Arthur is proud to present scans of essential documents produced by and about the San Francisco Diggers, who were in many ways the epicentral actors in the Haight-Ashbury during the epic, wildly imaginative period from late ’66 through ’67. The Diggers’ ideas and activities are essential counter-cultural history, sure, but they are also especially relevant to the current era, for reasons that should be obvious to the gentle Arthur reader.
Most of the documents that we are presenting here are broadsides originally published on a Gestetner machine owned and operated in the Haight by the novelist Chester Anderson and his protege/sidekick Claude Hayward, who used the name “Communication Company,” or more commonly, “Com/Co.”
What we have here are scans of copies of a set of 8 pages (maybe four double-sided? we don’t know) that were distributed en masse (500 copies) along the Haight on telephone poles, walls, in windows, and so on, on January 28, 1967. Chester wrote these pages, and apparently sent copies to a friend or family member with handwritten text explaining some of the terms, and it’s those papers that we’re showing here. Pages 1-3 were posted yesterday. Pages 4-6 are posted today. The last two pages will post tomorrow.
One more thing: we’re presenting history here. Some of these documents have extreme content and advocate extreme things—especially this one. What you choose to do with extreme ideas — like, er, dosing people, without their knowledge — is your own business. But I will say that it’s hard for us at Arthur to see how any lasting good could come from dosing folks with LSD. Then again, in certain circumstances…
Click on the images below to see them at full size…
It would be great if you could create a page or post that has links to all the Diggers Papers
Good idea — will do in the next few days!
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Jay,
Looking for :
The neighbors dig hippies.
Reprint of Haight Ashbury Neighborhood Council “statement of concern regarding events of Easter Week. 2 sheets
Huge Invasion | Hippies | Warn S.F. 3/27/1967
Reprint of front page article from a SF newspaper (Chronicle?) With photos of Arthur Lisch, Father Harris, and Roy Ballard. 2 sheets
Wednesday March 22, 1967 | Police Chief Warns | Hippies
Reprint of S.F. Examiner article about expected invasion of hippies.
An open letter to the Haight Ashbury community 3/21/1967
Explains the reasons why the “doors to the open commune at 1775 Haight Street have been closed.”
And I never found “Hippie Siamese Twins Split “by Chester Anderson, a six-page bulletin to the underground press, when the diggers took Control of ComCo.
Thanks Jay!