PRELIMINARY INVENTORY S1195 (SA3811, SA3812, SA4367) KENN THOMAS PAPERS This collection is available at The State Historical Society of Missouri. If you would like more information, please contact us at [email protected]. Introduction Approximately 44 cubic feet The papers of Kenn Thomas contain correspondence, business files, travel records, a collection of independently produced, small press fanzines, audio/visual recordings, and subject files documenting the assassination of John F. Kennedy, the Iran-Contra scandal, and Unidentified Flying Objects. Other materials of interest include video and audio recordings of Bob Dylan and the Band, performing in St. Louis area venues. The papers date from 1970 to 2007. Kenn Thomas was born on June 12, 1958, in St. Louis City, Missouri. Thomas began his career as a freelance writer in the 1980s as a rock music critic for the St. Louis Post- Dispatch, the St. Louis Globe-Democrat and the Riverfront Times. He also produced and hosted a radio program focusing on the Beat era writers, Off The Beaten Path (later retitled Offbeat) for KDHX community-based radio. In 1988 he launched a magazine, Steamshovel Press, to publicize his unpublished music reviews and interviews with notable pop-culture icons, including Amiri Baraka and Ram Dass (Richard Alpert). Thomas’s lifelong fascination with conspiracy theories prompted him to shift the magazine’s focus in 1992 to examine conspiracy theories and their sociological dimension in popular culture. Steamshovel Press soon gained notice and wider distribution in conspiracy circles. Three back issue anthologies eventually were published: Popular Alienation (Illuminet, 1995), Popular Paranoia (Adventures Unlimited Press, 2002); and Parapolitics: Conspiracy in Contemporary America (AUP, 2006). Additionally, Thomas wrote several books on the JFK assassination, most notably Maury Island UFO: The Crisman Conspiracy, about a UFO incident in the Pacific Northwest in 1947 that involved individuals later connected to the JFK assassination. The second edition of that book, retitled JFK & UFO, was published in 2011. Thomas traveled widely in the US and Europe lecturing on these book topics and promoting the magazine. Thomas also contributed to several anthologies on conspiracy topics and wrote introductions to books by other conspiracy authors. Donor Information The papers were donated to the University of Missouri by Kenn Thomas on September 8, 2008 (Accession No. SA3811). An addition was made on September 15, 2008 by Kenn Thomas (Accession SA3812). An addition was made on September 10, 2018 by Kenn Thomas (Accession SA4367). Copyright and Restrictions The Donor has given and assigned to the State Historical Society of Missouri all rights of copyright, which the Donor has in the Materials and in such of the Donor’s works as may be found among any collections of Materials received by the Society from others. THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MISSOURI MANUSCRIPT COLLECTION 8/9/2019 S1195 (SA3811, SA3812, SA4367) KENN THOMAS PAPERS Location Note The collection is stored offsite