DOCSLIB.ORG

UC San Francisco Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
UC San Francisco Electronic Theses and Dissertations UCSF UC San Francisco Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Beyond the Free Clinics Origin Myth: Reconsidering free clinics in the context of 1960s and 1970s social movements and radical health activism Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5w98841g Author Nibbe, Niki Amandala Publication Date 2012 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California “Beyond The Free Clinics Origin Myth: Reconsidering free clinics in the context of 1960s and 1970s social movements and radical health activism” Copyright ©2012, Niki A. Nibbe ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my friends, family and colleagues, without whose support and encouragement this project would not have been possible. I would also like to thank Scott Wilkinson for sharing his extensive knowledge of Berkeley Free Clinic history with me, and with all those who came before me. I dedicate this paper to keepers of the flame everywhere, and in particular to the two in my life, Linda Sue and Ronald Nibbe. iii ABSTRACT Beyond The Free Clinics Origin Myth: Reconsidering free clinics in the context of 1960s and 1970s social movements and radical health activism by Niki A. Nibbe A “free clinics movement” origin myth, uncontested for forty years, has come to assume the weight of historical fact: the opening of the Haight Ashbury Free Medical Clinic (HAFMC) in 1967 led to the opening of numerous “hippie free clinics” following the HAFMC model; this model was taken up by communities of color for their free clinics; and by 1970 a thriving free clinics movement was building momentum towards integration into the healthcare delivery system. This paper reveals the origin myth to be a product of the National Free Clinic Council’s efforts to assume leadership of this presumed “movement,” and wholly inadequate to describe the breadth of the clinics it attempted to lead. The history of the Berkeley Free Clinic demonstrates, moreover, that the myth obscures free clinics’ efforts to create new, empowering models of health care as part of radical social movements for change during the 1960s and 1970s. This paper identifies and critically interrogates the origin myth using National Free Clinic Council publications, including proceedings of its 1970 symposium and a national survey of free clinics; Health/PAC and other contemporary accounts of the 1972 symposium; and additional contemporary and scholarly descriptions of clinics started by medical activists associated with Student Health Organization (SHO) and Medical Committee for Human Rights (MCHR), and iv self-reliant clinics started by Third World power organizations such as the Black Panther Party, Young Lords. The founding of the HAFMC is described using collections of leaflets and other ephemera from the Haight Ashbury; a collection of leaflets and other writings generated by the Diggers organization; and participant accounts published by Dr. David Smith and Digger Emmett Grogan. The narrative of the Berkeley Free Clinic’s origins was derived from documents found in the archives of clinic organizers Dick York and the Berkeley Free Church, which include participant histories, correspondence, and institutional records; clinic documents and oral history from longtime BFC volunteer Scott Wilkinson. The description of the BFC’s evolution towards a collectivist approach to meeting health needs and the deprofessionalization of their services, including the inspiration they derived from Maoist China and its barefoot doctors, was derived from archival material, clinic documents, and participant oral history. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................ iv 1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................... 1 2. ATTEMPTS TO DEFINE AND LEAD A FREE CLINICS MOVEMENT : EMERGENCE OF AN ORIGIN MYTH ............................................................................................................ 6 I. National Free Clinics Council launches as a drug-related initiative ...........................7 Initial organizing ....................................................................................... 7 First NFCC Symposium .......................................................................... 10 II. 1970-1971, Discovering and defining a much larger phenomenon: The National Free Clinics Survey and the Introduction to The Free Clinic ............16 Survey Criteria ......................................................................................... 17 Survey Findings ....................................................................................... 19 Other types of clinics ............................................................................... 20 Survey Analysis: Four types of clinics .................................................... 25 Introduction to Symposium proceedings published in The Free Clinic .. 32 III. Contention over direction of the movement and role of the NFCC .......................35 Goals for the movement ........................................................................... 35 Second NFCC Meeting ............................................................................ 37 Decline and Disintegration ...................................................................... 43 IV. Aftermath and Legacy...............................................................................................44 Legitimation and absorption of free clinics into the healthcare safety net .................................................................................................. 