rogerSPARK Newspapers From The Sixties

"Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one"

Rogers Park has been a stronghold of the sinistral (far left) going back many many years. Reading the paper we see that so called "militarization" of the police is nothing new. And neither are leftist agitators. The problem with history is that we become too far removed and the younger generation can't remember what happened before they were born. Hence more education is needed.

If you want to buy this cool newspaper click here.


(Scroll down to see all the photos - click on each photo to see a close-up photo.) This auction is for Volume 1 Number 17 issue of the Roger Spark dated August 26, 1968. This was a radical newspaper put out by CIPA (Committee for Independent Political Action), that was located in the north side, Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago. The paper measures 10" x 8-1/2" (folded) and 10" x 17" (unfolded) and has 4 pages. The front page headline reads "Dems Seize Chicago!" along with a cartoon showing cops with shotguns, dogs and barbed wire with a helicopter overhead. There is a column by Clark Kissinger "The City Responds" talking about how anti-war groups in Chicago are going to respond to the convention. 

"CIPA joins the struggle" talks about their four-point action program to support the week-long demonstration against the Dem convention. There is a full page inside on the Yippie plans for the convention. It has a map of Lincoln Park with areas marked off. The bottom one-third of the page is the "Yippie Anti-Convention Schedule" including an Aug 25 noon rally at Grant Park, post-rally picketing of Loop hotels, a Yippie Music Festival in Lincoln Park, Aug 26 - Yippie workshops on drug problems, communes, Yippie Beach Party at North Ave Beach, Aug 27 - Counter Birthday Party for LBJ at Coliseum, Yippie rally and nomination of Pigasus in Lincoln Park; Aug 28 - Yippie Olympics, picket-sign pickup at Grant Park bandshell, assembly on State St, arrival at Amphitheatre; Aug 29 - "mill-in" in Loop at 11am. 

The back cover has an ad for Alice's Restaurant, 2445 Lincoln (according to a newspaper article in 1969, the hippie hangout was forced to move because of noise complaints.) The newspaper is in good condition (it is on a little heavier paper) - the paper is yellowed with age and has some toning - there is a light vertical crease from being folded in quarters - there are a few smaller creases. A NICE PIECE OF CHICAGO ANTI-WAR HISTORY - THE YIPPIE FULL PAGE WOULD LOOK NICE FRAMED! Postage is $3.50. Check out my other auctions that I'll be listing this week for some other issues of the Roger Spark and other items that I found in this group: anti-war / counter culture / underground newspapers / Democratic Convention, SDS papers, et c dating from 1967 - 71. 

There is another auction for another Roger Spark newspaper here. Hippie activists gather to leave the neighborhood en masse to protest the Vietnam war downtown. The more things change the more they stay the same?


This auction is for Volume 1 Number 7 issue of the Roger Spark dated April 22, 1968. This was a radical newspaper put out by CIPA (Committee for Independent Political Action), that was located in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago. The paper measures 10" x 8-1/4" (folded) and 10" x 17" (unfolded) and has 8 pages. The inside back cover has a full-page ad for "Chicagoans March to End the War" on Saturday, April 27 (1968). The rally was going to be at the Grant Park Bandshell with a march through the Loop at 2:00. Chartered Buses will leave from the Loyola University Fieldhouse at 11:45am. The event was being run by the April Parade Committee and the Chicago Peace Council. There is also an article in the paper about the planned march. There is an editorial and a couple articles about the death of Martin Luther King and the aftermath in Chicago. There is an article about people in the Rogers Park community meeting with an eyewitness to deaths of two students in Orangeburg, SC who were attempting to integrate a "White Only" bowling alley.