In his efforts to gather information on extremism, Gordon Hall would often record audio interviews with the members of groups. The images in this weeks post show Gordon Hall interviewing a man named Richard Clerici in Walpole, Massachusetts.  It is very difficult to find any information about Richard Clerici, but in one photo there is a poster titled “Kidnapped” with a picture of Bobby Seale, one of the founders of the Black Panther Party (The poster is a reference to the time Bobby Seale was taken by U.S. Marshals from California to Chicago on charges related to the 1968 Democratic National Convention). So my guess is that Clerici was involved in some sort of left leaning group, but it would be hard to guess precisely which one. I chose these images for a few reasons. 1) I wanted to show some of the hands on work that Gordon Hall did, which is well documented in the collection. 2) It can be very difficult to classify a lot of this material because it is hard to find information about the people involved. This means that even after this project there will be a lot of material in the collection that remains unorganized. 3) It can be a lot of fun to spend time with this collection, because you never know what you will find. Although I could not find any information about Clerici being a member of an extremist group, he was a member of a little known band called The Fort Mudge Memorial Dump who formed in Walpole in the late 1960s. They have a few songs on YouTube. It is pretty good.

Gordon Hall and Richard Clerici, Marpole, MA (Late 1960s)

Richard Clerici, Marpole, MA (Late 1960s)

Richard Clerici and Friends, Marpole, MA (Late 1960s)