Striking a Historical Note

By ALLAN M. WINKLER

The first time I ever played my guitar in class almost ended my musical career. I was teaching American history for a year at the University of Helsinki, and as I prepared to lecture about the civil-rights movement, I decided to sing a couple of songs. I was not an accomplished guitarist. I had bought my first guitar in college, in the 1960s, and had fooled around without ever taking formal lessons for the next decade and a half.

At my first semipublic appearance back in 1978, my