Ka Huliau or “The Turning Point” was a left leaning, underground, independent newspaper printed by  Hawaii Education for Social Progress, Inc..[1][2] Published in the 1980s (presumably from 1982-1986) Ka Huliau self-identified as “An independent newspaper focusing on Hawaii and Pacific issues.” These issues included labor strikes, nuclear proliferation, socialism and others primarily in the context of their effect on Hawaiians and other Islanders. The inclusion of Ku Huliau in the collections illustrates (as have some previous posts) that Gordon Hall collected items that really span the entire country. Admittedly items from Hawaii are fairly sparse. There are only a few copies of Ka Huliau in the Hall Hoag collection and I have included the covers of two of them from 1983.

Ka Huliau (1983)

Ka Huliau (1983)

[1] http://vufind.carli.illinois.edu/vf-uiu/Record/uiu_4306676

[2] http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn94023109/

Gordon Hall and his team of volunteers would often write to extremist groups in the guise of someone interested in joining. In return groups would send them recruitment packages usually containing information about the group and some of their publications.

Below are some items from a package sent by the Texas Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. The package includes a few copies of the “White Patriot” newspaper, a hand written note from the grand dragon of the Texas Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, Michael Lowe, stickers and a few party balloons.

Stickers

Balloons

Lowe gained some publicity in the mid 90s because he was represented by an African American lawyer, Anthony P. Griffin [1] in a case that involved the harassment and assault of African American residents in Vidor, Texas.[2]

It can be difficult to track the history of all of the different branches of the KKK. This history of the KKK in Texas is similar to other parts of the country in that is was started in the 1860s during reconstruction with an ebb and flow of membership and activity in the decades that followed. The Texas Knights became well known KKK in the 1990s around the time that this package was sent to Gordon Hall and often found themselves in the center of controversy in Texas. Indeed, Lowe proudly writes in his letter that his Klan group is the one the Anti-Defamation League stated “were the one to be concerned about and to watch.”

Hand Written Note from Michael Lowe

Hand Written Note from Michael Lowe Page 2

[1] http://www.nytimes.com/1993/09/10/news/a-klansman-s-black-lawyer-and-a-principle.html

[2] http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/vek02

Gordon Hall interviewed Richard Bayer, a member of the National Renaissance Party, in June of 1968 about his involvement in the party and the party’s ideology. The National Renaissance Party was founded by James Madole (who was also interview by Gordon Hall) in 1949 and disbanded shortly after his death in 1979.  The NRP was a neo-fascist group based out of New York City known for violent riots in the 1960s and controversial publications.[1] Similar to other fascist groups like the American Nazi Party, the NPR was white supremacist, racist, anti-Semitic, and sought for a dictatorship in America.

Richard Bayer, a native New Yorker, one day became secretary[2] of the NRP, but was 28 years old at the time of this interview.  In the section of the interview below Bayer shares his views on the use of violence to achieve political ends. There are quite a few (~50-100) interviews in the Hall Hoag collection and 60 folders of material from The National Renaissance Party.

[1]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Renaissance_Party_(United_States)#cite_note-panel-3

[2] http://archive.org/stream/foia_NRP-HQ-17/NRP-HQ-17_djvu.txt

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

Today’s post is about Liberty Bell Publications, not to be confused with The Liberty Bell Press that we previously posted about. Liberty Bell Publications was based out Reedy, West Virginia, and printed various Neo-Nazi texts. The item below is a text which disputes many of the claims from the Holocaust and in particular the concentration camp at Auschwitz and is wildly disputed and disregarded by historians. This text was written by Thies Christophersen who fought for the German military in WWII. Christophersen, among other things disputed the fact that gas chambers existed at Auschwitz and became a somewhat well known Holocaust denier.

Liberty Bell Publications (1975)

Liberty Bell Publications Back Cover(1975)

This weeks post contains two issues of the Black Liberation Journal from 1983 and 1984. The issues cover affirmative action and the presidential election of 1984. The Black Liberation Journal was affiliated with the Communist Party USA and had Charlene Mitchell on its editorial board who ran for president in 1968 on the Communist Party ticket. It is hard to find much information about the journal but it seems to have run from the late 1970s through the 1980s. Topics include the struggle for equality, workers rights and unions, voting, politics, socialism and communism.

Black Liberation Journal (1983)

Black Liberation Journal (1984)