229:
215:
served as a center for
Houston's countercultural community, spinning off a number of alternative institutions including several high school underground newspapers, a food coop, a drug crisis center, and a community-run rock venue called Of Our Own. “The main thing about Houston was that it was all
289:
were attacked several times in drive-by shootings, car bombings, and one pipe-bombing, in which no one, fortunately, was seriously injured. Some of the papers' advertisers also faced threats and occasional violence from nightriders, and the nearby Dreyer
Galleries, an art gallery owned by Thorne
266:
was published by a theoretically leaderless leftist collective, and for the first 18 months of its existence it pushed an agitprop antiwar/radical political message, leavening the politics with lively graphics and countercultural arts coverage. Sales, which were mostly by casual street vendors,
240:
Initially biweekly, the paper went on hiatus for two months starting in
February 1971 and then, with $ 3000 in the bank which they had accumulated through a series of fundraisers, they resumed publishing in April 1971 as a weekly. After the hiatus the paper changed its focus and became more
28:
317:
Infighting among the collective, staff burnout, financial difficulties, and the general decline of the underground press which paralleled the winding down of the
Vietnam War led to the paper's demise. The final issue was Vol. 4, No. 9 (August 3, 1972).
305:
office. "The incident," Mankad said, "was one among many threats and acts of violence against progressive and radical institutions in
Houston." The perpetrators were never identified but were suspected by some to be the same vigilantes, possibly
199:
was one of the most important of the second generation of underground papers—developing a reputation for its advocacy journalism, power structure research, and arts coverage. In a 1976 book about modern Texas folklore, Hermes Nye called
504:
325:
was featured in an exhibition called "Underground in H-Town" at
Houston's Museum of Printing History, which highlighted "the importance of minority and alternative publications in the construct of local history."
335:
260:
began to pay more attention to local news and electoral politics, which it had previously disdained, and added such traditional newspaper appurtenances as beat reporters and a city desk.
208:: "There is a solid intelligence to the reviews and cultural articles... It is a radical journalism grounded in fact... resolved and balanced in content and full of common purpose..."
134:
270:
In 1972 a staff split, led by former business manager Bill McElrath who believed the paper was losing its revolutionary zeal, resulted in the formation of a rival publication,
655:
193:(with the exclamation point as a graphical design flourish) when it was discovered that another publication (a UFO newsletter) was already using the name.
645:
204:"a well written, sprightly sheet... also had an eye for vivid, telling graphics and poetry of a high level." Historian Laurence Leamer wrote about
514:
650:
241:
mainstream, shifting its target audience from dope-smoking revolutionary youth to the older "liberal intelligentsia" who listened to the local
220:
did was to help to identify all these pockets of progressive politics and kindred spirits, and pull them together into a cohesive...network."
314:, Geoffrey Rips wrote that "the Houston Police Department conducted only lax, inconclusive investigations of the bombings and shootings."
577:(New York: Facts on File, 2010), Chapter 11: "The New Left and the Underground Press" by John McMillian, Biography of Thorne Dreyer, 502.
417:
147:, one of the earliest and most influential of the Sixties underground papers. The original editorial collective was composed of
161:; community organizers Cam Duncan and Sue Mithun Duncan; and radical journalists Dennis Fitzgerald and Judy Gitlin Fitzgerald.
523:
Kane, Karen, "Thorne Dreyer: Echoes of rebellion and random gunfire," from "The '60s: The young radicals, then and now,"
606:
on July 15, 1976 from
Metropolitan Archives of the Houston Public Library. Audio tape (1 hr, 23 min.) and transcript.
640:
635:
53:
558:
165:
565:
109:
301:
that an arrow with a note saying, “The
Knights of the Ku Klux Klan is watching you,” was shot into the
291:
180:(later known as Kerry Awn), and noted music writers and musicologists Tary Owens and John Lomax III.
603:
559:
Rossinow, Doug, The
Politics of Authenticity: Liberalism, Christianity, and the New Left in America
278:
itself suffered a split when several staffers subsequently left to form a third alternative paper,
582:
Voices from the
Underground : Insider Histories of the Vietnam Era Underground Press, Part 1
148:
75:
546:
Smoking Typewriters: The Sixties Underground Press and the Rise of Alternative Media in America
413:
228:
157:
126:
78:, Victoria Smith, Sue Mithun Duncan, Cam Duncan, Dennis Fitzgerald, and Judy Gitlin Fitzgerald
567:
On the Ground: An Illustrated Anecdotal History of the Sixties Underground Press in the U.S.
405:
570:(Oakland, CA: PM Press, 2011), pp. v-vii, 2, 18-22, 46-49, 89-90, 142-43, 179, 190-91, 196.
