Call Number:

MSS 0517

Repository:

University of Delaware Library Special Collections

Extent:

.33 linear foot (5 items)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

MSS 0517, John Sinclair Guitar Army manuscript, Special Collections, University of Delaware Library, Newark, Delaware.

Date:

1969-1971 (inclusive)

Creator:

Sinclair, John, 1941-

Form:

Manuscripts (documents), Typescripts, and Printed ephemera

Abstract:

Five items from American author, poet, and political activist John Sinclair, including the carbon typescript of Guitar Army and ephemera related to the "Free John Sinclair" movement.

John Sinclair was born and raised in Davison, near Flint, Michigan. He attended Albion College from 1959-1961 and completed his B.A. in English at the University of Michigan, Flint College in 1964. He was the founder of the Detroit Artist's Workshop, the editor of

Work and CHANGE magazines, an author and poet, and the founder of LEMAR, an effort to obtain legalization of marijuana. In addition, Sinclair was the manager of the musical group MC-5, co-founder of the White Panther Party (later known as the Rainbow People's Party), and the founder of Trans-Love Energies, a "multi-media commune to promote a new form of cooperative living based on freedom, mutual trust, and love."

In July 1969, Sinclair was sentenced to 9 1/2 to 10 years for possession of two marijuana cigarettes, a judgment that brought widespread opposition to his personal conviction and the general penalties of drug laws. The Committee to Free John Sinclair publicized Sinclair's identity as a "new-movement revolutionary leader" and protested the fairness of his conviction by asking, "Was John Sinclair jailed for what he did or for what he represents?". While in prison, John Sinclair wrote

Guitar Army (Douglas/World Book) and published a collection of writings entitled Music and Politics (World, 1971). On December 10, 1971, John Lennon and Yoko Ono headlined a Free John Now Rally in Ann Arbor, and just three days later, the Michigan Supreme Court released Sinclair and overturned his conviction.

The John and Leni Sinclair Papers, 1957-1999 [finding aid]. Bently Historical Library, University of Michigan. Retrieved November 2005 from http://www.umich.edu/~bhl/bhl/refhome/jls/John.htmAdditional biographical information derived from the collection.

In addition to the carbon typescript of Sinclair's

Guitar Army, the collection includes the original typewriter-bond box that housed the manuscript and ephemera related to the Free John Sinclair movement. Included is a brochure distributed by the Committee to Free John Sinclair entitled "The 10 year sentence of John Sinclair," a "Free John Now!" petition postcard pre-addressed for delivery to Governor William Milliken, and a blank sheet of letterhead for the Rainbow People's Party Legal Defense Fund.