and will need to be retrieved before viewing. Box List f. 1-50 Biographical Material and Writings Box 001 f. 1 Advertising, 1995-1996 f. 2 American Mercury, October 1958 f. 3 Articles about Steamshovel Press, 1993-2000 f. 4 Articles by Kenn Thomas, 1994-2004 f. 5 Assassination Calendar, 1994 f. 6 Concert Posters, no date, 1980 f. 7-9 Concert Reviews, 1982-1986 f. 10-11 Extremist Literature, 1970-1977 f. 12 Fat Chance (Double Helix), no date f. 13 FCC Operator’s Permit, 1982 f. 14 Flatland, 1994-1995 f. 15 Illuminet Press, 1994-1995 f. 16 JFK Library, 1993 f. 17 Lists (old radio, TV, comics), 1974 f. 18 Manuscript, Conspiracy Files, 2008 f. 19 Manuscript, NASA, Nazis and JFK, 1996 f. 20 Manuscript, The Octopus, 1996 f. 21 Manuscript, Parapolitics, 2006 f. 22-23 Manuscript, Popular Alienation, 1995 f. 24 Manuscript, Who Really Runs The World? Unpublished, with Len Bracken, 2005 Box 002 f. 25 Midwest Popular Culture Association, Minneapolis, October 17-19, 2005 f. 26 The Nixon Record, 1971 f. 27 Off The Beaten Path, 1991-1994 f. 28 People, No Date, 1975 f. 29 Portland Free Press, 1998 f. 30 Programs and Flyers, 1978 f. 31 Publicity, 1992-1994 f. 32 Publicity, Photographs, No Date f. 33 Publicity, print interviews with Kenn Thomas, 1993-1996 f. 34 Publicity, Promotional Flyers, 1995 f. 35 Publicity, Radio-TV Interview Report, 1997-2000 f. 36 Publicity, Reviews, 1992-1999 f. 37 Publicity, TV Guide, March 16-22, 2002 f. 38 Publicity, 1993-1999 f. 39 Rock Notes (radio newscast), 1978 f. 40 St. Louis Globe-Democrat bankruptcy, 1985 f. 41 St. Louis Metro-Life, 1977-1978 Page 2 of 31 S1195 (SA3811, SA3812, SA4367) KENN THOMAS PAPERS f. 42-50 Writings by Kenn Thomas, 1975-1992 f. 51-98 Steamshovel Press Box 003 f. 51 Small Claims Court, 1994 f. 52 Small Publishers Co-Op, 2002 f. 53 Steamshovel Press, Assassination Calendar, 1994 f. 54 Back Issues 5, 6, 7 and 9, 1992-1993 f. 55 Back Issues 12, 14 and 15, 1995-1996 f. 56 Film Series, 1990 f. 57 Issue 1, Master, 1989 f. 58-59 Issue 2, Articles, Correspondence, and Master, 1990 f. 60 Issue 3, Articles and Correspondence, 1991 f. 61-62 Issue 4, Articles, Correspondence, and Master, 1991 f. 63-65 Issue 5, Articles, Correspondence, and Graphics, 1992 f. 66-69 Issue 6, Articles, Correspondence, Graphics, and Master, 1992 f. 70-73 Issue 7, Articles, Correspondence, Graphics, and Master, 1993 f. 74-76 Issue 8, Articles and Master, 1993 f. 77 Issue 9, Articles, 1993 Box 004 f. 78 Issue 15, 1995 f. 79 Issue 16, Unused Submissions, 1996-1998 f. 80 Issue 17, Unused Submissions, 1999 f. 81 Issue 18, Unused Submissions, 2002 f. 82 Issue 19, 2001 f. 83 Issue 20, no date f. 84-85 Steamshovel Press, Distribution File, 1993-1999 f. 86 Steamshovel Press, Distribution, Arcturus, 1994-2001 f. 87-88 Steamshovel Press, Distribution, Fine Print, 1993-1994 f. 89 Steamshovel Press, Distribution, 1994 f. 90 Steamshovel Press, Distribution, Product Identification Code, no date f. 91 Steamshovel Press, Distribution, Distributor’s List, no date f. 92 Steamshovel Press, Distribution, 1999 f. 93 Steamshovel Press, “Occasional Papers,” no date Box 