"Freewheelin"' was one of 50 recordings chosen by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry in 2002. The citation read: "This album is considered by some to be the most important collection of original songs issued in the 1960s. It includes "Blowin' in the Wind," the era's popular and powerful protest anthem." The following year (2003), "Rolling Stone" "Magazine" ranked it number 97 on their list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, maintaining the rating in a 2012 revised list.