Anne Feeney

1951 - 2021

BiographyAnne Feeney was a local musician, activist, and attorney. Feeney toured the country and the world, but Pittsburgh remained her hometown. She remained active in local activist organizations like the Thomas Merton Center, Pittsburgh NOW and Pittsburgh Action Against Rape, which she helped organize in 1972. She was active in the environmental, labor, women’s rights, and anti-war movements. Born in Charleroi and raised in Brookline she earned her B.A. from the University of Pittsburgh in 1974 and then a law degree in 1978. Her grandfather was a union organizer in the mine’s and played the violin, he influenced her future activism and interest in music.
She always enjoyed playing music, purchasing the guitar she used throughout her career in 1967 and giving her first public performance two years later, but it wasn’t until 1989 that she devoted herself fulltime to her music career, after a twelve year career as an attorney. The rest of her life she performed around the world at protests, festivals, political rallies and labor events. Feeney released twelve recordings and is perhaps best known for the song “Have You Been to Jail for Justice” that was covered by Peter, Paul, & Mary. She received the Joe Hill Aware in 2005, a national award that honors artists and activists who support the labor movement.
She passed from complications of pneumonia related to Covid-19 on February 3, 2021 at age 69.