005 f. 94 Steamshovel Press, Printing, 1992-1994 f. 95 Steamshovel Press, Subscriber List, 2004 f. 96 Steamshovel Press, UPC Code, 2005 f. 97 Steamshovel Press, web site, 1999 f. 98 “Things Are Gonna Slide” web column, 2002-2002 f. 99-116 Travel f. 99 Amsterdam, 2005 f. 100 Boulder, CO, Kerouac Conference, f. 101 Cape Girardeau, May 2, 2007 f. 102 Caribbean, 2005 f. 103 Chicago, 2005 f. 104 Dallas, 2006 Page 3 of 31 S1195 (SA3811, SA3812, SA4367) KENN THOMAS PAPERS f. 105 London, 2000 f. 106 Metropolis and Benton, ILK, June-October, 2007 f. 107 New York, June 3-5, 2005 f. 108 Ohio, 2005 f. 109 Philadelphia, 2004 f. 110-111 Roswell, New Mexico, 2004-2005 f. 112 San Jose, May 25-27, 2007 f. 113 Santa Cruz, 2007 f. 114 Socorro, New Mexico, 2005 f. 115 Sedona, Arizona, December 2004 f. 116 Washington, DC, May 2005 f. 117-290 Correspondence f. 117 1978-1981 f. 118 1982 Box 006 f. 119 1983 f. 120 1984 f. 121-123 1985 f. 124-125 1986 f. 126-127 1987 f. 128-129 1988 f. 130-131 1989 f. 132-137 1990 f. 138-140 1991 Box 007 f. 141-145 1992 f. 146-156 1993 f. 157-160 1994 Box 008 f. 161-169 1994 f. 170-181 1995 f. 182-193 1996 Box 009 f. 194-195 1996 f. 196-207 1997 f. 208-217 1998 f. 218-228 1999 f. 229-236 2000 Box 010 f. 237-248 2001 f. 249-260 2002 Box 011 f. 261-270 2003 f. 271-279 2004 f. 280-291 2005 f. 292-298 2006 f. 299 2007 f. 300-345 Distribution f. 300 Distribution, 1994-1997 f. 301 Adventures Unlimited, 1996 f. 302 AK, 1991 f. 303 AK Press, 2004-2005 Page 4 of 31 S1195 (SA3811, SA3812, SA4367) KENN THOMAS PAPERS f. 304 AKA, Edinburgh, 1994-1997 f. 305 Altered States (Australia), 1995 f. 306 Amusing Yourself To Death/Bernhard DeBoeur, 1995 f. 307 Armadillo, 1992-1993 f. 308 Aura-Z (Russia), 1994 f. 309 Bookstores, 1883-1996 Box 012 f. 310-311 Bud Plant’s Incredible Catalog, 2004-2005, 2007 f. 312 Capital City, 1996 f. 313-314 Catalogs, no date f. 315 Counter Productions, 1997-2000 f. 316 Daybreak Distributors, 1995 f. 317 Desert Moon, 1995 f. 318 Diamond Comics Distributors, 1993 f. 319 Ingram, 1995 f. 320 International Periodicals, 1995 f. 321 Last Gasp, 1998 f. 322 Last Hurrah, 1996 f. 323 Les Miserables (Canada), 1995 f. 324 Lists, no date f. 325 Loompanics, 1986, 1997 f. 326 MacGregor News, 1993 f. 327 Marginal (Canada), 1997 f. 328 Mouradian, 1998 f. 329 Network (Mew Zealand), 1994 f. 330 New Leaf, 1997 f. 331 Newsagents Direct (Australia), 1995 f. 332 Old Subscriber List, no date f. 333 Olson, 1995 f. 334 Pack Plant, 1995 f. 335 Printers, 2000 f. 336 Pack Plant, 1995 f. 337 Publishers Circulation Corporation, 1996 f. 338 Quimby’s Queer Store f. 339 SCB (Southern California Books), 1998 f. 340 Sidestream, 1994 f. 341 Small Changes, 1994 f. 342 Small Press Co-Op, 1998 f. 343 Tower Records, 1992 f. 344 Ubiquity, 1996 f. 345 World Wide Magazines, no date f. 346-583 Zines Box 013 f. 346 Adventures Unlimited, 1994-2006 f. 347-349 Adventures Unlimited/World Explorer, 1993-2008 f. 350 Aid and Abet, 1997 f. 351 Alter or Abolish-Arsenal, no date, 1978 f. 352 Anderson Valley Advertiser, 1999-2002 Page 5 of 31 S1195 (SA3811, SA3812, SA4367) KENN THOMAS PAPERS f.