44 Reification of the origin myth .................................................................. 47 vi 3. THE HAIGHT -ASHBURY FREE MEDICAL CLINIC ............................................................. 50 I. Setting: The Haight-Ashbury District, San Francisco, California ............................52 II. Meeting immediate needs and early clinic organizing .............................................53 The Diggers .............................................................................................. 53 Other community efforts .......................................................................... 59 Dr. David Smith ....................................................................................... 60 Early clinic organizing ............................................................................. 62 III. Establishing the clinic (April 1967 – June 1967)......................................................64 Clinic organizing ...................................................................................... 64 Clinic opening ......................................................................................... 68 IV. The Clinic in Operation ............................................................................................71 Struggles to keep the clinic open ............................................................. 71 Federal funding and the stabilization of the Haight Clinic ...................... 78 V. Discussion .................................................................................................................79 4. THE BERKELEY FREE CLINIC ........................................................................................... 83 I. Setting: Telegraph Avenue, Berkeley, California .....................................................86 II. Meeting Immediate Health Needs and Laying the Groundwork for a Clinic: South Campus Community Ministry, aka Berkeley Free Church ............................87 South Campus Community Ministry ....................................................... 88 Meeting immediate needs ........................................................................ 89 Free Church and protest “violence intervention”..................................... 96 Unmet health needs .................................................................................. 98 Clinic organizing .................................................................................... 100 vii III. Establishing the Clinic (1968 – 1970) ....................................................................105 Telegraph Avenue Concerns Committee and the Health Information & Referral Pilot Project ..................................................... 107 Clinic blueprint ...................................................................................... 110 Funding proposals .................................................................................. 112 Telegraph Avenue Summer Program..................................................... 113 People’s Park: First aid field hospital for protestor injuries .................. 115 Opening of the Berkeley Community Clinic ......................................... 117 IV. The Clinic in Operation ..........................................................................................118 A permanent home ................................................................................. 118 Funding .................................................................................................. 121 Clinic services ........................................................................................ 125 Institutional structure and administration .............................................. 132 Discussion .............................................................................................
Load more

Recommended publications
  • A Turf of Their Own
    HAVERFORD COLLEGE HISTORY DEPARTMENT A Turf of Their Own The Experiments and Contradictions of 1960s Utopianism David Ivy-Taylor 4/22/2011 Submitted to James Krippner in partial fulfillment of History 400: Senior Thesis Seminar Table of Contents Abstract 3 Acknowledgements 4 INTRODUCTION 5 Historical Problem 5 Historical Background 7 Sources 14 AN AQUARIAN EXPOSITION 16 The Event 16 The Myth 21 Historical Significance 25 DISASTER AT ALTAMONT .31 The Event 31 Media Coverage 36 Historical Significance 38 PEOPLE'S PARK: "A TURF OF THEIR OWN" 40 The Event 40 Media Coverage 50 Historical Significance 51 THE SAN FRANCISCO DIGGERS, COMMUNES, AND THE HUMAN BE-IN 52 Communes 52 The Diggers 54 San Francisco 55 CONCLUSIONS 59 BIBLIOGRAPHY 61 2 ABSTRACT After WWII, the world had to adjust to new technologies, new scientific concepts, new political realities, and new social standards. While America was economically wealthy after the war, it still had to deal with extremely difficult social and cultural challenges. Due to these new aspects of life, there were increasing differences in both the interests and values of children and their parents, what we have learned to call the "generation gap". The "generational gap" between the youth culture and their parents meant a polarizing society, each hating and completely misunderstanding the other.. This eventually resulted in a highly political youth culture that was laterally opposed to the government. Through isolation, the counterculture began to develop new philosophies and new ways of thinking, and a huge part of that philosophy was the pursuit of a "Good Society", a utopian dream for world peace.
