Archive | Uncategorized RSS feed for this section

Happy 10th birthday to Washington Area Spark!

24 Jan
Group Photo of Strikers # 4

Photos of a 1973 steelworkers union strike against Mineral Pigment in Beltsville, Md. were the first images uploaded to our Flickr site.

On January 2, 2011, the first photos were uploaded to the Washington Area Spark Flickr site—images of a 1973 strike by the United Steelworkers of America Local 12328 against the Mineral Pigment Company in Beltsville, Md.

The first photos published online were from the vintage Washington Area Spark/On The Move newspaper published from 1972-75 followed by images of change-makers and would be change-makers in the greater Washington, D.C. area from various sources that have now grown to 4,750 images—each containing the date, location and a detailed description of the event or person portrayed.

A website was added in 2012 that features occasional in-depth blog posts of D.C. radical history and contains PDFs of historical documents and periodicals as well as a subject guide to images.

New milestones for Washington Area Spark sites:

  • Our Flickr photo page now has over 4,750 images with over 7.4 million photo views
  • Our blog site set a record in 2020 with nearly 21,000 views of posts during the year
  • The blog site also recorded over 11,500 document and periodicals downloads in 2020
  • Our Facebook page now has over 1,000 followers.

Re-visit the site as new photos, documents and occasional blog posts are added throughout the year.

Images

Five to leave D.C. on first Freedom Ride: 1961

Freedom Riders prepare to leave D.C. in May 1961 during their attempt to integrate interstate buses..

The heart of our effort is the images that bring history to life. Browse our images that date from the 1860s through the 1980s for what’s interesting to you:

Our blog posts can also be accessed a number of different ways. Features located on the right side of the website (at the bottom of the page on mobile) include links to:

  • Recent posts (newest to oldest)
  • Top posts and pages (recently popular)
  • Archives (select decade of interest
  • Search (enter a keyword for the subject you’re interested in)
  • Additionally, you may browse by subject in the Navigation tab at the top of the page (subjects are listed alphabetically).

Our documents

Original flyers, leaflets, broadsides, pamphlets and other materials related to change-makers in the Washington, D.C. area have been turned into PDFs and can be accessed on the Documents tab at the top of the page. They are listed by subject alphabetically and within each subject by date. Documents range from the 1930s through the 1980s.

Our periodicals

Quicksilver Times (almost) complete collection: 1969-72

The Quicksilver Times collection is missing only one issue.

Alternative newspapers, newsletters and other periodicals relevant to the struggle for progressive change have been turned into PDFs and are available on the Periodicals sub-page. They are organized by category and then alphabetically within each category. Alternative newspapers include Washington Area Spark, Washington Free Press and Quicksilver Times, GI press, Black liberation and civil rights periodicals and many other areas. Strengths of the collection are the 1960s and 70s.

Image use

We’re often contacted about the use of photographs posted on the Spark site. Please check the rights usage located below the image on the right side (if you are using a desktop or laptop) and the image’s source located at the end of the image description.

We hold the rights to about 500 of our 4,750 images, another 1,500 or so are public domain or their use is permitted for non-commercial use. The rights to the rest are held by others that you will need to contact for permission to publish and fees, if any. If you are seeking low/no cost non-commercial use of images labeled “all rights reserved,” pay particular attention to the D.C. Library Washington Star Collection. Permission to publish these images is usually free for non-profit use. If you have trouble finding an image or determining the rights, please contact us and we’ll try to help at Washington_area_spark@yahoo.com.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Extensive collection of D.C. and national alternative periodicals now posted

28 Jun
Quicksilver Times (almost) complete collection: 1969-72

Missing only one issue of the Quicksilver Times.

We took advantage of the coronavirus lock-down to scan and collect many alternative publications that are now posted on our website under the periodicals section.

This should be of interest to current activists who want to connect with past activism of the pre-Internet era, researchers and radical and local D.C. area history buffs.

Local publications on our site (and links to some off-site) include large collections of local alternative newspapers like the Quicksilver Times (missing only one issue, 1969-72) and Washington Free Press (1967-69).

We also have a complete set of the vintage Washington Area Spark and its successor On The Move (1971-75).

There are off-site links to good collections of the local LGBTQ publications Washington Blade (1969-94) and The Furies (1972-73) and the local D.C. women’s movement’s Off Our Backs (1970-76).

We have also added an extensive collection of alternative GI newspapers that published in the greater Washington, D.C. area.

We have excellent collections of the national Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) periodicals (1963-69), including The Bulletin (nearly complete), and complete collections of New Left Notes, Fire and CAW and a link to a good collection of Radical America (1967-90).

The Black Panther Party Newspaper: 1967-76

The most extensive collection of The Black Panther on the Net.

We have perhaps the most complete collection of The Black Panther newspaper (1967-76) on the Internet as well as copies of Right-On! and Babylon–newspapers published by the section of the Panthers that was expelled from the group in 1971.

We have also linked to an extensive collection of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) newsletters (1960-66).

The periodicals are organized by either being local or national/international and then by subject. This is a work in progress, so check back as we add new publications and issues to our online collection.

New documents

We’ve also added dozens of flyers, broadsides, brochures and other documents to our online collection this year. Strengths of the collection include civil rights and black liberation from the 1930s – 1970s, student activism and antiwar protests (1965-73).

Blog posts this year

We’ve published two new blog posts this year—one examining the D.C. black liberation movement from the 1950s through the 1970s as seen from the perspective of the life of Reginald Booker, an activist with CORE, leader of the Emergency Committee on the Transportation Crisis, leader of the federal and D.C. government anti-discrimination coalition GUARD and a leader of the Black United Front.

The other takes a deep dive into the labor movement by examining the local transit union from 1973-80 by looking at union leadership as portrayed by ATU Local 689 president George Davis, the pros and cons of illegal strikes and the formation of rank-and-file caucuses in advancing workers’ interests.

Accessing our online image collection

Last, but not least is our main focus—photographs and images of social justice, antiwar, labor, civil rights and black liberation, anti-imperialism and a dozen other categories. We now have over 4,500 images in our collection.

Each image contains a detailed description of the image and its backstory and is grouped into albums of related images.

Browse our images for what’s interesting to you:

Rights and usage

We’re often contacted about the use of photographs posted on the Spark site. Please check the rights usage located below the image on the right side (if you are using a desktop or laptop) and the image’s source located at the end of the image description.

We hold the rights to about 500 of our 4500 images, another 1,500 or so are public domain or their use is permitted for non-commercial use. The rights to the rest are held by others that you will need to contact for permission to publish and fees, if any. If you are seeking low/no cost non-commercial use of images labeled “all rights reserved,” pay particular attention to the D.C. Library Washington Star Collection. Permission to pubIsh these images is usually free for non-profit use. If you have trouble finding an image or determining the rights, please contact us and we’ll try to help at Washington_area_spark@yahoo.com.

Five million photo views…what’s next for Washington Area Spark?

20 Nov

Read the story and view the images of a 1936-41 D.C. battle against police brutality.

 

We’ve now topped five million image views of nearly 4,000 images plus thousands of document downloads and close to 100,000 views of our blog posts. Interest in the history of social change-makers and would-be social change-makers keeps growing.

Whether you’re an activist seeking to hone your skills, a history buff, a researcher, looking up your family history or a student doing a term paper, the Washington Area Spark can get you started down a fascinating road.

What do we have? Digitalized images, documents and blog posts on the struggles for social and economic justice and against U.S. imperialism in the greater Washington, D.C. area that occurred prior to the advent of the Internet.

What’s coming

In the coming months we hope to publish three blog posts now being researched:

  • An unsung woman who was a heroine of the D.C. civil rights movement
  • A woman who led a militant union and fought for equality for women in the 1940s
  • The transformation of the U.S. National Student Association from a CIA-funded organization to a CIA-spied upon organization.

