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The Communication Company Archives
This page is a work-in-progress to bring together different compilations of
the total output of Communication Company from January, 1967, to September,
1967.
Links to Virtual Com/Co Archive
Chester Anderson Papers
Digger Archives Collection of Com/Co Sheets
Com/Co Bibliography
Description of Chester Anderson Papers
Held at the Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, California.
Consists of 400+ items in 11 file folders contained in one archive box. The
following links to a virtual display of each folder. Chester was sending copies
of ComCo sheets to his archivist friend on a monthly basis. Each file folder is
labeled by month.
In 1992, the Bancroft Library acquired the Chester Anderson Papers which
comprises around 400 items. Although this amounts to
less than half of the probable output of Communication Company, this virtual
archive will help the community of scholars who are working to re-create as
nearly as possible a complete archive of this important contributor to the
underground press movement. From 1995 to 1999, I spent spare moments creating a first-line index and item
description of the Chester Anderson Papers on visits to the Bancroft Library.
Recently, an
anonymous angel sent the scanned images of each of these items. Now, we have the
capability to combine the item-by-item index with the item-by-item scanned
images. Eventually, all 419 sheets should be available.
A note on the scan quality: The scans for the Chester Anderson Papers appear
to be taken off the microfilm images which were all shot monochrome. So, we are
missing color—for one—and
high quality high resolution—for another. My
ultimate goal is to replace these low-res images with full color versions. Think
of this like a stamp collecting album. As I scan originals from my collection
(or from others) the place-holder will be replaced by the better version.
Please send feedback with
suggestions, ideas, criticisms, etc.
The official Bancroft catalog entry lists this collection as follows:
Title:
Chester Anderson papers, circa 1963-1980
Creator/Contributor:
Anderson, Chester, 1932-1991*, creator
Weed, Thurlonius Benjamin, correspondent.
Communication Company
Abstract:
Records (Jan.-Sept. 1967) of the Communication Company (San Francisco,
Calif.), a member of the Undergound Press Syndicate, including broadsides,
flyers, and handbills printed for the Diggers, San Francisco Mime Troupe, and
the Haight-Ashbury Neighborhood Council, among other organizations, individuals,
and events, including Human Be-In and the Invisible Circus at Glide Church. Also
includes copy of a letter, 9 Feb. 1967, written by Chester Anderson to his
friend, Thurlonius Benjamin Weed in Florida, discussing his move to San
Francisco, his work, and his involvement in the Haight-Ashbury community. Also,
includes edited typescripts of "Puppies" (Entwhistle Books, 1979) and "Fox &
Hare" (Entwhistle Books, 1980).
Date:
1963 (issued)
Subject:
Anderson, Chester -- 1932-1991* -- Archives
Communication Company -- Archives
Underground Press Syndicate.
Diggers (San Francisco, Calif.)
San Francisco Mime Troupe.
Haight-Ashbury Neighborhood Council.
Human Be-In (San Francisco, Calif.)
Invisible Circus (San Francisco, Calif.)
Beat generation -- California -- San Francisco
Hippies -- California -- San Francisco
Psychedelic art -- Specimens
Haight-Ashbury (San Francisco, Calif.)
Note:
Copy of box 1, folders 1-7, the Communication Company (San Francisco
California) January-September 1967: also available on microfilm with call number
BANC FILM 2825.
Preferred citation:
Chester Anderson papers, BANC MSS 92/839 c, The Bancroft Library, University
of California, Berkeley.
Chester Anderson was a literary figure of the Beat generation and the
Haight-Ashbury community of San Francisco, California in the 1960s. Founded the
Communication Company, an innovative news service in 1967. Published works under
his own name and a pseudonym, John Valentine. Anderson died in April 1991 in
Homer, Ga., where he lived with relatives.
Type:
Ephemera.
Handbills.
Poems.
Physical Description:
1 box (.4 linear ft.)
1 microfilm reel.
Language:
English
Identifier:
BANC MSS 92/839 c box 1
BANC FILM 2825
For more information on the Bancroft Library at University of California,
Berkeley, please visit their
website.
*The catalog entry (as of Sept 2012) does not record Chester's year
of death, which I have added to update the author data.
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