    [Show full text]
  • Bohemian Space and Countercultural Place in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury Neighborhood
    University of Central Florida STARS Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 2017 Hippieland: Bohemian Space and Countercultural Place in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury Neighborhood Kevin Mercer University of Central Florida Part of the History Commons Find similar works at: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd University of Central Florida Libraries http://library.ucf.edu This Masters Thesis (Open Access) is brought to you for free and open access by STARS. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 by an authorized administrator of STARS. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STARS Citation Mercer, Kevin, "Hippieland: Bohemian Space and Countercultural Place in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury Neighborhood" (2017). Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019. 5540. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd/5540 HIPPIELAND: BOHEMIAN SPACE AND COUNTERCULTURAL PLACE IN SAN FRANCISCO’S HAIGHT-ASHBURY NEIGHBORHOOD by KEVIN MITCHELL MERCER B.A. University of Central Florida, 2012 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the Department of History in the College of Arts and Humanities at the University of Central Florida Orlando, Florida Summer Term 2017 ABSTRACT This thesis examines the birth of the late 1960s counterculture in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury neighborhood. Surveying the area through a lens of geographic place and space, this research will look at the historical factors that led to the rise of a counterculture here. To contextualize this development, it is necessary to examine the development of a cosmopolitan neighborhood after World War II that was multicultural and bohemian into something culturally unique.
    [Show full text]
  • The Sixties Counterculture and Public Space, 1964--1967
    University of New Hampshire University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository Doctoral Dissertations Student Scholarship Spring 2003 "Everybody get together": The sixties counterculture and public space, 1964--1967 Jill Katherine Silos University of New Hampshire, Durham Follow this and additional works at: https://scholars.unh.edu/dissertation Recommended Citation Silos, Jill Katherine, ""Everybody get together": The sixties counterculture and public space, 1964--1967" (2003). Doctoral Dissertations. 170. https://scholars.unh.edu/dissertation/170 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Scholarship at University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand comer and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps.
    [Show full text]
  • Summer of Love Program Guide
    S an F e ran ov cisco ary f L Public Libr er o mm celebrates the Su sfpl.org/summeroflove EXHIBITIONS Summer of Love and Haight uring the summer of 1967, young people from throughout the country flocked to San Francisco for the promise of a cultural, political and social revolution. The epicenter Dfor this experience was the previously unnoticed, suddenly notorious, Haight-Ashbury neighborhood. This exhibit showcases period photographs and films, rock posters, grass roots newspapers and flyers, record albums and manuscript materials from community groups and local government collections, all document- ing the upheaval of the Summer of Love of 1967. July 15–Oct. 29, 2017, Main Library, Jewett Gallery Opening Event: Revolution – Film and discussion. The Oracle, cover by Rick Griffin. Golden Gate Park, 1967, photo: Patrick Lofthouse July 16, 1 p.m., Main Library, Koret Auditorium Courtesy of SF History Center Sex, Drugs and Runaways Haight-Ashbury’s Summer of Love: Few observers will deny the impact, for National and Local Media Coverage better or worse, that the summer of 1967 This small display shows the national coverage of the had on the Haight-Ashbury district of “Hashbury” through magazine and newspaper articles that San Francisco. On January 14, the focused on the Summer of Love. Many stories from the Human Be-In at the Polo Fields in San Francisco Chronicle will be featured. See what people Golden Gate Park drew between thought about the Summer of Love 40 years ago. 15,000–50,000 people to the area. Some Be-In participants remained June 15–Sept.
    [Show full text]
  • A History of the Communication Company, 1966-1967
    San Jose State University SJSU ScholarWorks Master's Theses Master's Theses and Graduate Research Summer 2012 Outrageous Pamphleteers: A History Of The Communication Company, 1966-1967 Evan Edwin Carlson San Jose State University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/etd_theses Recommended Citation Carlson, Evan Edwin, "Outrageous Pamphleteers: A History Of The Communication Company, 1966-1967" (2012). Master's Theses. 4188. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31979/etd.cg2e-dkv9 https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/etd_theses/4188 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Master's Theses and Graduate Research at SJSU ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of SJSU ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. OUTRAGEOUS PAMPHLETEERS: A HISTORY OF THE COMMUNICATION COMPANY, 1966-1967 A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of the School of Library and Information Science San José State University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Library and Information Science by Evan E. Carlson August 2012 © 2012 Evan E. Carlson ALL RIGHTS RESERVED The Designated Thesis Committee Approves the Thesis Titled OUTRAGEOUS PAMPHLETEERS: A HISTORY OF THE COMMUNICATION COMPANY, 1966-1967 by Evan E. Carlson APPROVED FOR THE SCHOOL OF LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE SAN JOSÉ STATE UNIVERSITY August 2012 Dr. Debra Hansen School of Library and Information Science Dr. Judith Weedman School of Library and Information Science Beth Wrenn-Estes School of Library and Information Science ABSTRACT OUTRAGEOUS PAMPHLETEERS: A HISTORY OF THE COMMUNICATION COMPANY, 1966-1967 by Evan E.
