University Libraries Archives & Special Collections at the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center

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Liberation Movements and Civil Rights

The collection also contains materials pertaining to non-white racial and ethnic identities and power movements, including the Oakland-based Black Panther newspaper as well as flyers and ephemeral materials from demonstrations in New Haven, Connecticut, during the trial of Black Panther Bobby Seale.  Asian, Latino, Native American and interracial publications are all represented in the collection, including Akwesasne Notes and Chicano Community News, as well as materials advocating the rights of prisoners, children, the elderly and people with physical and mental challenges.

Gender and Sexual Orientation

The collection contains a significant number of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender materials and queer liberation publications.  The collection includes many early gay and lesbian liberation titles no longer in print, such as Christopher Street, Gay Crusader and The Body Politic .  More contemporary LGBTQ publications include Bay Windows and Lesbian Connection.  The collection also documents early feminist publications from the United States such as Off Our Backs and The National NOW Times, and includes a significant number of local Connecticut feminist newsletters.  International feminist publications such as German-language Emma , and the Australian journal Hecate are also included in the collection. 

Student Activism

The Alternative Press Collection grew out of student activism at the University of Connecticut.  Flyers, handouts and locally produced tabloids collected during the heyday of student demonstrations at the University of Connecticut and other New England campuses formed the initial collection and encompass hundreds of files in the archives.  In 1972, the collection grew with the addition of the Radical Education Project of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS).   Current University of Connecticut student publications, such as the UConn Free Press and publications of local community groups are regularly added to the collection. 

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Political Reform and Revolution

The Communist/Socialist Collection contains approximately 3,000 United States books and pamphlets from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  It also includes an extensive collection of anarchist material advocating for the elimination of government.  Publications of libertarians, radical feminists, members of the Green Party and other movements are included in the collection, as well as materials calling for government monitoring, prison reform and ending human rights violations.  Titles include The Revolution, The Worker, Anarchist Worker and Class Struggle.

Conservative Politics and the Radical Right

In addition to the many left-leaning publications included in the Alternative Press Collection, conservative publications and materials from the radical right are also included in the collection.  Titles of conservative materials include American Spectator, Review of the News and The Phyllis Schafly Report.   Publications from far right wing groups such as the Ku Klux Klan, National Emancipation of the White Seed and the John Birch Society are also included in the collection. 

Environmental Movements

Archives & Special Collections has over 150 newsletters, magazines and journals devoted to environmental concerns, including Mother Earth News, Everyone’s Back Yard, Earth Island Journal, Friends of the Earth and a number of publications from Greenpeace and other national and international organizations. 

Manuscript Collections

The Alternative Press Collection includes notable manuscript collections, including the Hoffman Family Papers, donated in 2000 by Jack Hoffman, the younger brother of activist Abbie Hoffman, the co-founder of the Yippie movement and co-defendant in the Chicago 7 Trial in 1969-1970.  The Hoffman Family Papers include correspondence, family papers, written materials, government documents, newspaper clippings, photographs and artifacts including buttons, articles of clothing, posters and audiovisual materials.  The Foster Gunnison Jr. Papers document the homophile and early Gay Liberation movements of the 1960s and 1970s.    The Poras Collection of Vietnam War Memorabilia includes over 150 posters from the era, as well as propaganda and protest materials.  Other manuscript materials in the Alternative Press Collection include the Vivian Mayer Collection of Fat Liberation, the Connecticut Civil Liberties Union Records and the Connecticut Citizens Action Group Records. 

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