Research Catalog

Collection of 32 Digger broadsides.

Title
Collection of 32 Digger broadsides.
Author
Communication Company.
Publication
San Francisco : The Communication Company and others, [1966]-1967.

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TextPermit needed Berg Coll+ Counterculture Diggers C65 1966Schwarzman Building - Berg Collection Room 320

Details

Additional Authors
  • Anderson, Chester.
  • Braudigan, Richard, 1935-
  • Bryant, Melvin D.
  • Cummings, E. E. (Edward Estlin), 1984-1962.
  • G., Allen.
  • McClure, Michael.
  • Free City Collective (San Francisco, Calif.)
Description
[32] pieces, in enclosures ; ill.; 28x22 cm. - 30x13cm.
Subjects
Genre/Form
Broadsides – California – San Francisco – 20th century.
Note
  • Mimeographed on a Gestetener machine in black and in color, on paper stock of white, beige, salmon, aquamarine, tan and brown.
  • Contents described, with color images, in finding aid prepared by seller (Division Leap, Portland OR)..
  • Several broadsides printed on both sides; one comprising two leaves by Chester Anderson (Uncle Tim).
  • The Diggers evolved from the San Francisco Mime Troupe, an anarchist, guerilla, streat-theater group in San Francisco, and greatly enlarged the scope of their activities in the year 1965-1973; they also inspired a sister group in London. They took their name from the mid-17th-century English Diggers (and Levellers) - revolutionary Utopians who exploited the dislocations of the Civil War to promulgate their vision of a propertyless, classless society. The most famous services provided by the San Francisco Diggers were distributing free food every day in Golden Gate Park, and their Free Stores, in which everything (clothing, tools, books, etc.) was free. The Diggers coined various slogans that became popular in counterculture circles and soon after in society at large. The besk known of these are "Do your own thing" and "Today is the first day of the rest of your life."
  • The Communication Company was the Diggers' publishing partner.
  • "Chester Valentine John Anderson (August 11, 1932 - April 11, 1991) was a novelist, poet, and editor in the underground press. Raised in Florida, he attended the University of Miami from 1952 to 1956, before becoming a beatnik coffee house poet in Greenwich Village and San Francisco's North Beach. As a poet, he wrote under the name C. V. J. Anderson and edited the little magazines Beatitude and Underground. In journalism, he specialized in rock and roll. In that area, he was a friend of Paul Williams and edited Crawdaddy! for a few issues in 1968-1969. He also wrote science fiction, due in part to the influence of Michael Kurland. Anderson's The Butterfly Kid is the first part of what is called the Greenwich Village Trilogy [...]. He was also a gifted musician, played two part inventions with two recorders simultaneously, played duets with Laurence M. Janifer at the Cafe Rienzi. He subsequently moved to San Francisco during the Summer of Love and, along with Claude Hayward, was one of the founders of the Communications Company (ComCo), the 'publishing arm' of the anarchist guerrilla streat theater group The Diggers, having bought a mimeograph with his second royalty check from Butterfly Kid" - from Wikipedia.
  • Because the Diggers favored anonymous publication, the great majority of poems and other broadsides are unsigned.
  • Emmet Grogan (ca. 1943-1978), referred to ironically in one brief broadside ("Emmet Grogan is Back! so what the diggers"), was a founder of the group.
Access (note)
  • Restricted access;
Call Number
Berg Coll+ Counterculture Diggers C65 1966
OCLC
811140290
Author
Communication Company.
Title
Collection of 32 Digger broadsides.
Imprint
San Francisco : The Communication Company and others, [1966]-1967.
Access
Restricted access; request permission in holding division.
Local Note
This collection was compiled by artist Robert Rusk, as the broadsides were published and posted in the streets of San Francisco. It includes some of the earliest Diggers sheets, some predating their association with the Communication Company. Highlights include three broadsides of poems by Richard Brautigan, as well as Michael McLure's poem "War is Decor in My Cavern Cave." Several of the broadsides are unrecorded in the Diggers official archive or in McKenna and Hollander (Notes From a Revolution, 2012).
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Added Author
Anderson, Chester. Contributor
Braudigan, Richard, 1935- Contributor
Bryant, Melvin D. Contributor
Cummings, E. E. (Edward Estlin), 1984-1962. Contributor
G., Allen. Contributor
McClure, Michael. Contributor
Free City Collective (San Francisco, Calif.)
Rusk, Robert. Former owner
Research Call Number
Berg Coll+ Counterculture Diggers C65 1966
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