Join us for an opening reception and sneak peek of "The Great Speckled Bird; The Turbulent Sixties in Atlanta, 1968-1976." This is an enhanced and expanded 40th anniversary exhibit of the South's standard underground newspaper.

Light refreshments and beverages will be served. Free and open to the public.

The Bird burst upon the Atlanta scene in the midst of national upheaval.... [read more]

Join us for an opening reception and sneak peek of "The Great Speckled Bird; The Turbulent Sixties in Atlanta, 1968-1976." This is an enhanced and expanded 40th anniversary exhibit of the South's standard underground newspaper.

Light refreshments and beverages will be served. Free and open to the public.

The Bird burst upon the Atlanta scene in the midst of national upheaval. The country was polarized by the Vietnam War and struggles against discrimination at home. A growing in-your-face youth culture with strange clothes, hair, music, drugs and a wholesale rejection of middle-class values bewildered or angered many in the older generation. From the first issue, which castigated Atlanta icon Ralph McGill for his support of the war, there was never a doubt whose side The Bird was on. For over eight years it was the “voice of the voiceless” – African-Americans fighting Jim Crow in the South and institutionalized racism in the North; striking garbage and farm workers; Vietnamese peasants being slaughtered by American bombs and napalm; women taking control of their bodies; students demanding meaningful educations; and young people seeking new ways to live. At its height, with a circulation around 22,000, The Bird was the most widely-read weekly paper in Georgia.