Monday, May 30, 2011

History of The Great Speckled Bird



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You can see the History of The Great Speckled Bird at The old Decatur Court House.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cover of the v.2, n.17 issue (1969)http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
The Great Speckled Bird Publisher Atlanta Cooperative News Project
Founded March 8, 1968
Language English
Ceased publication 1976
Headquarters Atlanta
Circulation 22,000
ISSN 0017-369X
OCLC number 1751560
Official website http://www.greatspeckledbird.org/

The Great Speckled Bird was a counterculture underground newspaper based in Atlanta, Georgia from 1968 to 1976.[1] It was founded by New Left activists from Emory University and members of the Southern Student Organizing Committee, an offshoot of SDS. Founding editors included Tom and Stephanie Coffin, Howard Romaine and Gene Guerrero Jr.[2] The first issue appeared March 8, 1968, and within 6 months it was publishing weekly. By 1970 it was the third largest weekly newspaper in Georgia with a paid circulation of 22,000 copies. The paper subscribed to Liberation News Service, a leftist news collective. The office of The Great Speckled Bird at the north end of Piedmont Park (240 Westminster Dr.) was firebombed and destroyed on May 6, 1972 after the paper published an exposé of the mayor of Atlanta.

A quote from The Bird: "These are our opinions and we are entitled to them, they are not written anywhere else. So, don't expect us to tell both sides of the story. The big newspapers, magazines, TV and radio do that all day long. Here you will hear our side of things."

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is a fantastic exhibit. The story of the sixties after King's death, and the first half of the 70's until Jimmy Carter's election as President, IN GEORGIA, will not be complete until all of this paper's reporting,and other alternative news media are taken into account. Music, Art, Culture, Politics, Organizing - workers, students, citizens - and new forms of Leisure all burst from this paper's pages. 10 - 4 free, on the square, check it out..(get it open on weekends) Howard Romaine, Attorney at Law, Nashville.

Anonymous said...

great, needs more time to see..janice