# Hudson River Sloop Clearwater

The Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, Inc. is a nonprofit organization founded in 1966 by folk musician Pete Seeger and his wife Toshi Seeger. Based in Beacon, New York, the organization focuses on protecting the Hudson River through environmental education and advocacy.

## Historical Background

The Seegers established the organization partly in response to community opposition against a proposed power plant at Storm King Mountain. Within three years, they commissioned the construction of the sloop Clearwater, a wooden sailing vessel designed to serve as a mobile platform for river advocacy. The vessel launched in 1969 from Maine.

## Environmental Mission

The organization has concentrated on addressing major pollution crises, particularly General Electric's contamination of the Hudson River with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) between 1947 and 1977. This contamination caused a range of harmful effects to wildlife and people who eat fish from the river or drink the water. The group's activism contributed to the EPA designating the area as a Superfund site.

In 2002, Pete Seeger was recognized as a "Clean Water Hero."

## Educational Programs

The sloop functions as a movable classroom, laboratory, stage, and forum, offering environmental education to school groups.

## Great Hudson River Revival

The organization's annual Great Hudson River Revival, held at Croton Point Park in Croton-on-Hudson, New York, served as both fundraiser and consciousness-raising event from the late 1960s until its final edition in 2022. The weekend festival drew over a half million people over the decades.

The festival was discontinued in 2022 partly due to COVID-19 pandemic impacts. A new Hudson River Music Festival began in 2025 at the same venue.

## Cultural Legacy

The Walkabout Clearwater Chorus, founded by Seeger in 1984, continues performing environmental and social justice music throughout the Hudson Valley.