In addition, we hope to upgrade our website further by providing links on the blog post guide, image guide and documents pages so you can more quickly get to the categories you are interested in—rather than scrolling all the way down the page.

Our images

DC area SDS: 1963-69

See photos and read the stories of the legendary Students for Democratic Society (SDS) in action in the D.C. area.

And, as always, we will continue to upload new images and documents to our Flickr site and our documents archive of struggles for social and economic justice and against U.S. imperialism abroad that occurred prior to 1990.

Images

Browse our images for what’s interesting to you:

Our blog posts

Our blog posts can also be accessed a number of different ways. Features located on the right side of the website (at the bottom of the page on mobile) include links to:

  • Recent posts (newest to oldest)
  • Top posts and pages (recently popular)
  • Archives (select decade of interest
  • Search (enter a keyword for the subject you’re interested in)
  • Additionally, you may browse by subject in the Navigation tab at the top of the page (subjects are listed alphabetically).

TDA–The Day After the Chicago 8/7 conspiracy trial verdict: 1970. See all documents.

Our documents

Our documents can be accessed on the Documents tab at the top of the page. They are listed by subject alphabetically and within each subject by date. See local alternative newspapers and newspapers, including the vintage Washington Area spark, and a few rare national alternative newspapers by scrolling all the way down the documents page.

Where did the name come from?

We’ve gotten a few inquiries about the origins of the Spark name. The original Montgomery Spark name was a confluence of three influences:

  • The Russian revolutionary Vladimir Lenin published a paper called Iskra (Spark) and this was known to the Montgomery College students who started the paper, but this was not the prime reason for the selection of the name.
  • The University of Maryland Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) had published a student newsletter called Spark that influenced some of the Montgomery College students.
  • Lastly the Chinese revolutionary Mao Zedong had penned an essay entitled “A single spark can start a prairie fire.” Mao borrowed an old saying for his essay, but it had a dual meaning for anti-establishment Montgomery Spark. A single copy of the newspaper could influence someone to spark societal change and the paper newspaper could also literally be set afire to wreak havoc in the turbulent early 1970s.

Want to use an image?

Our most common inquiry is the use of images posted. All images are marked on the individual image page as “all rights reserved,” “non-commercial use permitted with attribution” or “public domain.” Most have the identification of the original source of the photograph or image at the end of the photo description. If you wish to use an image marked “all rights reserved” or seek a for-profit use of a “non-commercial use permitted,” you will need to contact the holder of the rights to the image.

Do you have images or documents?

Spark is a way to make images and documents from past activism available to all. If you have mementos of past activism in the greater Washington, D.C. area such as photos or flyers or alternative newspapers from events or times prior to 1990 and would like to add them to the Spark site, please contact us.

If you’d like to donate them, we’ll be glad to make arrangements. We can scan them for our site and arrange to donate them to a library. If you’d like to keep your mementos, we can scan them and return them to you.

If you have questions or need assistance, contact us at Washington_Area_Spark@yahoo.com.

 

 

 

 

Links to individuals portrayed in our images are now complete!

26 Oct

Links to individual people identified within our historic 3,800-image collection are now complete. Browse alphabetically and view brief descriptions of each person and link(s) to their image(s).

Over 2,000 links! Images uploaded in the future will have the links posted shortly after their upload.

While all links have been checked, if you find a broken link, other error, or you can identify someone in a photo, please contact us at Washington_area_spark@yahoo.com

Welcome to our overhauled website!

4 Mar

 

Dr. Spock offers support to American Indian Movement: 1972

American Indian Movement leader Vernon Bellacourt talks with peace activist Dr. Benjamin Spock during the takeover of the Bureau of Indian Affairs – 1972.

As we have grown (over 3,400 images, 4,250,000 image views), we’ve found the need to better organize our website and Flickr page in order to make it easier for you to access what you’re interested in

We have now better integrated our Flickr historical photo site with our website by creating a tab that lists individual people portrayed in the photographs and images on our Flickr site. This is a work in progress, but we’ve gone through about one-third of our images at this time and it is regularly updated.

We’ve also added new categories to our blog post guide and photo album guide to help you locate posts and photographic or image subjects easier.

And we’ve added a new tab for documents that contains more detailed descriptions and historical context of each document that we have posted.

Md.-D.C. communist leaders taken to jail: 1952

Maryland and D.C. Communist Party officials are led off to jail after their convictions for being members of the Communist Party – 1952.

Our Flickr photo site now has close to 3,500 images (each with a detailed description and each album has a description of how images relate to each other) that can be accessed in a number of different ways:

By date of the image (newest to oldest)
By date uploaded to Flickr (newest to oldest)
By album of the same event or related images
By subject
By individual portrayed (of those that have been identified)
By search feature located at the top of the Flickr page

Hobson arrested in bus fare increase protest: 1970

D.C. activist, school board member and city council member Julius Hobson is arrested in a protest over a bus fare hike – 1970.

Our blog posts can also be accessed a number of different ways. Features located on the right side of the website (at the bottom of the page on mobile) include links to:

  • Recent posts (newest to oldest)
  • Top posts and pages (recently popular)
  • Archives (select decade of interest
  • Search (enter a keyword for the subject you’re interested in)

Additionally, you may browse by subject in the Navigation tab at the top of the page (subjects are listed alphabetically).

We hope you find it easier to find what you are looking for!

Our most common inquiry is the use of images posted. All images are marked on the individual image page as “all rights reserved,” “non-commercial use permitted” or “public domain.” Most have the identification of the original source of the photograph or image at the end of the photo description. If you wish to use an image marked “all rights reserved” or seek a for-profit use of a “non-commercial use permitted,” you will need to contact the holder of the rights to the image. If you need assistance, contact us at Washington_Area_Spark@yahoo.com.

New finding aid for Spark blog posts

7 Dec

(See Navigation page for updates to this post)

We hope to begin adding new posts in 2018 about change makers in the greater Washington, D.C. area that are largely unknown.

However, we wanted to better organize both our blog and photo collections before turning our attention to additional research and writing.

The following are broad categories to help you find our blog posts. They are listed from latest post to oldest post within each category.

Categorizing these posts within broad categories inevitably leads to disputes. Please accept these categories as finding aids instead of viewing them as political statements.

Blog Post Finding Guide

(For photos, see our Flickr photo guide)

Anarchism and Syndicalism

No posts at this time

Antiwar

(See Vietnam War for Indochina conflict)

Unbowed and unbroken Debs comes to Washington: 1921 [January 10, 2016 by JW] A brief description of Socialist Eugene Debs Washington, D.C. visit following his release from prison for opposing World War I.

Civil Rights and Black Liberation Before 1955

DC’s fighting barber and the end of public school segregation [August 20, 2015 by Daniel Hardin]: A look at Gardner Bishop and the Consolidated Parents group that ended legal segregation of schools in the District of Columbia through boycotts picketing and a legal strategy separate from Brown v. Board of Education.

Shootings by DC police spark fight against brutality, 1936-41 [April 20, 2013 by Craig Simpson]: An account of an early civil rights struggle in Washington, D.C. that united the African American community from the NAACP to the Communist Party and implemented many of the tactics that are still used today.

DC’s old Jim Crow rocked by 1939 Marian Anderson concert [March 14, 2013 by Craig Simpson]: A view of the celebrated struggle against the Jim Crow Daughters of the American Revolution Constitution Hall from the viewpoint of activists. It’s a different one than often told where First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and Interior Secretary Harold Ickes save the day.

