Special Collections Department

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 Archives & Special Collections manages most of the rare books, manuscripts, and other non-circulating items and collections which belong to the University of Pittsburgh Library System.

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In general, the Underground Press refers to periodicals and publications that are produced against the wishes of a dominant political or religious institution.  Special Collections is fortunate to possess a large collection of such periodicals from the American counterculture movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. 

After a high profile court case made prosecution for obscenity much more difficult, the New Left and the hippie/psychedelic/rock 'n' roll cultures began to produce a wide variety of underground newspapers.  They reported on everything from women's liberation to vegan recipes, from student organizing to radical approaches to psychotherapy, from antiwar activism to armed resistance to the state.  To make sense of this diversity, this guide divides this vast array of publications into six categories: the radical press, the student press, the socialist press, the alternative professional press, the gay press, and the feminist press. 

This guide was created by student employee Zachary Grewe in the fall of 2016.