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Harrisburg Independent Press

A Decade in Retrospect: 1971-1980

An Archive of Pennsylvania's Alternative Community Newspaper

Harrisburg Independent Press Bird holding the newspaper in its wing
Anita Harris in a field at Cornell in the 1970s
Ed Zuckerman, editor of the Harrisburg Independent Press, Headshot from the 1970s

A Truly Independent Press

The Harrisburg Independent Press was published in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, from 1971 to 1980. The weekly newspaper was founded to provide alternative news for the Harrisburg 7 trial during the Vietnam War. After the trial ended, the newspaper, known by its readers as HIP, continued on.

Harrisburg_7_at_table.jpg

"The Harrisburg Independent Press has a muckracking spirit which for a newspaper of limited means and circulation is awesome."

 

- The Boston Globe

HIP: A Personal History

by Jim Wiggins

I first heard of the Harrisburg Independent Press in the spring of 1972, when I spotted a help-wanted ad on the bulletin board of the Daily Collegian, the student newspaper at Penn State where I’d worked prior to my graduation that March.

 

I was hanging around State College, papering my apartment with rejection letters from various news organizations that had decided they somehow could function quite well, thank you, without my services.

HIP staff on car Christmas 1972
Harrisburg Independent Press Volume 1 Number 1

The First Issue

Welcome to the first issue of the Harrisburg Independent Press, a brand-new, truly independent newspaper, dedicated to serving the Harrisburg Area with a responsible alternative journalistic voice.

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We will not seek controversy for its own sake, but we will welcome it for the sake of reform and revelation.

Harrisburg Independent Press 5th Anniversary Newspaper with a Black Candle in front

The HIP Archive

Leaf through our archive which contains every issue of the Harrisburg Independent Press, published from October 1971 to August 1980.

We need typesetting volunteers!

Support the Archives

At the moment, we only have two different shirts available for purchase, so check our shop often to see what other merch is available. We hope to expand our offerings to support the archives and keep them around for centuries.

Back of HIP Cream Shirt for Harrisburg Independent Press Archives
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