Abstract
This thesis addresses the major activist and radical issues of the 1960s and early 1970s and illustrates the myriad shifts that take place within each of these social movements as depicted in the alternative press of the era. These movements serve as reflections of the shift of the collective American character throughout the 1960s, and while they propel America to adjust to new mindsets, they also reflect the desires – and fears – of a nation thrust into a chaotic postwar period. But despite their differences in goals and ideologies, the major movements of the era – the struggles for civil rights, women’s rights, and peace in the face of war – bring with them many similarities, more than many historians are wont to depict. So often, such historians focus solely on one of the activist movements of the 1960s, seemingly overlooking other events of the decades that could perhaps be catalysts or results of a particular movement’s actions. But the groups that formed and the events that took place within the decade did so with a high degree of interconnectedness, even in ways that are not readily apparent initially. This mentality is illustrated quite clearly within the alternative newspapers of the era. Specifically, the bylines and subjects showing up in a forum for one activist movement often echo those from other publications and other movements. More generally, the motives, tactics, and even slogans made successful by one movement often were employed by activists in other realms, adding much to the collective ideological shifts of the era.
Through the alternative press, it is easy to see the tendencies toward chaos even within the movements themselves; rarely does a neat and tidy chronology of progression exist. These newspapers chronicled the transformations taking place with the times – indeed, a shift from semantics to activism, from a more passive ideology to one that was vibrant with action. But such shifts are not easily decipherable and are nestled among shades of gray rather than being decidedly black and white. And it is those gray areas, those areas of confusion, tension, frustration, and joy, that this thesis analyzes.
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