    [Show full text]
  • Zuschlag on Hodgdon, 'Manhood in the Age of Aquarius: Masculinity in Two Countercultural Communities, 1965-1983'
    H-Amstdy Zuschlag on Hodgdon, 'Manhood in the Age of Aquarius: Masculinity in Two Countercultural Communities, 1965-1983' Review published on Monday, November 10, 2008 Timothy Hodgdon. Manhood in the Age of Aquarius: Masculinity in Two Countercultural Communities, 1965-1983. New York: Columbia University Press, 2007. e-book. ISBN 978-0-231-50952-7. Reviewed by Anna Zuschlag Published on H-Amstdy (November, 2008) Commissioned by Kelly J. Baker How To Be A Manly Longhair In Manhood in the Age of Aquarius, Timothy Hodgdon aims to explode popular images of the counterculture, especially those entwined with masculinity. Though the title itself evokes the very images Hodgdon problematizes, the Flower Child, Drug Fiend, and Longhair lose much of their media-manufactured luster in his hands. Focusing the study on the activities of two radical counterculture groups over the course of more than one decade, the anarchist Diggers and mystically inclined Farmies, the author examines the political, social, and cultural philosophies that guided these men in their individual manhood and life practices. Firm in his conclusion that one generalized "hippie manhood" does a disservice to those who lived the radical "life," Hodgdon works to deconstruct preconceived notions of a homogeneous counterculture and, as such, presents a fairly nuanced narrative about cultural radicalism in the sixties and late twentieth-century American manhood. Applying an admittedly narrow definition of the counterculture to only those Euro-American youth radicals who rejected the New Left's instrumentalism, Hodgdon's "hippies" were attuned completely to what they called "liberation," and were forces for what he describes as "derepression" (pp.
    [Show full text]
  • Shawyer Dissertation May 2008 Final Version
    Copyright by Susanne Elizabeth Shawyer 2008 The Dissertation Committee for Susanne Elizabeth Shawyer certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: Radical Street Theatre and the Yippie Legacy: A Performance History of the Youth International Party, 1967-1968 Committee: Jill Dolan, Supervisor Paul Bonin-Rodriguez Charlotte Canning Janet Davis Stacy Wolf Radical Street Theatre and the Yippie Legacy: A Performance History of the Youth International Party, 1967-1968 by Susanne Elizabeth Shawyer, B.A.; M.A. Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Texas at Austin May, 2008 Acknowledgements There are many people I want to thank for their assistance throughout the process of this dissertation project. First, I would like to acknowledge the generous support and helpful advice of my committee members. My supervisor, Dr. Jill Dolan, was present in every stage of the process with thought-provoking questions, incredible patience, and unfailing encouragement. During my years at the University of Texas at Austin Dr. Charlotte Canning has continually provided exceptional mentorship and modeled a high standard of scholarly rigor and pedagogical generosity. Dr. Janet Davis and Dr. Stacy Wolf guided me through my earliest explorations of the Yippies and pushed me to consider the complex historical and theoretical intersections of my performance scholarship. I am grateful for the warm collegiality and insightful questions of Dr. Paul Bonin-Rodriguez. My committee’s wise guidance has pushed me to be a better scholar.