“Scottsboro Boys” – New tactics and strategy for civil rights [February 19, 2013 by Craig Simpson]: The campaign around the “Scottsboro Boys” – nine African American youths accused of raping two Alabama white women—marked the beginning of the civil rights movement out of the churches and into the streets. This account of activities in Washington, D.C. outlines civil disobedience, marches and petition campaigns involving broad coalitions that saved the lives of the nine young men.

Before 1963: The 1922 silent march on Washington [February 6, 2013 by Craig Simpson]: A brief history of the first major African American march on Washington that was held to call for a federal anti-lynching law.

600 black women stand strong: the 1938 crab pickers strike [December 5, 2012 by Craig Simpson]: The amazing struggle of 600 black women led by a communist organizer to improve their conditions and win a union on Maryland’s Jim Crow Eastern Shore. The account is followed by a description of an amazing set of photographs of Crisfield during that time and an account of the communist CIO organizer Michael Howard.

The fight against Capital Transit’s Jim Crow hiring: 1941-55 [October 14, 2012 by Craig Simpson]: The long struggle to integrate Washington’s Capital Transit Company operator ranks—from World War II to the early years of the modern civil rights movement.

A DC labor and civil rights leader remembered: Marie Richardson [November 19, 2012 by Craig Simpson]: Marie Richardson Harris is believed to be the first African American woman to hold national office for a major labor union. She later spearheaded Washington, D.C.’s National Negro Congress and was jailed for four-and-a-half years during the McCarthy era.

Civil Rights and Black Liberation After 1955

Contradictions in the cause: Glen Echo, Maryland 1960 [June 26, 2015 by Daniel Hardin]: A behind the scenes look at the internal conflicts within the storied movement to desegregate the Glen Echo Amusement Park.

Raging civil rights struggle leads to union victories: Cambridge Md. 1963 [May 31, 2015 by Daniel Hardin]: The fierce civil rights struggle that involved armed fighting by blacks and whites and a three-year occupation by the Maryland National Guard leads to unity among workers.

Crazy Dion Diamond: A 1960 Rights Warrior in the Suburbs [January 20, 2013 by the editor]: A brief summary of the activities of one of the civil rights activists in Washington, D.C. in the early 1960s. It is followed by an excerpt from Kwame Ture about an incident in a southern jail with Dion Diamond.

Standing against the Maryland Klan 1971: a personal experience [January 2, 2013 by Bob Simpson, cross-posted in the Daily Kos]: A view of the Maryland Klan and one individual’s decision to confront the group at a Klan picnic and cross burning in Rising Sun, Maryland.

The Black Panther Party Revolutionary People’s Convention: November 1970 [November 25, 2012 by the editor]: The turning point in the Black Panther Party’s influence is told through illustrations of the event.

Communists

Paddy Whalen and the Midnight March of the Baltimore Brigade [February 4 2015 by Daniel Hardin]: The port of Baltimore’s leader of the seamen, Paddy Whalen, exerted a powerful influence on all of Maryland’s and the District of Columbia’s labor and civil rights struggles.

DC police raid 1948 fundraiser by Progressive Party supporters [March 6, 2013 by Craig Simpson]: An account of a relatively minor event at the beginning of the second Red Scare that illustrates the repression that was to come for the next ten years.

Shootings by DC police spark fight against brutality, 1936-41 [April 20, 2013 by Craig Simpson]: An account of an early civil rights struggle in Washington, D.C. that united the African American community from the NAACP to the Communist Party and implemented many of the tactics that are still used today.

Police break up unemployed protest at the White House: 1930 [February 26, 2013 by the editor]: A short account of President Herbert Hoover’s response to a 1930 demonstration by the unemployed sponsored by the Communist Party outside the White House. Hoover would gain notoriety and ultimately be defeated for what the public perceived as his callous attitude toward the social conditions created by the Great Depression.

“Scottsboro Boys” – New tactics and strategy for civil rights [February 19, 2013 by Craig Simpson]: The campaign around the “Scottsboro Boys” – nine African American youths accused of raping two Alabama white women—marked the beginning of the civil rights movement out of the churches and into the streets. This account of activities in Washington, D.C. outlines civil disobedience, marches and petition campaigns involving broad coalitions that saved the lives of the nine young men.

600 black women stand strong: the 1938 crab pickers strike [December 5, 2012 by Craig Simpson]: The amazing struggle of 600 black women led by a communist organizer to improve their conditions and win a union on Maryland’s Jim Crow Eastern Shore. The account is followed by a description of an amazing set of photographs of Crisfield during that time and an account of the communist CIO organizer Michael Howard.

A DC labor and civil rights leader remembered: Marie Richardson [November 19, 2012 by Craig Simpson]: Marie Richardson Harris is believed to be the first African American woman to hold national office for a major labor union. She later spearheaded Washington, D.C.’s National Negro Congress and was jailed for four-and-a-half years during the McCarthy era.

D.C. Area Miscellaneous

DC police raid 1948 fundraiser by Progressive Party supporters [March 6, 2013 by Craig Simpson]: An account of a relatively minor event at the beginning of the second Red Scare that illustrates the repression that was to come for the next ten years.

Cock Rock – The rape of our culture [Originally published October 1972 in the Montgomery Spark by Bob Simpson. Republished February 12, 2013 with additional images]: A view from the left of the debasing of women by male rock music.

Washington Free Press battles suppression: 1969-70 [November 7, 2012 by Craig Simpson] A spunky underground D.C. publication battles authorities to its death, but not before knocking down repressive restrictions on free speech and a free press.

Fight Against Fascism

Standing against the Maryland Klan 1971: a personal experience [January 2, 2013 by Bob Simpson, cross-posted in the Daily Kos]: A view of the Maryland Klan and one individual’s decision to confront the group at a Klan picnic and cross burning in Rising Sun, Maryland.

Immigrant Rights

No posts at this time

 LBGT

MoCo gay teacher fired 1972; justice denied for 40 years [December 20, 2012 by Craig Simpson]: Joe Acanfora, an early gay student activist, is barred from teaching in Montgomery County, Maryland public schools causing a nationwide examination of the issue.

Maryland marriage equality: over 50 years in the making [November 14, 2012 by the editor]: A brief photo history of some of the LGBT liberation struggles in the Washington, D.C. area on the occasion of the passage of Maryland’s marriage equality act.

Labor Movement

Raging civil rights struggle leads to union victories: Cambridge Md. 1963 [May 31, 2015 by Daniel Hardin]: The fierce civil rights struggle that involved armed fighting by blacks and whites and a three-year occupation by the Maryland National Guard leads to unity among workers.

Strike wave at Washington, D.C.’s Capital Transit: 1945 [May 10, 2015 by Daniel Hardin]: In the midst of a struggle over integration and pent-up wage demands following World War II, transit workers in Washington wage a battle to better their conditions and in the process set the stage to transform their union.

Paddy Whalen and the Midnight March of the Baltimore Brigade [February 4 2015 by Daniel Hardin]: The port of Baltimore’s leader of the seamen, Paddy Whalen, exerted a powerful influence on all of Maryland’s and the District of Columbia’s labor and civil rights struggles.

The 1937 Phillips Packinghouse strike – Promise and defeat [September 18, 2014 by Daniel Hardin]: An account of interracial solidarity during a long effort to unionize packinghouse workers on Maryland’s Jim Crow Eastern Shore.

Washington Post strike at the crossroads, December 1975 [December 12, 2012 by Craig Simpson]: An examination of the strengths and weaknesses of Post strike–one of the greatest defeats suffered by labor in the Washington, D.C. area.

600 black women stand strong: the 1938 crab pickers strike [December 5, 2012 by Craig Simpson]: The amazing struggle of 600 black women led by a communist organizer to improve their conditions and win a union on Maryland’s Jim Crow Eastern Shore. The account is followed by a description of an amazing set of photographs of Crisfield during that time and an account of the communist CIO organizer Michael Howard.

