Stew Albert and Judy Gumbo Albert papers, 1938-2006 (majority within 1968-2006)

Summary

Creator:

Albert, Stewart Edward, 1939-2006 and Albert, Judith Clavir, 1943-

Abstract:

Stew Albert, a founding member of the Yippies, was a political activist, writer, journalist, and unindicted co-conspirator in the "Chicago Seven" case in 1968. The Stew Albert and Judy Gumbo Albert Papers offer insight into the lives of two activists who were involved in anti-Vietnam war protests, members of the Youth International Party (Yippies), and had ties to groups such as the Black Panther Party and the Weather Underground. The collection contains a variety of materials, including manuscripts, FBI files and court documents, photographs, slides, and negatives, artwork, audiovisual material, realia, scrapbooks, and posters.

Extent:

24 boxes, 2 oversize boxes (approximately 28 linear feet)

Language:

English

Authors:

Collection processed and finding aid created by C. Jeremy Barney, Calla Smith-Dowling, and Emiko Hastings

Background

Scope and Content:

The Stew Albert and Judy Gumbo Albert Papers offer insight into the lives of two activists who were involved in anti-Vietnam war protests, members of the Youth International Party (Yippies), and had ties to groups such as the Black Panther Party and the Weather Underground. This collection contains a variety of materials, including manuscripts, FBI files and court documents, photographs, slides, and negatives, artwork, audiovisual material, realia, scrapbooks, and posters. Besides documenting their lives and activities, the collection also offers a glimpse into an aspect of American activism in the 1960s and afterwards, including antiwar protests and the women's liberation movement. The Alberts had close ties to other prominent figures in the movement, such as Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin, who are well-represented in this collection through writings, correspondence, photographs, and audio interviews.

With roughly 28 linear feet of materials, the Stew Albert and Judy Gumbo Albert papers are divided into 12 series: Manuscripts and Writings; Name and Correspondence; Personal; Topical Files; FBI Files; Court Documents; Photographs, Slides, and Negatives; Artwork; Audiovisual; Realia; Scrapbooks; and Posters. Researchers should note that books have been separated from the collection and cataloged individually.

Biographical / Historical:

Stew Albert, a founding member of the Yippies, was a political activist, writer, journalist, and unindicted co-conspirator in the "Chicago Seven" case in 1968. Born in Brooklyn in 1939, he went to Cuba in 1960 with a friend. On the plane on the way there, he met and conversed with C. Wright Mills. He graduated from Pace University with a major in politics and philosophy and worked for the City of New York welfare department as a case worker. In 1965, he bought a bus ticket to San Francisco, where he visited City Lights Bookstore and met poet Allen Ginsberg. Moving to Berkeley, he began volunteering for the antiwar Vietnam Day Committee, where he met Jerry Rubin, Tom Hayden, and other social activists. A friend of Abbie Hoffman, Stew Albert participated in some of his well-publicized stunts, such as showering the New York Stock Exchange with $1 bills and attempting to exorcize the Pentagon.

In 1967, Stew Albert was a founding member of the Youth International Party, or Yippies. Other founding members included Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, and Paul Krassner. The Yippies were known for their use of political theater to protest the Vietnam war. They organized a "Festival of Life" for the 1968 Democratic National convention in Chicago, but were denied permits to hold the festival in Lincoln Park, where they had planned to gather. Stew and other Yippie members ran a counter-presidential campaign with their chosen candidate, an actual pig named Pigasus. Over the course of the week, violence escalated as the Chicago police attempted to drive the demonstrators out of Lincoln Park. In the ensuing violence, Stew Albert was clubbed in the head by police. He also covered the convention as a correspondent for the Berkeley Barb , an underground newspaper based in Berkeley. In the trial of the "Chicago Eight" (later the Chicago Seven), Stew Albert was listed as an unindicted co-conspirator for his role in the demonstrations.

1968 was also the year Stew Albert met Judy Clavir (formerly Hemblen), a fellow activist. She was nicknamed Judy Gumbo by Eldridge Cleaver, a close friend of Stew, and the name stuck. Born in Canada, she was involved with the Yippies, Women's International Terrorist Conspiracy from Hell (W.I.T.C.H.), and the women's liberation movement. In 1971, she traveled to Vietnam with Nancy Kurshan, also a Yippie, and Jeannie Plamondon, who had ties to the White Panthers, to talk with the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Viet Nam.

In 1969, Stew Albert played a role in the creation of the People's Park in Berkeley in 1969, and the resulting protests. His involvement landed him in Alameda County Jail for two months, and he subsequently ran for sheriff of Alameda County. He lost, but received 65,000 votes and carried the city of Berkeley. He also helped to found the Free University in Berkeley.

Through his friendships with Black Panther members Eldridge Cleaver and Bobby Seale, Stew Albert served as a liaison between the Black Panther Party and the Yippies. In 1970, when Timothy Leary, the LSD advocate, had escaped from prison, Stew Albert escorted him to Algeria to introduce him to Eldridge Cleaver, who was living in exile there.