27:
242:
130:
478:
440:
629:
138:
354:
267:
averaged around 10,000 copies, both before and after the paper went weekly in 1971.
587:
494:
410:
Voices from the Underground: Insider Histories of the Vietnam Era Underground Press
443:
by Shane Patrick Boyle, Houston Independent Media Center, retrieved July 6, 2010.
294:, had bullets shot through its front door and yellow paint thrown on its walls.
236:, Houston, Texas, Vol. 3, No. 1, June 8, 1971, with photo of the paper's staff.
173:
310:
members, who bombed Pacifica radio station KPFT twice in 1970. In his book,
177:
33:
615:
189:, but, starting with issue No. 13 (Jan. 17, 1970), the name was changed to
609:
143:
370:, edited by Francis Edward Abernethy (Austin: The Encino Press, 1976).
575:
Conflicts in American History: A Documentary Encyclopedia, Volume VII
530:
Siemssen, John, "Remembering Houston's First Alternative Newspaper,"
211:
Thorne Dreyer, speaking at Zine Fest Houston in June 2009, said that
553:
Uncovering the Sixties: The Life and Times of the Underground Press
183:
The first twelve issues of the paper were published under the name
32:
Cover of the October 28, 1971, issue. Artwork by Kerry Fitzgerald (
539:
The Paper Revolutionaries : The Rise of the Underground Press
381:
The Paper Revolutionaries : The Rise of the Underground Press
227:
515:"Houston's '60s night scene: Joplin sang here for $ 20 a night,"
357:
Chronicling America, Library of Congress, retrieved July 6, 2010.
285:
During the three years of the paper's existence, the offices of
246:
307:
584:(East Lansing : Michigan State University Press, 2011).
429:
The Paper Revolutionaries: The Rise of the Underground Press
412:
ed. by Ken Wachsberger (Incredible Librarian Books, 1993)
366:
Nye, Hermes, "Texas Tea and Rainy Day Woman," p. 118, from
164:
Dreyer, a Houston native, and Smith had worked together at
336:
List of underground newspapers of the 1960s counterculture
168:(LNS) in New York before coming to Houston to help found
469:, (San Francisco: City Lights Books, 1981), pp. 114-115.
431:
by Laurence Leamer (Simon & Schuster, 1972), p. 105.
406:"Space City: From Opposition to Organizational Collapse"
133:
from June 5, 1969 to August 3, 1972. The founders were
155:in 1966; Victoria Smith, a former reporter for the
108:
100:
90:
82:
67:
59:
49:
41:
441:"Underground in H-Town at Printing History Museum"
137:veterans and former members of the staff of the
622:and Sixties Houston at Zine Fest Houston 2009.
8:
274:, publishing its first issue in April 1972.
16:
541:(New York : Simon and Schuster, 1972).
548:(New York: Oxford University Press, 2011).
467:The Campaign Against the Underground Press
383:(New York : Simon and Schuster, 1972)
15:
604:Oral history interview with Thorne Dreyer
368:What's Going On? In Modern Texas Folklore
610:Thorne Dreyer interviewed by Jeff Farias
151:, who had been the founding "funnel" of
481:the Museum of Printing History, Houston
347:
573:Trodd, Zoe and Brian L. Johnson, Eds,
452:Mankad, Raj, "Underground in H-Town,"
392:Mankad, Raj, "Underground in H-Town,"
312:Campaign Against the Underground Press
7:
656:Publications disestablished in 1972
561:, Columbia University Press (1998).
14:
616:Thorne Dreyer and Sherwood Bishop
555:(New York: Pantheon Books, 1985).
525:Texas Magazine, Houston Chronicle
517:Texas Magazine, Houston Chronicle
355:About this newspaper: Space city!
135:Students for a Democratic Society
26:
646:Newspapers published in Houston
527:, Dec. 7, 1980, pp. 10–14.
510:, Wisconsin Historical Society.
651:Newspapers established in 1969
618:discuss underground newspaper
290:Dreyer's mother, noted artist
1:
72:Founding Editorial Collective
489:Resources and external links
176:as Art Director, cartoonist
612:, April 29, 2010 (25 min.).
672:
580:Wachsberger, Ken, Editor,
172:. Other staffers included
63:Space City News Collective
141:, underground newspaper,
25:
592:at the Internet Archive.
479:"Underground in H-Town,"
166:Liberation News Service
408:by Victoria Smith, in
237:
253:alumni were working.
231:
127:underground newspaper
564:Stewart, Sean, Ed.,
501:, 1960s Texas Music.
499:covers by Bill Narum
297:Raj Mankad wrote at
292:Margaret Webb Dreyer
216:spread out... What
22:
537:Leamer, Laurence,
519:, August 13, 1989.