A DC labor and civil rights leader remembered: Marie Richardson [November 19, 2012 by Craig Simpson]: Marie Richardson Harris is believed to be the first African American woman to hold national office for a major labor union. She later spearheaded Washington, D.C.’s National Negro Congress and was jailed for four-and-a-half years during the McCarthy era.

Meatcutters strike betrayed: October 24, 1973 [October 24, 2012 by the editor]: A brief description of a Washington, D.C. meat cutters strike in which the national Teamsters Union refused to honor picket lines, dooming the walkout to failure.

For a moment in time….Mineral Pigment strike October 19, 1973 [October 19, 2012 by the editor]: A slide show of one day when worker power held the company at bay (no longer supported in WordPress, but the photos can be seen at our Flickr site.

The fight against Capital Transit’s Jim Crow hiring: 1941-55 [October 14, 2012 by Craig Simpson]: The long struggle to integrate Washington’s Capital Transit Company operator ranks—from World War II to the early years of the modern civil rights movement.

Marijuana

No posts at this time

 Miscellaneous

No posts at this time

National Liberation and Anti-Imperialism

(for Indochina War, see Vietnam War)

No posts at this time

Prison Rights

No posts at this time

Slave Resistance/Revolts/Military Action

Maryland slaves make a bold bid for freedom: July 7-8, 1845 [July 2 2015 by the editor]: An account of upwards of a hundred Maryland slaves that armed themselves and staged a quick time march toward freedom in Pennsylvania.

Socialism

Unbowed and unbroken Debs comes to Washington: 1921 [January 10, 2016 by JW] A brief description of Socialist Eugene Debs Washington, D.C. visit following his release from prison for opposing World War I.

Students

Miami means fight back: 1972 [Originally published in the Montgomery Spark, Vol. 2, No. 1, September 6, 1972 by Bob Simpson. Republished April 26, 2014 with additional photographs}: A first hand account of a group of Maryland radicals dubbed The Route One Brigade that traveled to Miami, Fl. to protest at the 1972 Republican convention.

30 Days in May: U. of Md. 1970 [August, 1970 by the Democratic Radical Union of Maryland. Originally published in The Radical Guide to the University of Maryland, 1970. Republished May 29, 2014 with an introduction and postscript by the editor and added photographs]: A contemporaneous account of the transformation of the sleepy southern campus at the University of Maryland into a hotbed of radicalism that brought the National Guard onto campus to quell protests for three consecutive years

Transit in the D.C. Area

Strike wave at Washington, D.C.’s Capital Transit: 1945 [May 10, 2015 by Daniel Hardin]: In the midst of a struggle over integration and pent-up wage demands following World War II, transit workers in Washington wage a battle to better their conditions and in the process set the stage to transform their union.

The DC women streetcar operators of World War II [March 20, 2013 by Craig Simpson]: In the midst of a World War II shortage of operators and a campaign by African Americans to integrate the operator ranks, the transit company hires women for the first time to pilot the city’s streetcars and buses.

The fight against Capital Transit’s Jim Crow hiring: 1941-55 [October 14, 2012 by Craig Simpson]: The long struggle to integrate Washington’s Capital Transit Company operator ranks—from World War II to the early years of the modern civil rights movement.

U.S. National Domestic Politics and Issues

Native Americans take over the Bureau of Indian Affairs [Originally published November 29, 1972 in the Montgomery Spark by Bob Simpson. Republished March 26, 2013 with added photographs]: An account contemporaneous with events of the Native American Trail of Broken Treaties demonstration and subsequent seizure of the Bureau of Indian Affairs that ended peacefully despite both sides arming themselves during the confrontation.

Unemployed

Police break up unemployed protest at the White House: 1930 [February 26, 2013 by the editor]: A short account of President Herbert Hoover’s response to a 1930 demonstration by the unemployed sponsored by the Communist Party outside the White House. Hoover would gain notoriety and ultimately be defeated for what the public perceived as his callous attitude toward the social conditions created by the Great Depression.

Veterans 

No posts at this time

Vietnam War

Miami means fight back: 1972 [Originally published in the Montgomery Spark, Vol. 2, No. 1, September 6, 1972 by Bob Simpson. Republished April 26, 2014 with additional photographs}: A first hand account of a group of Maryland radicals dubbed The Route One Brigade that traveled to Miami, Fl. to protest at the 1972 Republican convention.

30 Days in May: U. of Md. 1970 [August, 1970 by the Democratic Radical Union of Maryland. Originally published in The Radical Guide to the University of Maryland, 1970. Republished May 29, 2013 with an introduction and postscript by the editor and added photographs]: A contemporaneous account of the transformation of the sleepy southern campus at the University of Maryland into a hotbed of radicalism that brought the National Guard onto campus to quell protests for three consecutive years

The 1969 Nixon Inauguration: horse manure, rocks and a pig [January 9, 2013 by Craig Simpson]: An account of President Richard Nixon’s first Inauguration from the point of view of anti-Vietnam War protesters and how it helped change the movement from protest to confrontation.

Women’s Rights

The DC women streetcar operators of World War II [March 20, 2013 by Craig Simpson]: In the midst of a World War II shortage of operators and a campaign by African Americans to integrate the operator ranks, the transit company hires women for the first time to pilot the city’s streetcars and buses.

Cock Rock – The rape of our culture [Originally published October 1972 in the Montgomery Spark by Bob Simpson. Republished February 12, 2013 with additional images]: A view from the left of the debasing of women by male rock music.

When abortion was legalized: one woman’s experience [Originally published February 1972 in the Montgomery Spark by an anonymous woman. It was republished January 15, 2013]: A woman’s experience with abortion shortly after the procedure was legalized in the District of Columbia followed by her reflections 40 years later.

Washington Area Spark

Washington Area Spark – Flickr photo collection guide [October 4, 2017 by the editor]: A finding aid for photographs and other images on the Washington Area Spark Flickr site]

2000 historic photos of DC activism now online [January 26, 2016 by the editor]: Links to some of the most popular and interesting photo collections on the Washington Area Spark Flickr site]

Vintage Washington Area Spark comes back to life 1971-75 [October 13, 2015 by the editor]: a brief description of the original Washington Area Spark and On The Move newspapers and links to PDFs of the tabloid.

A million and counting… [February 15, 2015 by the editor]: A post highlighting some of the popular an interesting photo sets from Spark’s Flickr collection.

Spark 1st Quarter in Review [April 3, 2013, by the editor]: A recap of posts that were published during the first three months of 2013 with brief descriptions and links.

Spark 4th quarter in review [December 26, 2012 by the editor]: A brief summary of the Washington Area Spark blog posts for the previous three months].

Welcome to Washington Area Spark [October 13, 2012 by the editor]: The opening post that gives a brief description of the blog and its mission.

Washington Area Spark – Flickr photo collection guide

4 Oct
Cold winds blow on DC cafeteria workers: 1948

1948 cafeteria strike

by the administrator

For updates to this post, see the image guide tab above or the individuals tab above.

The Spark collection is now approaching 3,000,000 photo views on our Flickr site with 2,700 images in 265 different albums, so we’re adding a research guide to help you find images of interest.

Further, our collection of images of struggles for freedom, economic and social justice, against imperialist war, for liberation is growing. We collect, research and publish these images from the pre-Internet era in the hope of connecting the struggles today with those of yesterday.

Hundreds attempt escape at makeshift jail: Mayday 1971

1971 Mayday detainees

The following are broad categories to help you find images. The image albums are not listed in any particular order within the broad categories.

Categorizing these albums within broad categories inevitably leads to disputes. Please accept these categories as finding aids instead of viewing them as political statements.