    [Show full text]
  • Music, Culture, and the Rise and Fall of the Haight Ashbury Counterculture
    Zaroff 1 A Moment in the Sun: Music, Culture, and the Rise and Fall of the Haight Ashbury Counterculture Samuel Zaroff Honors Thesis Submitted to the Department of History, Georgetown University Advisor: Professor Maurice Jackson Honors Program Chairs: Professor Katherine Benton-Cohen and Professor Alison Games 6 May 2019 Zaroff 2 Table of Contents Introduction 4 Historiography 8 Chapter I: Defining the Counterculture 15 Protesting Without Protest 20 ​ Cultural Exoticism in the Haight 24 ​ Chapter II: The Music of the Haight Ashbury 43 Musical Exoticism: Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit” 44 ​ Assimilating African American Musical Culture: Big Brother and the Holding Company’s “Summertime” 48 ​ Music, Drugs, and Hendrix: “Purple Haze” 52 ​ Protesting Vietnam: Country Joe and the Fish’s “I-Feel-Like-I’m Fixin’-to-Die-Rag” 59 ​ Folk, Nature, and the Grateful Dead: “Morning Dew” and the Irony of Technology 62 ​ Chapter III: The End of the Counterculture 67 Overpopulation 67 ​ Commercialization 72 ​ Hard Drugs 74 ​ Death of the Hippie Ceremony 76 ​ “I Know You Rider”: Music of the End of the Counterculture 80 ​ Violence: The Altamont Speedway Free Festival 85 ​ Conclusion 90 Appendix 92 Bibliography 94 Zaroff 3 Acknowledgements Thank you, Professor Benton-Cohen and Professor Jackson, for your guidance on this thesis. Thank you, Mom, Dad, Leo, Eliza, Roxanne, Daniela, Ruby, and Boo for supporting me throughout. Lastly, thank you Antine and Uncle Rich for your wisdom and music. I give permission to Lauinger Library to make this thesis available to the public. Zaroff 4 Introduction From 1964 to 1967, the Haight Ashbury district of San Francisco experienced one of the most significant and short-lived cultural moments of twentieth century America.
    [Show full text]
  • Psychedelia, the Summer of Love, & Monterey-The Rock Culture of 1967
    Trinity College Trinity College Digital Repository Senior Theses and Projects Student Scholarship Spring 2012 Psychedelia, the Summer of Love, & Monterey-The Rock Culture of 1967 James M. Maynard Trinity College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalrepository.trincoll.edu/theses Part of the American Film Studies Commons, American Literature Commons, and the American Popular Culture Commons Recommended Citation Maynard, James M., "Psychedelia, the Summer of Love, & Monterey-The Rock Culture of 1967". Senior Theses, Trinity College, Hartford, CT 2012. Trinity College Digital Repository, https://digitalrepository.trincoll.edu/theses/170 Psychedelia, the Summer of Love, & Monterey-The Rock Culture of 1967 Jamie Maynard American Studies Program Senior Thesis Advisor: Louis P. Masur Spring 2012 1 Table of Contents Introduction..…………………………………………………………………………………4 Chapter One: Developing the niche for rock culture & Monterey as a “savior” of Avant- Garde ideals…………………………………………………………………………………...7 Chapter Two: Building the rock “umbrella” & the “Hippie Aesthetic”……………………24 Chapter Three: The Yin & Yang of early hippie rock & culture—developing the San Francisco rock scene…………………………………………………………………………53 Chapter Four: The British sound, acid rock “unpacked” & the countercultural Mecca of Haight-Ashbury………………………………………………………………………………71 Chapter Five: From whisperings of a revolution to a revolution of 100,000 strong— Monterey Pop………………………………………………………………………………...97 Conclusion: The legacy of rock-culture in 1967 and onward……………………………...123 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………….128 Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………………..131 2 For Louis P. Masur and Scott Gac- The best music is essentially there to provide you something to face the world with -The Boss 3 Introduction: “Music is prophetic. It has always been in its essence a herald of times to come. Music is more than an object of study: it is a way of perceiving the world.