513:Feldman, Claudia,
379:Leamer, Laurence,
238:
92:Ceased publication
45:Biweekly newspaper
641:Underground press
636:Alternative press
588:Digitized set of
544:McMillian, John,
158:St. Paul Dispatch
118:
117:
663:
482:
476:
470:
463:
457:
450:
444:
438:
432:
426:
420:
403:
397:
390:
384:
377:
371:
364:
358:
352:
178:Kerry Fitzgerald
93:
30:
23:
671:
670:
666:
665:
664:
662:
661:
660:
626:
625:
600:
532:Houston's Other
491:
486:
485:
477:
473:
465:Rips, Geoffrey,
464:
460:
451:
447:
439:
435:
427:
423:
404:
400:
391:
387:
378:
374:
365:
361:
353:
349:
344:
332:
226:
224:Change of focus
186:Space City News
91:
37:
12:
11:
5:
669:
667:
659:
658:
653:
648:
643:
638:
628:
627:
624:
623:
613:
607:
599:
596:
595:
594:
585:
578:
571:
562:
556:
549:
542:
535:
528:
521:
511:
502:
490:
487:
484:
483:
471:
458:
456:, May 21, 2010
445:
433:
421:
398:
396:, May 21, 2010
385:
372:
359:
346:
345:
343:
340:
339:
338:
331:
328:
249:, where other
243:Pacifica Radio
225:
222:
131:Houston, Texas
116:
115:
112:
106:
105:
104:Houston, Texas
102:
98:
97:
94:
88:
87:
84:
80:
79:
69:
65:
64:
61:
57:
56:
51:
47:
46:
43:
39:
38:
31:
13:
10:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
668:
657:
654:
652:
649:
647:
644:
642:
639:
637:
634:
633:
631:
621:
617:
614:
611:
608:
605:
602:
601:
597:
593:
591:
586:
583:
579:
576:
572:
569:
568:
563:
560:
557:
554:
550:
547:
543:
540:
536:
534:, Summer 1998
533:
529:
526:
522:
520:
518:
512:
509:
507:
503:
500:
498:
493:
492:
488:
480:
475:
472:
468:
462:
459:
455:
449:
446:
442:
437:
434:
430:
425:
422:
419:
418:1-879461-01-3
415:
411:
407:
402:
399:
395:
389:
386:
382:
376:
373:
369:
363:
360:
356:
351:
348:
341:
337:
334:
333:
329:
327:
324:
319:
315:
313:
309:
304:
300:
295:
293:
288:
283:
281:
277:
273:
268:
265:
261:
259:
256:At this time
254:
252:
248:
244:
235:
230:
223:
221:
219:
214:
209:
207:
203:
198:
194:
192:
188:
187:
181:
179:
175:
171:
167:
162:
160:
159:
154:
150:
149:Thorne Dreyer
146:
145:
140:
139:Austin, Texas
136:
132:
129:published in
128:
124:
123:
113:
111:
107:
103:
99:
95:
89:
85:
81:
77:
76:Thorne Dreyer
73:
70:
66:
62:
58:
55:
52:
48:
44:
40:
35:
29:
24:
21:
20:
619:
589:
581:
574:
566:
552:
545:
538:
531:
524:
516:
505:
496:
474:
466:
461:
453:
448:
436:
428:
424:
409:
401:
393:
388:
380:
375:
367:
362:
350:
322:
320:
316:
311:
302:
298:
296:
286:
284:
279:
275:
271:
269:
263:
262:
257:
255:
250:
239:
233:
217:
212:
210:
205:
201:
196:
195:
190:
185:
184:
182:
169:
163:
156:
152:
142:
121:
120:
119:
101:Headquarters
71:
18:
17:
620:Space City!
590:Space City!
551:Peck, Abe,
506:Space City!
497:Space City!
495:Gallery of
323:Space City!
303:Space City!
287:Space City!
276:Mockingbird
272:Mockingbird
264:Space City!
258:Space City!
245:affiliate,
234:Space City!
218:Space City!
213:Space City!
206:Space City!
202:Space City!
197:Space City!
191:Space City!
170:Space City!
122:Space City!
110:Circulation
19:Space City!
630:Categories
598:Interviews
342:References
174:Bill Narum
321:In 2010,
232:Cover of
34:Kerry Awn
330:See also
60:Owner(s)
454:OffCite
394:OffCite
299:OffCite
280:Abraxas
153:The Rag
144:The Rag
125:was an
83:Founded
54:Tabloid
416:
114:10,000
68:Editor
50:Format
508:cover
414:ISBN
247:KPFT
96:1972
86:1969
42:Type
308:KKK
251:Rag
632::
282:.
74::
36:).
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