African American parents picket & boycott DC schools: 1947

1947 DC school boycott

Within Flickr, you may also browse albums (collection of related photographs and images), the photo stream (images by date uploaded) or by camera roll (by date of the image). You may also use the search feature at the top of any Flickr page by entering your own search terms. We strongly urge researchers to use search terms since an image contained in an album may relate to your area of interest even though the album is about a different issue.

As you view these images, we hope you will gain a greater appreciation of these agents of change and learn from their sometimes brilliant and sometimes disastrous strategy and tactics.

Image Albums:

Anarchism and Syndicalism

Sacco & Vanzetti: 1920-27

D.C. Weather bombings: 1971-75

Big Bill in DC: 1915

First Red Scare: 1919-25

Antiwar

(See Vietnam War for Indochina conflict)

World Citizen: 1948-49

War against Iraq: 1991

Student Peace Union: 1958-67

Debs in DC: 1921

Antiwar: 1917

Women against war: 1920-80

Jeanette Rankin: 1914-40

Women’s International League: 1915-90

No forced ROTC: 1930-70

Anti-draft protests: 1947-72

Youth Congress: 1934-41

Pre-war peace pickets: 1941

No nukes: 1950-85

Harrisburg 7: 1971-72

Civil Rights & Black Liberation Struggles before 1955

Safeway Jim Crow: 1935-41

Black postal clerks: 1868-1940

Frederick Douglas: 1818-1895

Cafeteria Local 471

Laundry strike: 1937

Interracial dance: 1929

Adam Clayton Powell in DC: 1940-70

Jim Crow at U.S. Engraving: 1947-50

Crime conference: 1934

Maryland lynch mobs: 1930s

Parents League: 1919

DC’s fighting barber: 1947-54

DC swimming pool integration: 1949-54

DC New Negro Alliance: 1934-43

DC National Negro Congress: 1936-55

Mary McLeod Bethune

Truman at NAACP: 1947

African American GAR: 1900-35

Youth Congress: 1934-41

For fair employment: 1941-50

Abolish poll taxes: 1940-48

Gone with the Wind: 1940

Interracial strike: 1937

Georgia lynching protest: 1946

DC Scottsboro action: 1932-35

Free Willie McGee: 1945-51

Bilbo has got to go: 1945-46

Mary Church Terrell: 1863-1954

Martinsville 7: 1951

No police brutality: 1941

No police brutality: 1936-40

No VA Jim Crow?: 1946

DC Jim Crow Theaters: 1922-54

Anti-lynching campaign: 1922

MD crab strike: 1938

Marie Richardson remembered

Fighting Capital Transit racism: 1941-55

Civil Rights & Black Liberation Struggles after 1955

King in DC: 1956-65

VA school segregation: 1957

Youth march: 1959

DC civil rights: 1966

Adam Clayton Powell in DC: 1940-70

Malcolm in DC: 1961-63

NoVa theater Jim Crow: 1962-63

Goodman, Schwerner, Chaney: 1964

Wallace in MD: 1964-72

MD school segregation: 1954-74

Rats cause riots: 1967

Poor People’s march: 1968

20th Anniversary march: 1983

Giles-Johnson: 1961-67

King holiday: 1968-86

DC civil rights: 1962-64

Bowie State: 1968

UMD Black Student Union: 1968-75

Stadium pickets: 1963-90

Terrence Johnson: 1979-80

March on Washington: 1963

Laurence G. Henry: 1960-61

March on DC: 1958

Cambridge, MD rights: 1963-67

DC Selma reaction: 1965

Prayer Pilgrimage: 1957

Demand open housing: 1963-66

MD civil rights: 1960-68

MLK assassinated: 1968

Glen Echo picket: 1960

Rockville, MD sit-in: 1960

Homes not roads: 1969

100 hour Hiser picket: 1960

DC rights warrior: 1960

Resistance to the Klan in MD:

African Liberation: 1972-86

DC Black Panthers: 1969-74

VA restaurant sit-ins: 1960

Racism at the Library of Congress: 1971-73

Children’s march for survival: 1972

Communists

Laundry strike: 1937

Cafeteria Local 471

Federal workers school

Interracial Dance: 1929

Communist Assn.: 1944

Anti-Deng protests: 1979

May Day: 1935

MD crab strike: 1938

Seamen march on DC: 1937

Md.-D.C. communists: 1920-65

Release John Porter: 1928

Bicentennial protests: 1976

Hunger Marches: 1931-32

Immigration rights: 1930

Rosenberg execution: 1953

Celanese strike: 1936

Passaic strike: 1926

Madalyn Murray O’Hair: 1963

DC unemployed protest: 1930

DC Red Scares

Marie Richardson remembered

Sammie Abbott appreciation

DC Scottsboro action: 1932-35

No police brutality: 1936-40

Police raid Progressives: 1948

Spanish Civil War: 1936-39

First Red Scare: 1919-25

D.C. Area Miscellaneous 

CCNV: 1973-1990

D.C. voting rights: 1932-64

Group Health: 1959

Hit and Stay: 1968-75

Homes not roads: 1969

Police raid Progressives: 1948

Sammie Abbott appreciation

Free Press battle: 1969

Surveying police surveyors: 1971-73

Fight Against Fascism

Spanish Civil War: 1936-39

Wallace in MD: 1964-72

Responding to the right: 1940-85

Liberation of Dachau: 1945

Off to fight fascism: 1942-45

Anti-fascist protests: 1930s

Resistance to the Klan in MD:

Immigrant Rights

Sacco & Vanzetti: 1920-27

Anti-deportation: 1940

Immigrant rights: 1977

Mt. Pleasant riot: 1991

Immigration rights: 1930

Meeting at Central Presbyterian: 1973

LBGT

LBGT rights: 1975-90

DC LGBT rights: 1965-74

MoCo gay teacher fired: 1972-73

Labor Movement

Safeway Jim Crow: 1935-41

Black postal clerks: 1868-1940

Government union: 1934

Patco strike: 1981

Laundry strike: 1937

Cafeteria Local 471

Federal workers school: 1937

Big Bill in DC: 1915

Price controls: 1946

Navy Yard wage cuts: 1921

Jim Crow at US Engraving: 1947-50

Tom Mooney in DC: 1939

Release John Porter: 1928

John L. Lewis in DC: 1935-69

Postal employees: 1934

Terrence Powderly: 1849-1924

Group Health: 1959

Debs in DC: 1921

Hotel workers: 1930-49

Celanese strike: 1936

DC truck strike: 1940 ca.

Transit strike: 1955

Transit strike: 1951

Samuel Gompers: 1850-1924

Passaic strike: 1926

Solidarity Day: 1981-82

Stadium pickets: 1963-90

D.C. Labor Meetings

Government workers: 1928

Communications workers: 1940-80

ATU 689 birth: 1916-17

D.C. area strike wave: 1945-46

Capital Transit strikes: 1945

Mother Jones 1837-1930

Taft-Hartley protests: 1947

Seamen march on DC: 1937

WPA protests: 1936-40

Interracial strike: 1937

DC streetcar women: 1943-61

MoCo teachers strike: 1968

MD crab strike: 1938

Marie Richardson remembered

Fighting Capital Transit racism: 1941-55

Post busts pressmen’s union: 1975

Post printers lockout: 1973

K. Graham burned in effigy: 1976

DC Metro wildcats strikes: 1978

Farmworkers Safeway boycott: 1973

Transit strike: 1974

Confrontation at Mineral Pigment: 1973

On the job murder at Metro: 1974

Racism at the Library of Congress: 1971-73

Terps at issue in hotel fight: 1974

Union fight at Lanham hotel: 1974

Hotel workers hit GOP: 1974

Say no to Rhodesian chrome: 1973

Caucus pickets steel talks: 1977

Farah boycott: 1973

May Day picket: 1974

Teamsters strike Safeway: 1974

Meatcutters strike betrayed: 1973

Retail clerks lose strike: 1974

ATU Local 689: No Service 1974

Union staff strike NEA union: 1974

People’s Drug strike: 1974

Fairfax Hotel strike: 1974

Painters strike: 1937

Longshore battle: 1951-54

Wartime strikes: 1942-45

First Red Scare: 1919-25

Marijuana

Honor America Day: 1970

Yippie smoke-in: 1973

Legalize pot: 1979

Miscellaneous

Revolutionary culture

Random radicals

Statement flags: 1930-75

National Liberation & Anti-Imperialism

(For Indochina War, see Vietnam War)

