Partial online archive of The Blast, an anarchist newspaper published by Alex Berkman for 29 issues 1916-1917, when it was shut down for encouraging resistance to the draft.
The Blast newspaper
The Blast vol1 #1 Jan 15 1916
The Blast #1.01 cover
First ever issue of Berkman's The Blast, January 15th, 1916 featuring birthday greetings from Emma Goldman as well as commentary on World War 1.
Attachments
The Blast - No. 1 0001.pdf
(7.49 MB)
Comments
Hey mate, thanks for posting these. Although if you could put in a short introduction in the "intro" box with some basic information like what date the issue is from, and whether it has a theme or what it mostly covers that would be great!
Yeah sorry, I kind of mucked up the Child-page stuff as well. I'll fix it now.
Edit: How do I delete the child pages. I accidentally added issues 3-5 as a child of issue 2 itself rather than the whole.
Hey, should be sorted now in terms of the ordering. Also, you now have permissions to approve your own edits when you add intros etc.
Also, I have changed your naming of the issues slightly to fit with how we do other publications on the site. Also by using double digits it means they will all automatically go in order (otherwise after 9 the order gets messed up). Thanks very much for this!
Thanks for the help and tips! I'll try and continue to post 5 or so at a time as I visit the library to study.
AK Press published a book with all the issues of the Blast here:
https://archive.org/details/blast0000unse/mode/2up
I'll see about posting the rest of the issues.
I've modified all the previous entries and added issues 10 and 11. I'll add the rest and tidy everything up later...
Archive complete! I might transcribe some stuff later, unless someone else wants to do it.
Poor Berkman, he turned from the pistol to the press (the "Blast" isn't all that subtle) and they still shut him down. Just can't win!
The Blast vol1 #2 Jan 22 1916
The Blast #1.02 cover
The Blast Issue No. 2 featuring Charles Scott Wood on "What's The Matter With Labor?" and more commentary on World War One.
The Blast vol1 #3 Jan 29 1916
The Blast #1.03 cover
Issue no. 3 featuring a Letter from Tom Mann and contributions on Military Preparedness and it's real purpose for suppressing labor.
The Blast vol1 #4 Feb 5 1916
The Blast #1.04 cover
Issue no. 4 of The Blast, featuring Charles Scott Wood discussing vision and consciousness as central to the laborers' lives as it is to any philosopher or capitalists, among others.
The Blast vol1 #5 Feb 12 1916
The Blast #1.05 cover
Issue no. 5 of Berkman's The Blast covers birth control, Margaret Sanger, what it means to be a woman under capitalism, Jinogism, Labor's Allies, and commentary on the war.
The Blast vol1 #6 Feb 19 1916
The Blast #1.06 cover
Issue no. 6 of Berkman's The Blast
The Blast vol1 #7 Feb 26 1916
The Blast #1.07 cover
Issue no. 7 of Berkman's The Blast
The Blast vol1 #8 March 4 1916
The Blast #1.08 cover
Issue no. 8 of Berkman's The Blast
The Blast vol1 #9 March 15 1916
The Blast #1.09 cover
Issue no. 9 of Berkman's The Blast
The Blast vol1 #10 April 1 1916
Including articles on the forthcoming trial of David Caplan for blowing up the LA Times building, prohibition, the Pacific Coast Defence League (warmongers), Gruppo Anarchico (Italian group in San Francisco), etc.
Contents
- General $ in Command - David Leigh
- The trial of David Caplan - Alexander Berkman
- In the eyes of the future - Charles Erskine Scott Wood
- Past and present - A Mack
- Labour and song - Leah Lowensohn
- Prohibition: a crime and a menace
- Will organized labor help? - Tom Mooney
- A group that does things - Reb Raney
- Pierre Ramus Free!
- David Caplan mass meeting advert
Attachments
The-Blast-v1-10.pdf
(7.5 MB)
Comments
The Blast vol1 #11 April 15 1916
Including: government suppression of the previous issue, the Magon case, birth control court case in San Francisco, etc.
Contents
- The Bloodhounds - Alexander Berkman
- To the enemies of free speech - Wm Francis Barnard
- The crimes of governments - Josiah Warren
- The modern wage slave - Hugh McGee
- The state superstition - Herbert Spencer
- The thieves' convention - Ellis O. Jones
- Reflections
- Who is manufacturing "news"?
- The power of the plutocrat - Leo Tolstoy
- A word to the fearful - David Leigh
- "Our business is to keep killing Germans" - Horace Traubel
Attachments
The Blast vol1-11.pdf
(8.58 MB)
Comments
The Blast vol1 #12 May 1 1916
Including: post office censorship of The Blast, Mayday and the general strike, poetry, news updates, etc.
Contents
- To hell with the government - Alexander Berkman
- The first of May and the General Strike -
- The song of the wage slave - Ernest Jones
- Letter of support from IWW in California
- Reflections (Ireland, religion & war, anrchist women on trial, David Caplan)
- All armor plate: no brains - B C Federationist
- A case in point - Alden Ward
- Incontestable rights
- A timely thought
- Soldiers of war - Rene Benjamin
Attachments
The Blast vol1-12.pdf
(9.61 MB)
Comments
The Blast vol1 #13 May 15 1916
Including: British oppression in Ireland, Malatesta against Kropotkin and pro-war anarchists, Nietzsche on science, etc.
Contents
- The only hope of Ireland - Alexander Berkman
- Revolution - Friedrich Nietzsche
- Pro-government anarchists - Errico Malatesta
- Reflections
- Should Labor be patriotic? - Lyov Tolstoy
- Science: Gods mortal terror - Friedrich Nietzsche
- The great adventure - Herman Kuehn
- Letters
Attachments
The Blast vol1-13.pdf
(9.65 MB)
Comments
The Blast vol1 #14 June 1 1916
Including: solidarity with Ricardo and Enrique Flores Magon, votes for women in England, against war, etc.
Contents
- Think of the Magons - Edgcumb Pinchon
- Preparedness
- Shadows on mist - Robert Morlett
- Reflections (abolishing war, the Magon borthers, San Francisco longshoremen strike)
- To the Pope of San Francisco
- Why women will get the vote - B. C. Federationist
- Hoist the flag of betterment - Rebekah E Raney
Attachments
The Blast vol1-14.pdf
(10.2 MB)
Comments
The Blast vol1 #15 July 1 1916
Including: freedom of thought, more post office censorship, troops needed for domestic strife, New York cloak-makers strike, etc.
Contents
- Freedom only to be conquered
- More suppression: Postmaster General vs Alexander Berkman
- A plea for preparedness - Pacific Coast Business Men's Preparedness League
- Reflections
- Anent the Cloakmakers' Strike - Alexander Berkman
- In the words of Shaw
- Indecent exposure - R.S.
Attachments
The Blast vol1-15.pdf
(9.88 MB)
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