“We Shall Overcome” became an anthem of the American civil rights movement as activists who learned it at Highlander Folk School spread it across the South. Pete Seeger performed it for Martin Luther King, Jr., in 1957. Joan Baez sang it during the 1963 March on Washington. It was referenced by Pres. Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965 during his speech about the 1965 Voting Rights Act.