GW Sino Soviet: 1969

DC Area SDS: 1963-69

War against Iraq: 1991

Spanish Civil War: 1936-39

NSA-CIA to NLF: 1967-71

Palestine protest: 1971

Puerto Rican nationalists: 1950-54

Irish republicans: 1919-21

No to imperialism: 1920-90

African liberation: 1972-86

Free 12 Iranian artists: 1973

Say no to Rhodesian chrome: 1973

CIA out of Greece: 1974

Down with the Shah: 1974

Keep out of Mideast war: 1973

Antiwar: 1917

Prison Rights

Rebellion against system: DC jail 1972

DC Women’s Detention Center: 1973

Tear the walls down: 1973

DC jail uprising trial: 1974

Slave Resistance/Revolts/Military Action

Escape from slavery: 1853-58

Frederick Douglas: 1818-1895

Fight for freedom: 1861-65

MD slave revolt: 1845

African American GAR: 1930-35

Christiana Riot: 1851

Socialism

Debs in D.C.: 1921

People’s Party: 1972

Students

Catholic U strike: 1967

Youth Congress: 1934-41

Anti-deportation: 1940

NSA-CIA to NLF: 1967-71

DC area SDS: 1963-69

No forced ROTC: 1930-70

GW Sino Soviet: 1969

Bowie State: 1968

UMD Black Student Union: 1968-75

Howard U protests: 1967

U of MD ignites: 1970

Cutbacks and layoffs must stop at the U. of MD: 1973

ROTC off campus: U of MD 1971

U of MD antiwar protests: 1972

Terps at issue in hotel fight: 1974

MoCo teachers strike: 1968

Rennie Davis at Montgomery College: 1973

Transit in the DC Area

Group Health: 1959

Exact bus fare: 1968

D.C. streetcar women: 1943-60

Transit strike: 1974

ATU 689 birth: 1916-17

On the job murder at Metro: 1974

ATU Local 689: No Service 1974

Fighting Capital Transit racism: 1941-55

Transit strike: 1955

Transit strike: 1951

Capital Transit strikes; 1945

DC Metro wildcat strikes: 1978

U.S. National Domestic Politics & Issues

Farmers’ protest: 1977-85

No social security cuts: 1981

Earth Day: 1970

Price controls: 1946

Townsend pension plan: 1936

Bicentennial protests: 1976

Chippewas protest on the Mall: 1970

Throw the Bum Out: 1973-74

Wanted: William E Colby 1973

Madalyn Murray O’Hair: 1963

BIA takeover: 1972

Unemployed

Mr. Zero in DC: 1921-32

Hunger marches: 1931-32

Bonus Army: 1932-34

Coxey’s army: 1894-44

Jobless: 1949

Youth Congress: 1934-41

D.C. unemployed protest: 1930

WPA protests: 1936-40

Unemployed League: 1934

Workers Alliance: 1935-40

Cutbacks and layoffs must stop at the U of MD: 1973

No cuts in jobless benefits: 1975-77

Veterans

Bonus Army: 1932-34

Dewey Canyon III: 1971

African American GAR: 1930-35

Vets march on the White House: 1974

Servicemen demand bonus: 1973

VA target of vets picket: 1974

Vets hit military court: 1974

Demanding justice at Justice: 1974

Vietnam War

Protest Viet partition: 1954

DC area SDS: 1963-69

Antiwar: 1967

DC antiwar: 1971

DC national antiwar rally: 1970

NSA-CIA to NLF: 1967-71

Dewey Canyon III: 1971

Chicago 8/7 conspiracy: 1968-70

DC Weather bombings: 1971-75

DC Anti-Vietnam War: 1968

DC Anti-Vietnam War: 1966

Hit and stay: 1968-75

Largest Anti-Viet War protest: 1971

Moratorium: Oct. 1969

Anti-draft protests: 1947-72

Howard U protests: 1967

Moratorium: Nov. 1969

Mayday: May 5, 1971

Honor America Day: 1970

DC anti-Vietnam War: 1965

Mayday: May 4, 1971

Mayday: May 3, 1971

Mayday: May 2, 1971

Mayday: May 1, 1971

March on Pentagon: 1967

Republican convention: 1972

Rennie Davis at Montgomery College: 1973

U of MD ignites: 1970

Counter-Inaugural: 1969

Inauguration protest: 1973

ROTC off campus: U of MD 1971

DC Anti-Vietnam War: 1972

U of MD antiwar protests: 1972

Final march: Vietnam War 1975

March on the Pentagon: 1972

Wanted: William E. Colby: 1973

Harrisburg 7: 1971-72

Women’s Rights

Abortion rights: 1989

Green Guards: 1940

Women’s vote: 1910-20

Women against war: 1920-80

Jeanette Rankin: 1914-40

Women’s International League 1915-90

Universal childcare: 1971

DC streetcar women: 1943-60

Women’s rights: 1970

DC Abortion: 1972

Ratify the ERA: 1976

MD crab strike: 1938

Marie Richardson remembered

Washington Area Spark Historical

Washington Area Spark

Spark and On The Move mastheads

Photographers of Spark & On the Move

Images published in Spark

Images published in On The Move

Spark and On The Move in action: 1973-74

Spark and On The Move trivia

Two children at Spark house: 1972

Mike Quatro concert: 1972

2,000 historic photos of DC activism now online

26 Jan
Hunger March women prepare to board truck: 1932

Hunger March in Washington, D.C. – 1932

***

Update you may now browse photos by subject and by individual person.

Albums by Subject

Individuals by last name

***

We’ve posted photo 2K on our Flickr site as our fifth year comes to a close.

Browse three different ways:

Album (related images)

Photo stream (by dated posted)

Timeline (by date of image)

Or you can use the search feature at the top of the Flickr page to find your topic, person or date that interests you.

Some of the newest interesting albums:

Debs in DC: 1921Famed socialist leader and presidential candidate Eugene Debs in DC – Debs comes to Washington, DC following his release from the Atlanta Penitentiary in 1921 where he had run for president of the U.S. and received nearly a million votes. Where did he go? Whom did he visit? Who visited with him? What did he see?

Mr Zero in DC: 1921-32Mr. Zero – before the Yippies of Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin and ‘Pie Man’ Aron Kay who understood modern media, there was Mr. Zero who grasped the impact of the new photographic capabilities of daily newspapers. He used his theatrics to advance the interests of the unemployed in the 1910s and 20s.

Hunger Marches: 1931-32While most have heard of the Bonus Army march on Washington in 1932, few have heard of the Hunger marches that occurred in 1931-32 that had as great an impact at the time and provided the impetus for the unemployment insurance system we know today.

Celanese strike: 1936The Celanese Strike of 1936 in far off Cumberland, Maryland produced the great communist labor leader George A. Meyers who went on to become head of the 10,000 member textile union, head of the Maryland-DC CIO and later the head of the Communist Party USA’s trade union work. Meyers, as head of the local CIO, spearheaded efforts to desegregate defense industries in the Baltimore-Washington area at the beginning of World War II.

