Savannah Remembers Underground Paper Albion's Voice

The activists behind a short-lived underground newspaper in 1970s Savannah say they’re still worried about the city’s future. They gathered this weekend to mark the 45th anniversary celebration of Albion’s Voice.

In 1970 a group of students at what was then Armstrong State College founded a literary journal -- and focused on issues of race, class and gender, to name a few. Editor Will Strong says it was a bit more than the school bargained for. "After we put out our first edition, we got invited to leave campus," he laughs. "Too radical."

They kept publishing off campus, but ran out of funding after just six issues. Still, Strong told the crowd gathered to celebrate Albion’s Voice that the paper served as a “weather vane” pointing to important problems facing the city.

"I realize that while some issues have improved in Savannah since 1970, many of those issues still remain," he said. "Racism still plagues Savannah, and the main element I figure holding progress back is the economic disparity.

Strong worries today’s college students aren’t as fired up about those issues as their counterparts in the 70s.

Current Armstrong student and activist Elly Marisol Estrada says it’s important for her peers to realize the need for change. "And that we stop preaching to the choir," she says. "That oppressed people don’t just speak to themselves and their support groups but start to reach out for support around the community."

Estrada says the current generation of activists can learn from past movements like Albion’s Voice.

Tags: albions voice, underground paper, Savannah, armstrong state college, Armstrong State University, anniversary, underground newspaper