Art of The Chicago Seed: A Look at Chicago’s Counterculture of the 1960s and 70s

Earlier this spring, I curated an exhibit as part of my Ellin M. Kelly Internship in Special Collections and Archives highlighting local, underground newspapers from our collections.  This post focuses on the artwork of the The Chicago Seed, which is available for research in our Reading Room.

With popping colors, swirling psychedelic sketches, and unique graphic design on every page, The Chicago Seed stands out as one of the most visually exciting underground newspapers of its time. In 1967, Don Lewis and Earl Segal began production of the paper in Chicago’s Old Town neighborhood. Operations continued until 1973, with Abe Peck as editor and Lester Dore as art director. Despite its relatively short run, existing copies of The Chicago Seed provide us with a time capsule of Chicago’s 1960s and 70s counterculture.

When selecting materials for Special Collections and Archives’s (SPCA) recent pop-up exhibit Chicago Underground Newspapers, I was drawn to The Chicago Seed. Each issue is an art piece in itself, with handcrafted front and back covers, full color centerfolds, and inside pages of a similar caliber. Covers of The Seed were never dull, often daring, and ranged from eccentric photo montages to fiery political cartoons (often drawn by Chicago artists Skip Williamson and Jay Lynch).

Artists and editors of this newspaper did not hold back, and worked to push the boundaries of “freedom of the press.” Frequent features of nudity even led to the arrest of two Seed sellers on charges of obscenity, according to artist Karl Heinz Meschbach.

Bold and eclectic visuals were paired with similarly crafted text, with content focusing on current political and cultural topics of the time. One issue of The Seed could contain a firsthand report of a recent anti-war protest, an opinion piece on the effects of LSD, a full page on a 19 year old’s philosophical explorations, and a vague poem about a unicorn.

Articles were carefully laid out in compelling designs, to reflect their compelling content. A page of text might be arranged in converging triangles, framed by flowering vines, and printed in hot pink ink. Each element of The Seed gives us a taste of the era it was born from. Even the advertisements for businesses long gone (book stores, food co-ops, bike shops, music venues) give us further insight into the landscape of the city.

The Seed showed me how young Chicagoans were able to communicate and connect through this alternative form of media over 50 years ago. In an era of instagram infographics and political story posts, I was fascinated to see how the youth of the past engaged with each other.

Though today’s countercultures manifest themselves in online spheres, rather than on the pages of newspapers, The Seed provides evidence that there has always been a need for alternative media.

Five copies of The Seed were featured in the pop-up exhibit, along with other publications including The Lincoln Park Press, Rising up Angry, and Second City. These newspapers fall under Special Collections and Archives’s collecting strengths in both social justice and Chicago history. Over 30 copies of The Chicago Seed, along with similar Chicago publications from the same era, are available for in-person use in the Special Collections and Archives Reading Room on the 3rd floor of the Richardson Library. Everyone is welcome.