Poor People's March: 1968Poor People’s March: 1968. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. planned this march to be a massive civil disobedience action that would shut down Washington, DC to demand economic justice. After his assassination, the focus was changed to a lobby effort that was doomed by the change of focus, relentless rain and lack of effective leadership. Many historians mark this as the end of the national focus of the modern civil rights movement that began with the Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom in 1957.

Maryland Lynch Mobs: 1930sThe last major wave of lynchings in Maryland occurred in the 1930s, see images and read about these barbaric crimes that have no historical markers. And see those that stood against them.

The vintage Washington Area Spark is now online. Scroll way down your screen on the right and click on any issue for the original tabloid paper published from 1971-75.

Some of the all time favorites albums:

DC Unemployed Protest: 1930

Maryland Civil Rights: 1960-68

Virginia Restaurant Sit-Ins: 1960

Fighting Capital Transit Racism: 1941-55

U of MD Ignites: 1970

Thanks for you interest. Do you have historic photos you’d like to share? Contact us at Washington_Area_Spark@yahoo.com

 –The administrators

Vintage Washington Area Spark comes back to life: 1971-5

13 Oct
spark-1971-11-19-vol-1-no-3-1

November 19, 1971 – Spark’s third issue.

Updated October 25, 2015 – 3rd and final year of Spark & complete On the Move now online:

This new online tool for researchers and those interested in the period of radical activity in the Washington, D.C. area from 1971-75 is now relatively complete.

The third year of Spark marked its complete transition from a student-oriented radical newspaper to one based among the Washington, D.C. area workforce while still retaining its campus distribution along with a few bookstores and other news outlets.

The tabloid’s circulation peaked in the third year at around 25,000–up from its first issue circulation of 500.

While the newspaper’s politics began aligning more closely with a Maoist group called the Revolutionary Union, it still retained its independence and published articles and covered events that were sponsored by other groups and broader coalitions.

However, internal and external pressures caused it to cease publication two issues into its third year. Printing prices skyrocketed while a number of key members of its volunteer staff left for personal reasons. The financing, writing, production and distribution took its toll and the tasks began wearing on the core volunteers that had been performing the various functions without compensation for nearly two years.

In addition, the newspaper’s turn toward the politics of the Revolutionary Union alienated some contributors and distributors.

The newspaper was reincarnated as On The Move six months after Spark ceased publication. On the Move looked much more like the several dozen local newspapers that sprung up across the country in this period that were closely aligned with and largely staffed by members of the Revolutionary Union. The focus was on worker militancy and actions sponsored by the RU or groups aligned with it. Articles were republished from Revolution (the RU’s national newspaper) as well as from other local RU-oriented newspapers.

On The Move’s circulation was primarily at worksites around the city and distribution never went higher than around 1,000 copies per issue. Each issue looked less like it’s previous incarnation as jargon increased and coverage of local news decreased.

On The Move ceased publication after one year largely due to the same reasons as Spark–overburdened staff and even weaker finances. The impact of the paper was lessened by increasingly sparse local content and poor circulation.

There were several unsuccessful attempts over the next several years to revive the newspaper, including the publication of one issue of an RU-oriented Baltimore-Washington Worker. 

Links to the third year of Spark and the first and only year of On The Move:

3rd year of Spark:

Vol. 3, No. 1, October 11, 1973
Vol. 3, No. 2, November 24, 1973

Complete On The Move:

Vol. 1, No. 1, April-May, 1974
Vol. 1, No. 2, August, 1974
Vol. 1, No. 3, November, 1974
Vol. 1, No. 4, December, 1974
Vol. 1, No. 5, January, 1975

Updated Oct. 18, 2015 – 2nd year of Spark now online

The second year of the Washington Area Spark monthly tabloid is now online. Vol. 2, No. 8 published in March/April 1973 is missing. If you have a copy, please contact us at washington_area_spark@yahoo.com. A full twelve issues were published in the second year of the paper.

The second year of Spark was marked by clashes with the new student government, the administration and even the trustees of Montgomery College. The previous student government had allocated funds for publishing Spark, but it became a race to spend the money before it was cut off. The last student funds were spent in December 1972 and the newspaper declared its independence from the campus in January 1973.

The second year also marked an expansion from its Montgomery County roots to a Washington, DC area-wide newspaper. The paper struggled to find a replacement for the student funds and came to rely on a mix of limited advertisement, sustainer contributions and staff contributions.

The politics of the newspaper also changed. It declared itself to be guided by Marxism-Leninism-Mao Tse Tung Thought. This turn to the left occurred at a time when the base of the newspaper–student activism began to fade with the end of the draft and the winding down of the Vietnam War.

The iconic Spark bomb shrunk in size and then disappeared. As the newspaper became more political, both advertising and distribution centers dropped as small business owners rejected the paper’s politics. This in turn changed the format of the newspaper–adding an extra fold–so that it was easier to hand out at workplaces.

Content also changed with an increasing focus on economic and work place issues. However, unlike many self-styled Maoist newspapers of the era, the Spark continued to carry different viewpoints, continue to give space to counter-cultural events and cover other groups, including demonstrations sponsored or strongly influenced by the Young Workers Liberation League /Communist Party USA and the Workers World/Youth Against War and Fascism group that had Trotskyist roots, black liberation groups and anarchists.

Links to the second year of Spark:

Vol. 2 No. 1 – September 6, 1972
Vol. 2 No. 2 – October 4, 1972
Vol. 2 No. 3 – October 31, 1972
Vol. 2 No. 4 – November 19, 1972
Vol. 2 No. 5 – December 20, 1972
Vol. 2 No. 6 – January 20, 1973
Vol. 2 No. 7 – February 21, 1973
Vol. 2 No. 8 – unavailable
Vol. 2 No. 9 – May 11, 1973
Vol. 2 No. 10 – June 12, 1973
Vol. 2 No. 11 – July 11, 1973
Vol. 2 No. 12 – August 17, 1973

Original post:

We are finally getting around to scanning and posting the original Spark and its successor On The Move. Five of the first six issues are posted (one is missing) and represent the first year of publication. More will be posted in the coming weeks. They have been posted unedited meaning the discoloration of the aging newsprint is captured as well.

We hope this resource will add to the rich alternative publication history in the greater Washington, D.C. area and provide researchers with additional information on left-leaning activities in the early 1970s in this region.

Spark began as a Montgomery College student publication after a group of radicals calling themselves the Montgomery County Freedom Party won several seats in the student government and obtained funding for the publication. The other official student newspaper, The Spur, continued to publish during this period as well.

The volunteer staff used a typewriter and press type to lay out the tabloid. Photos that required half-tones had to be done by the printer for the offset press process.

The eclectic tabloid published six issues in its first year (the publication year mirrored the student year) and included inflammatory language about police and revolution, but focused on student and county issues with a smattering of articles about local and national issues related to left-leaning causes. The politics of the contributors included feminists, anarchists, liberals, pacifists and revolutionaries.

The publication dates are a little confusing. At times they represented publication date and at times they represented the end of the period prior to what was expected to be the next issue’s publication.

By the last issue of the year (Vol. 1 No. 6), the newspaper began to include expanded coverage of county-wide issues and was distributed at a few locations other than the college.

Vol. 1 No. 1 – unavailable
Vol. 1 No. 2 – October 25, 1971
Vol. 1 No. 3 – November 19, 1971
Vol. 1 No. 4 – December 10, 1971
Vol. 1 No. 5 – February 29, 1972
Vol. 1 No. 6 – April 15, 1972

Do you have a copy of the first issue of Spark? If so, please e-mail us at washington_area_spark@yahoo.com

 

Spark 1st Quarter in Review

3 Apr

Missed Our Earlier Posts? Catch Up Here!

