The Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) was a California leftist revolutionary group active from 1973 through the mid 1970s.  A primary goal of the organization was the“gaining of freedom and self-determination and independence for all their people and races.” The SLA utilized tactics of expropriation, direct action and armed propaganda to stimulate public awareness and action around issues of poverty, housing, racism, women’s rights, and prison issues. Despite undertaking a number of controversial and sometimes polarizing actions, one of the foremost successes of the SLA was forcing the Hearst family to give away millions of dollars worth of food from Safeway grocery stores to impoverished communities in the Bay Area.  

Highlights of our collection include scanned copies of the Dragon, a rare periodical produced by the Bay Area Research Collective in support of the SLA; original SLA communiqués, statements and publications; and press releases, flyers and statements from other Bay Area radical groups concerning SLA actions and ideas. Additionally, we have hundreds of articles taken from local Bay Area news sources, all pertaining to the SLA and the group’s activities. Our collection of paper documents is supplemented by our media holdings primarily derived from local recordings and programs. These include memorial shows, audio from rallies and news programs and taped communiqués.