1975 Great Speckled Bird — ERA Axed Again, Morton Sobell, Atlanta Underground

🗞️ THE GREAT SPECKLED BIRD
February 20, 1975 · Vol. 8, No. 8
Atlanta Cooperative News Project · 25¢

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Atlanta's legendary underground newspaper — radical, sharp, and beautifully strange — one week after its sister issue. Named for an old Carter Family gospel song, the Bird ran from 1968 to 1976 and remains one of the most important underground papers ever published in the American South. It is collected today by Emory University and the Atlanta History Center as an irreplaceable primary source. Most copies were read to pieces. This one survived.

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✊ WHAT'S INSIDE
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🪓 AXED AGAIN: ERA
The Georgia Legislature has once again killed the Equal Rights Amendment — by a vote of 33 to 22. The Bird doesn't just report it; it dissects it. Who voted against, why, and what the pro-ERA forces did wrong. The front page features a commanding Picasso-style woodcut illustration that is a work of art in its own right. The ERA debate continues on the back page — a full community reckoning with the politics of gender and power in 1975 Georgia.

🕵️ MORTON SOBELL — "IT WAS THEIR PATRIOTIC DUTY TO CONVICT US."
This is the crown jewel of the issue. A major, in-depth interview with Morton Sobell — convicted alongside Julius and Ethel Rosenberg in the atomic spy case of 1951 and released from prison in 1969. Sobell speaks at length about the trial, the Cold War hysteria, and what he believes really happened. With a striking portrait photograph. For collectors of Cold War history, civil liberties, and American radical politics, this is an extraordinary primary document.

💰 MONOPOLY & INFLATION: NOWHERE TO GO BUT UP
A detailed economic analysis — with charts and data — on corporate monopoly power and its role in driving inflation. Georgia Power and profits are on the front page too: "Ga. Power Profits Aplenty." The Bird connected local economic grievances to national corporate structure, week after week.

🎵 ESTHER MAE SCOTT — BORN UNDER A GOOD SIGN
A warm profile of Atlanta musician Esther Mae Scott, with photograph. Local music coverage at its most personal.

🎬 LAST ROCK FESTIVAL — PART TEN
The serialized gonzo narrative on the death of the great rock festival era continues, with illustration.

✍️ FEIFFER · A CRITICISM · ON THE OTHER HAND
Jules Feiffer's syndicated cartoon strip. A pointed arts criticism column. "On the Other Hand" — the Bird's ongoing counterpoint feature. Rigorous cultural commentary from the Atlanta left.

🎭 ATLANTA'S BACKPAGE
· Music: Carrie Nation, Robin Rogers — singer-songwriter reviewed
· Theatre: La Turista (Kelly's Steak & Feed Theatre) — Acción Latino, the only Atlanta production set to reach the Hispanic community
· China: "Ecology in China" — a slide presentation on environmental conditions
· Gardening: Community Gardens — how to start one in Atlanta
· Bird Stuff: Special Women's Issue announcement coming soon

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📅 CALENDAR: FEBRUARY 20 – MARCH 2, 1975
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A full week-by-week listings spread for Atlanta:

🎸 Peachtree Music Hall
Earl Scruggs · Jonathan Edwards · Paper Lace
Red White & Blue Grass · Byron Berline · Blue Grass
The Waiters · Leftraining · Melissa Manchester
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band · Burly Sanders

🎞️ Indian Cinema: Marx Brothers double feature
Horse Feathers & Duck Soup — March 6–12

🎷 XAPJ 860 AM — Jazz, your progressive AM alternative

🌅 Morningstar Restaurant
"Y'all come and bring good vibes"

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📰 THE ADS — ATLANTA 1975
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General Recording Corporation — Red White & Blue Grass & Fleetwood appearing Feb 25–March 1 · Poster Hut · The Bookworm ("Atlanta's most complete selection of periodicals") · Boyd Lumis Photographer · Summer in Europe travel · Transportation Alternatives · Canadian Estate Land · Natasha's Ceramics & Co-op

The classifieds run free — housing, travel, personals, political notices, and a running monopoly data section. The community, in print.

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📋 CONDITION
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Intake photographs of every page are included in this listing — please review all images carefully. This batch of later Bird issues is in particularly nice shape. Questions welcome — happy to photograph any specific section or detail on request.

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📌 DETAILS
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Publication ········ The Great Speckled Bird
Date ··············· February 20, 1975
Volume / Number ···· Vol. 8, No. 8
Publisher ·········· Atlanta Cooperative News Project
Cover Price ········ 25¢
Format ············· Broadsheet newspaper

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