Free Spirit, 1969-1971
The Free Spirit was produced at Fontbonne between the Fall of 1969 and the Spring of 1971. The bi-monthly student publication features the standard fare of college papers, including editorials, columns (It’s the Right Time and Choice Quips appear regularly, but Dear Fanny Fontbonne doesn’t seem to have ever made it off the ground), notes on campus life (Did You Know . . . ?), reviews, comics, photographs, and advertisements.
From the masthead (sometimes):
I see something above me, greater and more human than I myself am; help me, everybody, to attain it, as I will help everyone who knows and suffers from the same thing: in order that at last the man should again arise who feels himself abundant and unlimited in knowing and loving, in vision and ability to achieve, and hangs upon and in nature with all his entireness as judge and standard of the value of things. — Nietzsche
Coverage of college life (student groups, department and program changes, teach-ins, Dean’s List awards, rising tuition costs, and student poverty) is balanced by articles and editorials on national conversations (feminism, student power, higher education, the environment, Vietnam). The Free Spirit gives us glimpses into many aspects of campus life in a variety of voices. It alternately pokes fun at new freshmen (who are so different from the “bobby-socked Erma Bombecks of the past”), rail against the military, economic, and environmental policies in Washington, and urge their classmates to learn more about Black America, local air pollution, police brutality, the Welfare System, or textbook prices, so they can get involved and make a difference. The brief run overlaps with some important moments in Fontbonne history, including the library sit-in, early conversations about co-education, and big changes in student government. Everything comes together with hand-lettered headings, whimsical drawings, and original poetry.
The collection also contains copies of supplements that include interviews with faculty and transcripts from campus events on the state of higher education.
We do not have a complete run of the Free Spirit. If you have copies of issues that you would like to donate to the Archives, please let us know!