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter 1: Architectural and Social Background
    HAIGHT-ASHBURY AND ITS CONTRIBUTION TO THE COUNTERCULTURE MOVEMENT A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Cornell University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in Historic Preservation and Planning by Ethan James Potter August 2020 i © 2020 Ethan James Potter i ABSTRACT The City of San Francisco, specifically the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood, was the epicenter of the American Counterculture Movement in the mid to late sixties. The social, cultural, and political impact of this movement is vast and widely known. This thesis provides a themed historical narrative of the Haight-Ashbury, specifically about its role in the Counterculture Movement. There are three major themes that explore the history of both the Counterculture Movement and Haight-Ashbury. Significant planning and preservation efforts for Haight-Ashbury, since the sixties, are also surveyed. Subjects such as intangible culture, history, city planning, and architecture are examined as they pertain to Haight-Ashbury and the Counterculture Movement. ii BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH Ethan Potter is, above all, passionate for history. He grew up in Sammamish Washington, playing baseball and football. He studied history, English, and anthropology at Washington State University graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in History. He then worked in education as a tutor and a docent. Ethan decided to pursue a degree in Historic Preservation for its ability to educate the public about history. Ethan was inspired to pursue history after reading Carl L. Becker’s 1930 speech, “Every Man A Historian,” which demonstrates how historical research is conducted by nearly everyone, every day.
    [Show full text]
  • Hippies Collection 1965-1975(Bulk 1967)
    http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt538nf40m No online items Finding aid to the Hippies Collection 1965-1975(bulk 1967) Finding aid prepared by San Francisco History Center staff. San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library 100 Larkin Street San Francisco, CA, 94102 (415) 557-4567 [email protected] Revised 2012 Finding aid to the Hippies SFH 60 1 Collection 1965-1975(bulk 1967) Title: Hippies Collection Date (inclusive): 1965-1975 Date (bulk): 1967 Collection Identifier: SFH 60 Physical Description: 2 boxes(2.0 cubic feet) Contributing Institution: San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library 100 Larkin Street San Francisco, CA 94102 (415) 557-4567 [email protected] Abstract: Correspondence, newspapers, little magazines, poetry, monographs, and ephemera documenting the counterculture movement of the mid 1960s in San Francisco, the "Summer of Love" of 1967, and to a lesser degree, local anti-war, racial equality, and New Age movements into the mid 1970s. Physical Location: The collection is stored onsite. Language of Materials: Collection materials are in English. Access The collection is open for research. Publication Rights All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the City Archivist. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the San Francisco Public Library as the owner of the physical items. Preferred Citation [Identification of item], Hippies Collection (SFH 60), San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library. Provenance The material comes from several sources. Deborah Wolf donated San Francisco Oracle issues and Communication Company street raps. Some ephemera was originally in the possession of Doug Charlsen.
    [Show full text]
  • Playing Hippies and Indians: Acts of Cultural Colonization in the Theatre of the American Counterculture
    PLAYING HIPPIES AND INDIANS: ACTS OF CULTURAL COLONIZATION IN THE THEATRE OF THE AMERICAN COUNTERCULTURE Miriam Hahn A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY August 2014 Committee: Jonathan Chambers, Advisor Sheri Wells-Jensen, Graduate Faculty Representative Eileen Cherry-Chandler Scott Magelssen © 2014 Miriam Hahn All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT Jonathan Chambers, Advisor In this dissertation, I examine the appropriation of Native American cultures and histories in the theatre of the American counterculture of the 1960s and seventies, using the Living Theatre’s Paradise Now, the street theatricals and broadsides of the San Francisco Diggers, and James Rado and Gerome Ragni’s Hair: The American Tribal- Love Rock Musical as my primary case studies. Defining themselves by points of difference from mainstream America and its traditional social and cultural values, counterculturalists often attempted to align themselves with Native Americans in order to express an imagined sense of shared otherness. Representations of Natives on countercultural stages, however, were frequently steeped in stereotype, and they often depicted Native cultures inaccurately, elided significant tribal differences, and relegated Native identity almost wholly to the past, a practice that was particularly problematic in light of concurrent Native rights movements that were actively engaged in bringing national attention to the contemporary issues and injustices Native Americans faced on a daily basis. In my study, I analyze the impulses that might have led counterculturalists to appropriate Native culture during this period, highlighting some of the ways in which such appropriations played out in Paradise Now and Hair, as well as on the streets of San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district.
    [Show full text]