San Francisco Diggers: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 16:18, 24 May 2014

Historical Essay

by Eric Noble

Digger Poster from 1968

The San Francisco Diggers became one of the legendary groups in the Haight-Ashbury during the years 1966 to 1968. Shrouded in a mystique of anonymity, they took their name from the original English Diggers of the 1640s. The San Francisco Diggers combined street theater, anarcho direct action, and art happenings in their social agenda. Their most famous activities revolved around Free Food (every day in the Panhandle), and the Free Store (where everything was free for the taking). They produced a series of events that mark the evolution of the hippie phenomenon from a homegrown face-to-face community to the mass-media circus that splashed its face across the world's front pages and TV screens.

In front of their truck, named "The Albigensian Ambulance Service" is Judy Goldhaft (left) holding Ocean Berg, Destiny Gould holding Solange, and Peter Berg (right), c. 1966.

Judy Goldhaft, artist and dancer and original Digger.

The Diggers were at the forefront of the so-called "back to the land" movement, and created a number of communal farms and ranches throughout Northern California.

The Diggers broadcast these events, as well as their editorial comments of the day, through broadsides and leaflets distributed on Haight Street. The following pages are a collection of materials that represent the "digger movement" as it developed in the mid-to-late sixties and early seventies (and even continues to today).

Shown here is the "1% Free" poster that was first seen in wall sized posters and became the Digger trademark for the last cycle of street events in the spring of 1968.

Peter Berg, interviewed by Chris Carlsson and David Martinez, August 2009.

Prof. Dominick Cavallo's analysis of The Diggers

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-[[Image:polbhem1$1%-free-diggers-art.jpg]]
+'''<font face = Papyrus> <font color = maroon> <font size = 4>Historical Essay</font></font> </font>'''
-'''Digger Poster from 1968''' ''Image: [http://www.diggers.org/ Digger Archive]''
+''by Eric Noble''
-The San Francisco Diggers became one of the legendary groups in the Haight-Ashbury during the years 1966 to 1968. Shrouded in a mystique of anonymity, they took their name from the original English Diggers of the 1640s. The San Francisco Diggers combined street theater, anarcho direct action, and art happenings in their social agenda. Their most famous activities revolved around Free Food (every day in the Panhandle), and the Free Store (where everything was free for the taking). They produced a series of events that mark the evolution of the hippie phenomenon from a homegrown face-to-face community to the mass-media circus that splashed its face across the world's front pages and TV screens.
+[[Image:1-percent-free-blue.gif]]
-The Diggers broadcast these events, as well as their editorial comments of the day, through broadsides and leaflets distributed on Haight Street. These Web pages are my attempt to put together a collection of materials that represent the "digger movement" as it developed in the mid-to-late sixties and early seventies (and even continues to today). I have been collecting these materials for 27 years, and see the Web as a way to display them and make them available both for researchers and for all diggers past and present who want to preserve and participate in this history.
+'''Digger Poster from 1968'''
+''Image: [http://www.diggers.org/ Digger Archive]''
+The San Francisco Diggers became one of the legendary groups in the Haight-Ashbury during the years 1966 to 1968. Shrouded in a mystique of anonymity, they took their name from the original English Diggers of the 1640s. The San Francisco Diggers combined street theater, anarcho direct action, and art happenings in their social agenda. Their most famous activities revolved around [[Diggers--Death of Money|Free Food]] (every day in the Panhandle), and the [[The Digger Concept of 'Free'|Free Store]] (where everything was free for the taking). They produced a series of events that mark the evolution of the hippie phenomenon from a homegrown face-to-face community to the mass-media circus that splashed its face across the world's front pages and TV screens.
+[[Image:Judy-and-Peter-and-friend-with-babies diggers-030 Chuck-Gould.jpg]]
+'''In front of their truck, named "The Albigensian Ambulance Service" is Judy Goldhaft (left) holding Ocean Berg, Destiny Gould holding Solange, and Peter Berg (right), c. 1966.'''
+''Photo: © Chuck Gould, all rights reserved.''
+[[Image:Judy diggers-041 Chuck-Gould.jpg]]
+'''Judy Goldhaft, artist and dancer and original Digger.'''
+''Photo: © Chuck Gould, all rights reserved.''
+[[Image:Digger-cohort-rural-retreat 0364 Chuck-Gould.jpg]]
+'''The Diggers were at the forefront of the so-called "back to the land" movement, and created a number of communal farms and ranches throughout Northern California.'''
+''Photo: © Chuck Gould, all rights reserved.''
+[[Image:Chuck-Gould 1471 Chuck-Gould.jpg|left|160px|thumb|Chuck Gould, Digger photographer! ''Photo: © Chuck Gould, all rights reserved.'']] The Diggers broadcast these events, as well as their editorial comments of the day, through broadsides and leaflets distributed on Haight Street. The following pages are a collection of materials that represent the "digger movement" as it developed in the mid-to-late sixties and early seventies (and even continues to today).
 Shown here is the "1% Free" poster that was first seen in wall sized posters and became the Digger trademark for the last cycle of street events in the spring of 1968.
-[[The Early Digger Papers |More Diggers]]
+<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/PeterBergOnOnePercentFree" width="640" height="480" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen="true" mozallowfullscreen="true" allowfullscreen></iframe>
+'''Peter Berg, interviewed by Chris Carlsson and David Martinez, August 2009.'''
+[http://www.diggers.org/cavallo_diggers.htm Prof. Dominick Cavallo's analysis of The Diggers]
+[[The Digger Concept of 'Free' |More on the Diggers' concept of 'free']]
+<hr>
-''--Eric Noble''
+[[Image:Tours-dissent.gif|link=STRIKE!... Concerning the 1968-69 Strike at San Francisco State College]] [[STRIKE!... Concerning the 1968-69 Strike at San Francisco State College| Continue Dissent Tour]]
-[[Dissidents Chapter label |Prev. Document]]  [[The Early Digger Papers |Next Document]]
+[[Neither Their War Nor Their Peace |Prev. Document]]  [[The Early Digger Papers |Next Document]]
-[[category:dissent]] [[category:1960s]] [[category:Famous characters]]
+[[category:dissent]] [[category:1960s]] [[category:Famous characters]] [[category:Haight-Ashbury]] [[category:Public Art]]