Sing My Whole Life Long: Jenny Vincent’s Life in Folk Music and Activism

Born in Minnesota and raised in Chicago, Jenny Vincent was educated at a progressive private school and Vassar College. Introduced to international folk music at an early age, she remains a performer and champion of this music of the people.

In 1936, Jenny and her first husband visited northern New Mexico at the invitation of D. H. Lawrence’s widow. Enchanted with the place and its people, they purchased a ranch that has been Jenny’s home ever since.

Jenny believed strongly in social advocacy, which she expressed through song. She performed with such luminaries as Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, Malvina Reynolds, and Earl Robinson, all social activists who used music as a voice for world peace, civil liberties, and human rights.

Jenny and her second husband supported such causes as the Salt of the Earth strike, Native American rights, and the rising Chicano movement. Through it all Jenny raised a family and continued her music. In her nineties, Jenny continues performing, and in 2006 was honored by the University of New Mexico and the New Mexico State Historic Preservation Division for her many decades as a prominent cultural activist.