After the Weather Underground bombed the U.S. Capitol in 1971 to protest the Vietnam War, the Alberts held a press conference and Judy Gumbo Albert declared, "We didn't do it, but we dug it." In 1972, Stew Albert and Judy Gumbo took part in protests at the Republican National Convention in Miami. He also enlisted John Lennon and Yoko Ono in a "Beatle/Yippie pact" that nearly resulted in Lennon's deportation.

After finding a homing device on their car, Stew and Judy filed suit against the FBI in 1975 for illegal surveillance. They discovered that the FBI had been monitoring them and searching their cabin in the Catskills, and won a $20,000 settlement. Stew Albert later became a private investigator, and helped others obtain government files kept on them through the Freedom of Information Act.

Stew Albert and Judy Gumbo Albert married in 1977. They had one daughter, Jessica Albert. Moving to Portland, Oregon, in 1984, they continued to be active in various causes. Judy Albert worked with Planned Parenthood, and Stew Albert was involved with the Oregon Jewish Agenda, the New Jewish Agenda, and Israel peace activism. They co-edited The Sixties Papers , a document-based history of the era that was published in 1984. Stew Albert also wrote a 2004 memoir, Who the Hell is Stew Albert? , which reflected upon his lifetime of involvement in various causes. In 2000, Stew Albert was a consultant to the film maker Robert Greenwald for the film Steal This Movie , based on the book Steal This Book by Abbie Hoffman. He ran a website, the Yippie Reading Room, and kept a weblog from 2002 until his death from liver cancer in 2006. Two days before his death, he posted, "My politics have not changed."

Sources:

• Albert, Judith Clavir and Stewart Edward Albert. The Sixties Papers: Documents of a Rebellious Decade. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger, 1984.
• Albert, Stew. Who the Hell is Stew Albert? A Memoir. Los Angeles: Red Hen Press, 2004.
• Brenneman, Richard. "Stew Albert, Activist: 1939-2006." The Berkeley Daily Planet. 3 February 2006.
• Martin, Douglas. "Stew Albert, 66, Dies; Used Laughter to Protest a War," New York Times. 1 February 2006.
• Simmons, Michael. "Stew Lives!" Pasadena Weekly. 16 February 2006.
• Starke, Annie Martinez. "'Yippie' leader departs with idealism intact." The Oregonian. 31 January 2006.
• Woo, Elaine. "Stew Albert, 66; Helped Found the 1960s Yippies Counterculture Group." Los Angeles Times. 2 February 2006.

Acquisition Information:

The collection was acquired by purchase in 2006.

Processing information:

Collection processed and finding aid created by C. Jeremy Barney, Calla Smith-Dowling, and Emiko Hastings.

Arrangement:

Summary Contents List

• Manuscripts and Writings
  • Stew Albert, Poetry -- Box 1
  • Stew Albert, Prose, Notes, and Speeches -- Box 1-3
  • Stew Albert, Who the Hell is Stew Albert? -- Box 3
  • Stew Albert, Website and Weblog Postings -- Box 3-4
  • Judy Albert -- Box 4
  • Stew and Judy Albert -- Box 4
  • Articles -- Box 5
• Name and Correspondence -- Box 6-7
• Personal -- Box 8
• Topical Files -- Box 9-10
• FBI Files -- Box 10-13
• Court Documents -- Box 14-15
• Photographs, Slides, and Negatives -- Box 15-16, Oversize box 1
• Artwork -- Box 16
• Audiovisual
  • Audiocassettes -- Box 17-18
  • Reformatted CDs -- Box 19
  • CDs -- Box 20
  • Digital Videocassettes -- Box 20
  • DVDs -- Box 20
  • Videocassettes -- Box 20-21
  • LPs -- Box 22
• Realia
  • T-Shirts -- Oversize box 2
  • Hats -- Box 23
  • Other Textiles -- Box 23
  • Artifacts -- Box 24
• Scrapbooks -- Oversize box 1
• Posters -- Oversize box 1, Mapcase (Storage)

Subjects

Click on terms below to find any related finding aids on this site.

Subjects:

Counterculture--United States--History--20th century.
Feminism--United States--History--20th century.
Radicalism--United States--History--20th century.
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Protest movements--United States.

Formats:

Audiocassettes.
CD-Rs.
Clippings.
Color slides.
Correspondence.
DVDs.
Floppy disks.
Legal documents.
Long-playing records.
Manuscripts.
Microcassettes.
Photographs.
Posters.
Realia.
Videocassettes.

Names:

United States. Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Albert, Jessica
Axelrod, Beverly.
Bergman, Lincoln.
Cleaver, Eldridge.
Dohrn, Bernardine.
Goldberg, Art.
Hamilton, Steve.
Hayden, Tom.
Hoffman, Abbie.
Kenner, Martin.
Krassner, Paul.
Kunstler, William M. (William Moses), 1919-1995.
Moskowitz, Marcia
Ochs, Phil.
Rubin, Jerry.
Scherr, Jane.
Seale, Bobby, 1936-