<div>UPDATE on Betsy Siggins Memoir, Aug 2025: THANK you to all you kind and generous donors making this possible!! From Betsy Siggins: "Liz Thomson and I have been hard at work forming the background on my family, and Liz has done a great job digging through my family history.  The genealogy about my family is eye opening and importantly relates my family members to the early days of America. Many interviews and relevant stories have been relayed to Liz. We're working on 2 initial chapters to prepare for the possibility of attracting a publisher. It's pretty exciting to see my memoirs take form."
</div>
<div>Betsy continues to collaborate with FARHOF on seminars about the history of the Folk Music Revival, and Club 47/Passsim .
</div>
<div>SO, friends, we ask for your sharing the word again about Betsy's GFM page here, as the publishing, lecture travel, mailings, and press releases will all be part of getting Betsy's witness to folk revival history out to the public. If you are a NEW donor, thank you for supporting this effort; if you have already contributed, we are so grateful and appreciate your spreading the word on social media and word of mouth!
</div>
<div>-----------------------------------------------------------------
</div>
<div>We are sharing this Go Fund Me page for contributions that will enable our treasured Betsy Siggins to work with author Liz Thomson on the memoir she has long yearned to complete. <em>Bad Boys &amp; Daring Girls: Betsy Siggins &amp; The Story of Club 47 &amp; The Music That Changed the World. </em>This biography will both chronicle and honor Betsy’s life’s work and times and, in so doing, fill in the missing pieces of a culturally important mosaic. The book’s value is immense, capturing the stories of a generation and a genre from the perspective of witness, participant, cheerleader, and influencer. Betsy’s involvement in and on the folk world spanned from the late 1950s to the present, with her holding folk music’s institutional memory eager to be recorded and preserved.
</div>
<div>Let’s help Betsy and Liz capture the personalities of these exceptional musician friends who invigorated folk music and defined it for generations, among them Tom Rush, Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Judy Collins, Taj Mahal, Maria Muldaur, and many others. Betsy was there from the outset, helping to shape the Boston/Cambridge music scene. She housed and communed with influential musicians in times of racial segregation – many of those who slept on her couch were barred from Boston hotels and department stores. Betsy’s spirit was her hallmark always, and her drive and tenacity fueled the success of clubs such as Club 47 and Passim, where she was the link that helped vitalize the powerful folk movement that has spawned so many distinguished and shape-shifting careers.
</div>
<div>As a community, we can help Betsy raise the money to engage Liz Thomson to travel from England to interview her and her many friends and colleagues in the folk music community. Liz will utilize the Folk New England Collection at UMass Amherst, a collection that Betsy founded and curated. Liz will also research Betsy’s work in Washington DC with the Smithsonian’s Folklife Project, and in New York City where, in the 1980s, Betsy set up some of the earliest projects to help those suffering from a new and frightening disease which the world would come to know as AIDS.
</div>
<div>A classmate of Joan Baez during their spell at Boston University, Betsy witnessed her friend’s rapid rise from Club 47 to become the unannounced star of the 1959 Newport Folk Festival. She was in the front row at Newport in 1965 when her pal Bob Dylan went electric, and she was the one person with him in the green room right after. Later that evening, Betsy witnessed Dylan and Johnny Cash as they song-swapped late into the night in a hotel room.
</div>
<div>Betsy can be found nowadays sharing laughter, concerts, friendship, and social hang-outs with musicians of all generations, a front row supporter when she can attend shows, including the Newport Folk Festival and Folk Alliance International. Her musician friends Ellis Paul, Mark Erelli, Lori McKenna, Mary Gauthier and countless others respect and honor her presence, with Betsy being a source of support for many.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Your contribution to this project will help chronicle this important piece of untold history. Any contribution helps, and Betsy's and Liz's project will still be able to benefit from your donation no matter what final total is realized. Thank you in advance for being a huge part in bringing this book to life!
</div>
<div><strong>We are also excited to announce that all donors contributing over $500 will be invited to a private party launch event when the book is completed.</strong>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Liz Thomson is a London-based journalist and author, and the founder of The Village Trip, an annual festival celebrating arts and activism in Greenwich Village and the East Village.
</div>
<div>Praise for her book Joan Baez: The Last Leaf, which was awarded the Certificate of Merit in the Blues, Folk, and World Music category of the 2021 Association for Recorded Sound Collections Awards for Excellence in Historical Recorded Sound Research:
</div>
<div>“With decades of access [Thomson] has written the definitive biography” – Michael Simmons, Mojo*****
</div>
<div>“She writes beautifully and covers a cram-filled, spectacular life in a very knowledgeable way... a very well sourced and a very thoughtful book” – Will Swift, author of The Kennedys Amidst the Gathering Storm
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>Photo credit</strong>: <strong>Dick Waterman. Bob Dylan and Betsy Siggins</strong>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>Sincerely, </strong>
</div>
<div><strong>-Tom Rush: musician, veteran of Club 47 &amp; folk scene revival</strong>
</div>
<div><strong>-Joe Spaulding: ret. president &amp; CEO of Boch Center, founder Folk Americana Roots Hall of Fame, musician</strong>
</div>
<div><strong>-Monica Mansfield: music photographer, author, small concert host/musician supporter</strong>
</div>

