Students for a Libertarian Society

Students for a Libertarian Society was founded in 1979 as separate entity from the Libertarian Party which already had a youth section.  The SLS, with a central location in San Francisco, California published pamphlets and a newspaper/magazine titled Liberty. Among a few others Jeffery Freidnman (a Brown grad) served as one of the groups national presidents.  The SLS was fairly short lived having mostly disbaned by 1983. [1] Libertarianism has become more prominent in recent years in American politics, but many politicans associated with the ideology are not actually offiliated with the Libertarian Party.

In the post today there is an undated pamphlet, which provides basic information about the group and the positions they hold. In general the SLS promoted small government and individual rights.

Students for a Libertarian Society

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Students_for_a_Libertarian_Society

Review of the News was published by Robert Welch who was a co-founder of the John Birch Society and also published American Opinion. Review of the News was a weekly publication that covered similar themes to American Opinion (a monthly magazine) but on a more frequent basis and more closely followed the breaking news of the week. Similar to Welch’s other publications The Review of the News had similar themes of small government and anti-communism. Review of the News also contained the writing of Dan Smoot  who had previously written the Dan Smoot Report which was similarly anti-communist.

The issue shared in this post contains a profile of Joe Bidden from 1984 when he was a U.S. senator and outlines his voting record.

Review of the News (August 22, 1984)

For a previous post about the John Birch Society follow this link: http://blogs.brown.edu/hallhoag/2013/01/28/john-birch-society/

Rally was a conservative magazine created by Timothy J. Wheeler in Wisconsin in the 1960s. Wheeler never became a well-known conservative activist but wrote for various magazines including The National Review.[1] Wheeler was an Army veteran known for writing humor columns. Wheeler helped found Insight & Outlook, the nation’s first student conservative journal [2] and in addition he worked as a speechwriter for Richard Roudebush, co-produced the Financial Book Digest, wrote for the Silver and Gold Report and was also a staff member of the Saturday Evening Post. [3]

Rally (November 1967)

Wheeler started Rally as a magazine for young conservatives. The issue highlighted in this post comes from November 1967. I have also included an insert, which is the “Exciting Game of Profits” a fake board game that illustrates the various ways that profits are taken from business and citizens.

Rally Insert

[1] http://www.pbase.com/csw62/image/85861087

[2] http://humanevents.com/2007/08/24/friends-remember-tim-wheeler/

[3] http://www.pbase.com/csw62/image/85861312

It was hard to find much information about Hillcrest Publications but it was a publishing house based out of McDonald, Ohio that we know existed in the 1960s and 1970s. Hillcrest sold publications and pamphlets that seem to fit mostly under survivalism. A lot of the items they sold deal with protecting yourself and your family against an unforeseen disaster whether it be environmental, political or social. The items range from gun catalogs, military training manuals, self-defense manuals and also include guides to surviving in the wilderness. Survivalist groups became prominent in the 1960s due to increased inflation rates, tensions between the US and the USSR and supply shortages in urban areas.[1] In more present times, there was an increase in survivalist groups after the attacks of September 11 and the economic recession that started in 2007. [2]

Hillcrest Publications (1975)

Hillcrest Publications Sample Page (1975)

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivalism

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivalism