GREAT SPECKLED BIRD.
Great Speckled Bird records 1965-1985

Restrictions on Access

Unrestricted access.

Terms Governing Use and Reproduction

All requests subject to limitations noted in departmental policies on reproduction.

Related Materials in Other Repositories

Tom Coffin photographs, Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library

Separated Material

The Rose Library holds books and periodicals formerly owned by The Great Speckled Bird. These items may be located in the Emory University online catalog by searching: Great Speckled Bird, former owner.

Source

Gift of Tom Coffin, Stephanie Coffin, and Steve Wise, 2003.

Custodial History

Naomi Nelson and Randy Gue packed the collection at the home of Stephanie and Tom Coffin and transported the material to the Rose Library.

Citation

[after identification of item(s)], Great Speckled Bird records, Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University.

Appraisal Note

Acquired by Naomi Nelson as part of the Rose Library’s holdings in the history of Atlanta, Georgia, journalism, and the counterculture. During processing, archivists removed and securely destroyed approximately half a linear foot of duplicate printed material. Appraisal decisions were made by Interim Head of Manuscript Processing, Sarah Quigley, and Curator of Modern Political and Historical Collections, Randy Gue.

Processing

Arranged and described at the file level by Deborah Gurt, Sarah Quigley, Mary Sego, and Rebecca Sherman during the Georgia Archives Institute, June 2018. There was no discernable original order in the collection, so archivists organized the records according to subject and record type.

Historical Note

The Great Speckled Bird (The Bird), an underground, leftist newspaper in Atlanta, Georgia, was founded on March 8, 1968, by Emory University graduate students Tom and Stephanie Coffin in collaboration with other Atlanta-area college students and regional New Left activists. The paper covered issues such as women’s rights, gay rights, civil rights, labor, and opposition to the Vietnam War. The Bird was originally published as a bi-weekly paper but grew into a weekly publication within six months. By the summer of 1970, The Bird had a circulation of approximately 22,000, making it one of the largest weekly newspapers in Georgia.

Due to the paper’s radical politics, volunteers and staff were subject to harassment and censorship. Numerous local colleges and high schools banned the paper on their campuses and the paper had to be printed in Montgomery, Alabama, because no local Atlanta presses would publish it. Volunteers who sold the publication were regularly harassed by Atlanta police and sometimes arrested for selling obscene material. These issues culminated in several lawsuits between the paper and the City of Atlanta pertaining to whether The Bird was obscene and could be sold on the street or through the mail. In 1972, the paper’s offices were firebombed, though no one was ever apprehended in the case.

By 1976, the paper was struggling to stay afloat due to financial difficulties caused by ongoing legal issues and loss of advertising revenue, changing demographics in Atlanta’s alternative culture, and internal conflicts among staff. The final issue of The Great Speckled Bird was published in October 1976. Former staff attempted to revive the paper in 1984, but that run lasted only 10 months. A final revival in 2006 produced two issues.

Scope and Content Note

The collection consists of the records of The Great Speckled Bird from 1965-1985 and includes administrative records, legal records, and printed material. The bulk of the collection documents the paper’s initial run from 1968-1976. Administrative records comprise only a small portion of the collection and contain financial ledgers, memoranda, proposals, advertising, and subscription information. The majority of the collection consists of legal records relating to cases involving The Bird, as well as labor disputes in the South. The bulk of the legal records document the numerous obscenity lawsuits between The Bird and various municipal governments. Printed material includes a small amount of promotional material created by The Bird, as well as event flyers, programs, newsletters, and clippings documenting activism and the counterculture in Atlanta and the South.

The collection also contains a small amount of Stephanie and Tom Coffin's personal papers. The majority of this material documents a complaint from shareholders, including Stephanie Coffin, against The Southern Company to the Securities and Exchange Commission and the subsequent lawsuit. The shareholders alleged that the company improperly sold shares to fund construction projects and that those projects were planned and initiated without proper oversight.

Arrangement Note

Arranged by creator, then in alphabetical order.