Some of the 20th century’s most prominent folk singers, including Woody Guthrie, Sis Cunningham, Pete Seeger, and Burl Ives, were also political activists with ties to the American Communist Party. As a result, the FBI and other organizations kept meticulous files on them and worked to push them from the cultural realm. Through music, video, news clippings, and Freedom of Information Act records, we will explore these artists and the surveillance and suppression they faced.