul Boas (harmonica), Gary Mohler (guitar and dobro) and Bill Vandivier (banjo, bass and trumpet). Later on, Larry Zierath (mandolin) replaced Gary Mohler, and violinist John Mattes joined the band shortly thereafter. The group disbanded in 1977. Feeney married labor attorney Ron Berlin on November 19, 1977. She graduated from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law
University of Pittsburgh School of Law
The University of Pittsburgh School of Law was founded in 1895, and became a charter member of the Association of American Law Schools in 1900...
in 1978. Feeney is the mother of two children, Dan (1979) and Amy (1981) Berlin. She worked for 12 years as a trial attorney and served as president of the Pittsburgh Musicians' Union
American Federation of Musicians
The American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada is a labor union of professional musicians in the United States and Canada...
(the only woman ever elected to this position) from 1997-1998. Feeney's marriage to Ron Berlin ended in divorce in 1995. She has always been involved in community activism and regional performances at political and labor rallies. She is a member of the Industrial Workers of the World
Industrial Workers of the World
The Industrial Workers of the World is an international union. At its peak in 1923, the organization claimed some 100,000 members in good standing, and could marshal the support of perhaps 300,000 workers. Its membership declined dramatically after a 1924 split brought on by internal conflict...
as well as the American Federation of Musicians.
Since 1991, Feeney has toured North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
and the world to perform and participate in political and labor rallies and events. Her first recording, Look to the Left, was released in 1992. Since then she has released several more albums, most recently Dump the Bosses Off Your Back. Feeney and her daughter Amy Berlin performed Feeney's song "Ain't I a Woman" at the "March for Women's Lives" in Washington, DC, on April 25, 2004.
Anne Feeney's music has been recorded by Peter, Paul and Mary
Peter, Paul and Mary
Peter, Paul and Mary were an American folk-singing trio whose nearly 50-year career began with their rise to become a paradigm for 1960s folk music. The trio was composed of Peter Yarrow, Paul Stookey and Mary Travers...
and played in concert as well. Political cartoonist Mike Konopacki
Mike Konopacki
Mike Konopacki is an American political cartoonist from Wisconsin, specializing in labor issues.- Background and early career :A 1974 graduate of the University of Wisconsin–Madison Mike Konopacki (1951? - ) is an American political cartoonist from Wisconsin, specializing in labor issues.-...
included Feeney's recording of "Union Maid
Union Maid
"Union Maid" is a union song written by Woody Guthrie in response to a request for a union song from a female point of view. Along with "Talking Union", this song was one of the many pro-union songs written by Guthrie during his time as a member of the Almanac Singers...
" in a flash animation in 2003. Feeney's music is frequently featured on the broadcast radio program Democracy Now!
Democracy Now!
Democracy Now! and its staff have received several journalism awards, including the Gracie Award from American Women in Radio & Television; the George Polk Award for its 1998 radio documentary Drilling and Killing: Chevron and Nigeria's Oil Dictatorship, on the Chevron Corporation and the deaths of...
and her anthem "Have You Been to Jail for Justice?" is featured in the documentaries This is What Democracy Looks Like, Isn't This a Time: A Tribute to Harold Leventhal and Get Up/Stand Up: The History of Pop and Protest.
In 2002, she married Swedish political artist Julie Leonardsson.
In August of 2010, while touring in Sweden, Feeney was diagnosed with small cell lung cancer. She is currently undergoing treatment for that, as well as a MAC infection in her lungs. Feeney's friends around North America have been holding benefit events to provide her living expenses since she will be unable to work for some time. Benefit concerts have been organized in Vancouver, BC, Berkeley, CA, Eugene, OR, Ft. Lauderdale, FL, Lexington, KY and most recently Pittsburgh, PA.
Compilations
- As part of Wild Wimmin for Peace: The Great Peace March, 1986
- Vote in November - Election 2004 by: Anti-Theft Device, 2004
Solo albums
- Look to the Left, 1992
- Heartland (Live), 1994
- Have You Been to Jail for Justice?, 2001
- Union Maid, 2003
- Original Recordings, 2004
- If I Can't Dance, 2006
- Dump the Bosses Off Your Back, 2008
- Enchanted Way, 2010