Anais Mitchell

MICHAEL MAGGIANI

Strymish Jon

William F Taylor

Geoff Peck

Robert Russell

Maria and Jon Maddox

Barry Kasindorf

Mary Novak-Beatty

Anonymous

Joseph Boyd

Melissa Bugg

Radoslav and Kimm

Gerry Katz

karen kosko

Paul Bellefeuille

Jeffrey Johnson

Help Betsy Siggins Chronicle Folk Music History

platform

Platform is iOS

Android

Adyen Google Pay Development Audience

$opt_dummy_attribute

English only

Deprecate Stripe Legacy

dyn_template_ids

Adyen V6 Bene Transfer & MyMoney Campaign Organizers - test01

Bene transfer V6 and AdyenV6MyMoney Campaign Organizers - production

OneTrust next-app audience

fundCountryCode

NextDoor Share Option Users

Fundraisers with Reactions feature capability

fundCurrencyCode

US + Non-charity COs Only

locale

fund country is US and user language is English

personId

comms-internal-person-ids

Enhanced Story Experience Users

Suggested Goal Experience Users

user language is English and fund country: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

Poster share - new funds eligible (newest 9/18)

Streaming widgets beta user

paymentProcessor

3DS payment method

user language is English and fundCountry: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

GoFundMe Employees

ipAddress

Mark Rieth IP Address

Version 9.2.0 and above

Fund is in English speaking country

desktop

Android v12.11.0 and above

Platform is Android

paymentMethodType

checkoutType

Payment method type group to be vaulted on success

admin pr kit prod

EUR Donation Upsell

Share Text generation Skip Fundraiser

(prod) new funds eligible for amp12 (UGC gallery)

fintrac_cad_idv_form_v2 audience

paymentProcessorAccountId

fallback mode accounts

proCampaignId

p2p legacy startfundraising page

AMP24 New Funds Only PROD (DO NOT MODIFY)

countryCode

charityId

UKCharities

Federated Search Internal Testing

route.pathname community

US Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks Feature Audience

Supporter Comments Eligible Funds

International Only

fundId

braze fundraiser group 

Payment Identity Transfers ATO Risk Check (Targeted) - Production

Fundraiser Saved Payment Method Rate Limit Bypass (Production)

leaderboard-partner-id-audience-givepanel

Version 9.2.1 and above

AUD Donation Upsell audience

fundraiserCountryCode is US/EN

Active Fundraiser - Smart Default Cadence

DAF Internal

Vault on success card payment method

Platform is iOS v11.0.0 and above

Desktop users

Person ids

United States (US) users

allow yuno fundraisers for test

Mexico country code

Posters INTL

NPO Profile Opted-In

iOS at or above 12.4.0

non-US recurring donors

Canada Campaign Owner Group

Fundraiser Without Meta Link

Scheduler payment tester gorup

charityCommunityId

Charities allow to be claimed unclaimed (PRD)

Canada (CA) users

currencyCode

UC Tipping v20250115 International

pymk_production_xplr_fe_team

Android at or above 12.2.0

Profile photo entry point audience

smart goals (fundraiser/manage) on test01

Activity Tracking v1 Beta Testing

writePath

Stream Notification

start gfm intl allowed locales

Platform is iOS v11.2.0 and above

unclaimed charities

prod_ach_audience

AI Chatbot Audience

amp13 only new funds (prod) (anyword auto)

UC Flow Enabled (Prod)

Payment Identity Beneficiary Verification - Production

shared notification bell audience

Custom users

ach frontend audience

Android v11.0.0 and above

Users Receiving Payments Paused Notifications

smart goals test01

Manage Coach - US English Organizers Only + new funds only

Team EGG - IP Address list

Fundraiser Without Instagram Deep Link

Native 11.4.0 and above

UC Tipping v20250107

Users Receiving Braze KYC Validation Failed

Native 11.3.0 and above

Influencer - Prod

US fundraisers and US users

ai_title_page

anyword

openai

control

manual_entry

userEmail

template_id

userId

fundUrl

isCharityCo

email

appVersion

shouldBucketIntoExperiment

partnerId

donationCadence

isActiveFundraiser

isPartner

isMobile

npoProfileOptIn

fundIsLinkedWithMeta

hasSessionDonation

isCampaignOwner

fundHasInstagramDeepLink

Native 11.4.0 and higher

New funds eligible - Video Sharing (PROD)

GB Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks V3 Rollout Audience

Thank you V3 testing whitelist

isRecurringFriendly

Is Recurring Friendly

Excluded funds - Video Sharing

Logged In Users

CH Donation Upsell audience

Android v10.6.0 and above

userCurrencyCode

Localized Currency

v11.5.0 and above

testAudience

pathname

Survicate

appVersion is at or above 12.8.0

Non-charity fund

isChallengeFundraiser

challenge-fundraisers

Payment Identity Launch Verification - Production

New funds eligible - Posters v2

CAD Donation Upsell Audience

Braze Email Tester

NPO Profile Opted-Out

iOS App Version

hasKnownDonors

PYMK has donors

iOS v12.3.0 and above

Just $821$ to go! Make an impact.

Help Betsy Siggins Chronicle Folk Music History

Just $821 to go!
Make an impact.