TABLE OF CONTENTS

Overview of the Collection

Biography

Scope and Content

Arrangement

Restrictions

Index Terms

Related Material

Administrative Information

Detailed Description

Series I: Poetry, 1955-1976

Series II: Books and Pamphlets, 1969-1976

Series III: Correspondence (A-Z), 1957 - 1976

Series IV: Personal and Professional, undated, 1960 - 1970

Series V: Printed Ephemera, undated, 1963-1970

Oversized Materials undated

Ed Sanders Papers

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

405 Babbidge Road, Unit 1205

Storrs, Connecticut 06269-1205

URL: http://doddcenter.uconn.edu/

Biography

James Edward Sanders was born in Kansas City, Missouri, on August 17, 1939. In 1958, at the age of 17, he left the University of Missouri, hitchhiked to New York City, and enrolled at New York University. Between 1961 and 1963, Sanders participated in a number of nonviolent demonstrations against the proliferation of nuclear weapons. At a peace vigil in August 1961, Sanders was fined and later jailed for refusing to pay. While in jail, Sanders wrote his first book, Poem from Jail, a poem in nine parts published by Lawrence Ferlinghetti's City Lights Books.

In 1962, Sanders opened Peace Eye Bookstore in the East Village neighborhood of New York City. The bookstore quickly became a gathering place for local activists, poets, artists and musicians. Sanders began publishing a literary journal that same year; Fuck You/A Magazine of the Arts featured poems by Sanders and many important writers of the Beat Generation, including William Burroughs, Gregory Corso, Robert Creeley, Diane DiPrima, Allen Ginsberg, Michael McClure, Frank O'Hara, Charles Olson, Joel Oppenheimer, Gary Snyder, and John Wieners. In 1966, after thirteen issues, the journal ended when it was seized, along with a number of publications and personal materials, when Sanders was charged with obscenity by the New York City police.

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, in addition to organizing and participating in a number of political actions, Sanders continued to produce poetry, prose, broadsides, underground newsletters, periodicals, and films, some of which were published by his own small press operations (Fuck You Press, and Poetry, Crime & Culture Press). He also gained national notoriety at this time as a rock musician with the band the Fugs, a group he co-founded with friend and poet, Tuli Kupferberg. Between 1965 and 1970, the band recorded six albums and toured regularly, playing at small theaters, colleges, political rallies, and bookstores.

Return to the Table of Contents

Scope and Content

Collection materials reflect Sanders' literary and publishing work, affinities with writers from both the Beat and New York Schools of poetry, and political organizing activities and interests, including his pacifism, opposition to the Vietnam War and nuclear weapons, and advocacy for sexual freedom, legalization of marijuana, and freedom of expression. The collection includes manuscripts of poems, books, articles, and lyrics; correspondence; manuscript submissions and page proofs; promotional materials and interviews; and printed ephemera. Major correspondents include Robert Creeley, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Jackson MacLow, Gerard Malanga, Duncan McNaughton, Charles Olson, and Ron Padgett. The bulk of the collection dates from 1960 to 1976.

Return to the Table of Contents

Arrangement

Series I: Poetry (undated, 1955-1976)

Series II: Books and Pamphlets (n.d, 1969-1976)

Series III: Correspondence (1957-1976)

Series IV: Personal and Professional Papers (1960-1970)

Series V: Printed Ephemera (1963-1970)

Return to the Table of Contents

Restrictions

Restrictions on Access

There are no access restrictions on this collection.

Restrictions on Use

Permission to publish from these Papers must be obtained in writing from both the University of Connecticut Libraries and the owner(s) of the copyright.

Return to the Table of Contents

Related Material

Archives & Special Collections has a substantial collection of Beat Generation literature and poetry. See especially, the papers of Charles Olson. For detailed information on these collections please contact the curator or ask at the reference desk.

The following materials have been separated from the collection and cataloged:

New York Action Bulletin, v. I, #3, May 1965

Committee for Nonviolent Action Bulletin, 3/20/64, 7/24/64, 11/2/64, 1/25/65, 2/27/65, 5/28/65, 8/27/65

Poem from Jail, Ed Sanders

Direct Action for a Non-Violent World, 1964-1966 [incomplete]

Committee of Public Conscience, 3/4/64, 8/31/64

The Activist, Fall 1961

Bulletin of the World Council of Peace, 11/61

Fellowship, 3/61. Dodd Call No.

I.F. Stone's Weekly, 3/9/64, 6/22/64, 6/14/65,

Los Angeles Free Press, 5/64.

Mobilizer9/1/67, 9/26/67

Peace News

Providence Sunday Journal, 5/1/66

Something Else Newsletter, 2/66

Brownstone.

Gazette, 8/19/64

Braziller, Fall 1975

Civil Liberties in New York, 3/66

East Village Other, v. I, #6

Verdict against Malay Roy Choudhury

Investigative Poetry, Ed Sanders D

Marijuana Review, October - December 1968

Fugs/LA Oracle/Liberation News Service October 21, 1967 (reel-to-reel recording) 1978-0002.rr1

Return to the Table of Contents

Index Terms

This record series is indexed under the following controlled access subject terms.

Persons:

Organizations:

Subjects:

Document Types:

Occupations:

Return to the Table of Contents

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

[Item description, #:#], Ed Sanders Papers. Archives & Special Collections at the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center, University of Connecticut Libraries.

Acquisition Information

The collection was purchased from Mr. Sanders in 1978.

Return to the Table of Contents

Detailed Description