The historic events we’ve highlighted over the last three months have striking relevance to some questions of today:

  • Can there be ongoing social change without an organized movement?
  • How can a small group spark social change?
  • How much has male-dominated culture changed in 40 years?
  • Is abortion right or wrong?
  • Confront the right-wing or ignore them?
  • Civil disobedience or reliance on the courts?
  • What relationship should the U.S. have with Native Peoples?

Find some of the answers in the 1st quarter 2013 posts.


Standing Against the Maryland Klan in 1971

Klansman Slapped, Robe Torn: 1966By Bob Simpson
Posted January 2

Bob writes a personal memory about his fears on the day he joined others to picket the Ku Klux Klan in Rising Sun, Maryland in 1971.

While not as strong as in the Deep South, the Klan has had a long, violent presence in Maryland. Should organizations that are similar to the Klan be ignored today in the hope that they’ll go away or should they be confronted? Read it here.


The 1969 Counter-Inaugural

Antiwar Protestor With Nixon Mask: Counter-Inaugural 1969By Craig Simpson
Posted January 9

The anti-Vietnam-War movement was on its heels. Its leaders were trying to regroup while thousands of youth, ready to toss the American system out, were on their way to Washington, D.C. to confront the newly elected President.

It was three days of confusion, confrontation and exhilaration involving peace, a pig, horse manure and rocks thrown at the Presidential limousine during his Inaugural parade. Read it here.


A Personal Abortion Experience in 1972

Demonstration for Women’s Rights: 1970By Anonymous
Posted January 15

PreTerm, the District of Columbia’s first abortion clinic, opened for business in the city in 1971. Anonymous writes in detail about her own decision to have an abortion and her personal experience at the clinic, then reflects on her decisions 40 years later.

The article was originally printed in the February 1972 Montgomery Spark. Read it here.


Crazy Dion Diamond: A Rights Warrior in 1960

Bravery at Arlington Virginia Lunch Counter: 1960Posted January 20

A small group of Howard University students, joined by white students from other schools in the Washington, D.C. area, tired of picketing the Capitol for civil rights legislation and being ignored.

Instead, they began using direct action in the suburbs where Jim Crow was still widespread. They gained quick success in Arlington, Va. and Montgomery County, Md. desegregating restaurants, a movie theater and the Glen Echo Amusement Park. The group, including Dion Diamond, showed exemplary bravery in the face of arrests and physical confrontation with Nazis.

Many of the group drew on this experience when they went south to join the Freedom Rides in 1961. Read about it here.


The 1922 Silent March on Washington

Silent Anti-Lynching March on Washington: 1922By Craig Simpson
Posted February 6

As the privileged classes of the South sought to re-subjugate African Americans in the last part of the 19th Century and the first part of the 20th Century, lynching became the principal weapon of intimidation.

Long before the seminal 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, African Americans organized their first march on Washington on June 14, 1922 to demand basic civil rights. First and foremost they demanded the passage of a federal anti-lynching law.

The campaign ultimately failed when Southern Democrats staged a filibuster in the Senate. The failure caused an abandonment of the use of mass action for civil rights for ten years before the communists revived it in the case of the “Scottsboro Boys.”  This post is the first of a series on marches on Washington and rallies at the Lincoln Memorial that laid the basis for the landmark 1963 demonstration. Read it here.


Cock Rock: The Rape of Our Culture

Cock Rock Illustration edited reversedBy Bob Simpson
Posted February 12

An encounter with rocker Mike Quatro before a Montgomery College concert causes the writer to reflect on rock music and the subjugation of women. The article was first published in the October 1972 issue of the Montgomery Spark.

The post reflects a man’s early attempt at consciousness-raising about the role of culture in the oppression of women. One of the 1972 editors finds that the premise of the article is equally applicable today. Read it here.


Scottsboro: New Tactics & Strategy for Civil Rights

4,000 March in Washington to Free ‘Scottsboro Boys’ – 1933By Craig Simpson
Posted February 19

The labor and women’s suffrage movements had used direct action prior to its adoption by the Communist Party in the case of the nine youths condemned to death in Alabama dubbed “The Scottsboro Boys.”

But the 1932-34 campaign led by the communists marked the revival of the mass march and the first use of high-profile civil disobedience in the civil rights movement. It was not without controversy and the debate continued over strategy and tactics all the way up to the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. This is the second of a series on marches on Washington and rallies at the Lincoln memorial that laid the basis for the 1963 march. Read it here.


1930 Protest by Unemployed at the White House

Unemployment Rally in DC: 1930Posted February 26

The worldwide March 6, 1930 protests against unemployment marked the first organized response to the Great Depression. In Washington, D.C., police attacked and dispersed a relatively small picket line in front of the White House.

There are striking photos and film footage of the Washington demonstration starting with a rally at the Communist Party headquarters and ending with police clubs and tear gas at the picket line. Read and watch it here.


Police Raid Progressive Party Event in 1948

Demonstration Protests DC Police Raid on Veterans Dance: 1948By Craig Simpson
Posted March 6

As the post-World War II “red scare” began in earnest, Washington, D.C. police broke up interracial gatherings and began compiling lists of names of suspected progressives, socialists and communists.

In this event, over 30 police officers broke up a fundraising dance for third party presidential candidate Henry Wallace over a raffle for 2 fifths of liquor. They took hundreds of names and arrested more than a dozen people.  Leaders were prosecuted for minor alcohol violations.  It was indicative of what was to come as many left-leaning activists were fired from their jobs, blacklisted, and often jailed for their political beliefs.  Read it here.


1939 Concert is a Blow to Jim Crow

Marian Anderson Sings at Lincoln Memorial: 1939 # 3By Craig Simpson
Posted March 14

The 1939 Marian Anderson concert marked the first mass civil rights rally using the backdrop of the Lincoln Memorial to symbolize freedom.

The fight to get Anderson a venue in the city, after both the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Washington, D.C. school board rejected her, was part of a long struggle to desegregate performing arts theaters in the city.

Anderson’s concert marked a turning point in the battle against Jim Crow, both locally and nationally.  This is the third of a series on marches on Washington and rallies at the Lincoln Memorial that laid the basis for the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Read it here.


The WWII Women Streetcar Operators

100 Women Operators Needed: 1943By Craig Simpson
Posted March 20

The labor shortage that developed during World War II opened up many previous white-male-only jobs to African Americans and women. But the Capital Transit Company bitterly resisted hiring black people as streetcar operators.

Instead they embarked on an ambitious effort to recruit white women to a “Women’s Auxiliary Transit Service” (WATS) that would fill in for white male streetcar and bus operators who had gone to war.

As the by-product of another struggle, the women’s groundbreaking role was quickly eroded after the war. By 1948 only ten remained and all were gone with the end of streetcar operations in the city in 1962. It wasn’t until five years later, during the social upheaval of the 1960s, that women broke through the barriers in large numbers as transit bus and rail operators. Read it here.


Native Americans Seize BIA in 1972

BIA Spokesperson at Trail of Broken Treaties Protest: 1972By Bob Simpson
Posted March 26

Native Americans fed up with corruption involving tribal leaders, Congress and large corporations launched a “Trail of Broken Treaties” caravan that crisscrossed the country before arriving in Washington, D.C. with a twenty-point program demanding a new relationship with the federal government.

Interior Department officials gave permission to the demonstrators to stay in the Bureau of Indian Affairs building past the normal closing time. But government security forces instead attacked the protestors in another betrayal of U.S. promises.

The result was a week-long armed occupation of the building by Native Americans They studied and removed and thousands of documents that proved the corruption they alleged, then publicized them. The article was originally published in the November 1972 Montgomery Spark. Read it here.


Looking for More? Check out 2012 Spark 4th Quarter in Review


%d bloggers like this: