Throwback: The Bird Is The Word

When most people think of hippies, and by most people I mean myself, we think of lazy, unkempt drifters who need to lay off the bong hits, Jefferson Airplane records, tie-dye t-shirts and patchouli oil. What we miss by this stereotype though, is the counter-culture values that many of the original hippies assumed by rejecting materialism and the conventional wisdom of middle class morality.

As the hippie subculture has faded from popular culture in the world and especially in Atlanta, we still see remnants of the bohemian lifestyle around the city, but mainly in Little Five Points. This wasn’t always the case though. The hippie movement was initially most active in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district and New York City’s Greenwich Village, but it’s popularity spread through the United States faster than a sexually transmitted disease on Georgia Southern’s campus.

Since Atlanta was the largest city in the south and home to many universities, it became a central location for not only hippies, but also the student movement that would protest in favor of Civil Rights and against the Vietnam War. To the dismay of many, they put their roots down right in the middle of it all, Peachtree Street. From 8th to 14th Street a hippie ghetto was formed, respectfully referred to as “The Strip”.

“Atlanta’s own Greenwich Village” ultimately started there because of access to Piedmont Park, cheap rent and an openness to their lifestyles that had carried over from the beat generation.

Middle Earth Head Shop was one of the first stops on the strip. Thought to be the first head shop in Atlanta, it was located at Peachtree Street and 8th. From there establishments such as 12th Gate Coffee House, Ol’ King Cole Bakery, Atlantis Rising Market and The Bistro were strewn up and down Peachtree Street and intersecting roads all the way up to The Catacombs, a small club that was at the corner of Peachtree and 14th Street.

Bringing a sense of order and legitimacy to the left-leaning movement, a group of local college students and political activists got together in 1967 and created a bi-weekly underground newspaper, which they named the Great Speckled Bird. The first issue of the “Bird” came out in early ’68 and different from other underground papers, their stories covered not only politics, but topics such as racial issues, gay liberation and even the latest impromptu rock concert in Piedmont park.

The Great Speckled Bird became an overnight hit! It was in such high demand that within six months they became a weekly publication. At this point, not only was it being distributed in Atlanta, but across the south east. By 1970 they had become the largest paid weekly newspaper in Georgia.

Their success came at a high price though, as the staff heavily relied on volunteers to distribute the paper on street corners, college campuses and in high schools they would often find themselves being harassed by the authorities. They received tickets, were arrested and even taken to court for reasons cited as jay walking, pan-handling, obstructing traffic, selling without a permit, distribution of pornographic materials and even inciting to riot. Any court related matter always ruled in favor of the “Bird” due to their First Amendment rights.

Years went by and like the counter-culture movement that they were a part of, the Great Speckled Bird weathered the storms of conflict and were a major part of the social change that occurred in the late 60′s and early 70′s in the south. Unfortunately, times were changing and so was the culture. By 1976 being a hippie had become commercialized and the lifestyle was disappearing. The “Bird” had been losing readers and advertising revenue for years and after multiple attempts to delay the inevitable, the Great Speckled Bird published their final issue in October of that year.

It’s been close to 40 years since the Civil Rights Movement was pissing off good ol’e boys and even longer since the “Summer Of Love” was freeing and destroying minds. Atlanta has changed a lot since those days. Driving down the Peachtree “Strip” you can’t even tell that hippies and activists once roamed the streets that are now lined with sky scrapers. Though the counter-culture movements didn’t leave any physical evidence behind, there’s plenty of social proof that their voices were heard and that they truly made a difference.

Photo Credit: www.messyoptics.com