''Fifth Estate'' is a U.S.

periodical Periodical literature (singularly called a periodical publication or simply a periodical) consists of Publication, published works that appear in new releases on a regular schedule (''issues'' or ''numbers'', often numerically divided into annu ...

, based in

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

, begun in 1965.

History

''Fifth Estate'' was started by Harvey Ovshinsky, a seventeen-year-old youth from Detroit.Friess, Steve
"The Founder and Editor of ‘The Fifth Estate’ on the Paper’s Original Purpose: Peter Werbe and Harvey Ovshinsky, who both recently released their first books, spar amiably,"
'' Hour Detroit'' (May 3, 2021). He was inspired by a 1965 summer trip to

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

where he worked on the ''

Los Angeles Free Press The ''Los Angeles Free Press'', also called the "''Freep''", is often cited as the first, and certainly was the largest, of the underground newspapers of the 1960s. The ''Freep'' was founded in 1964 by Art Kunkin, who served as its publisher un ...

'', the first

underground paper The terms underground press or clandestine press refer to periodicals and publications that are produced without official approval, illegally or against the wishes of a dominant (governmental, religious, or institutional) group. In specific rece ...

in the United States; Harvey's father, inventor Stan Ovshinsky, knew the editor of the ''Free Press'', Art Kunkin, from their years as comrades in the Socialist Party. The first issue was published on November 19, 1965. The spirit of the paper during the first ten years of its existence was summed up in a Feb. 1, 1969, staff editorial: By 1972 the optimism of the sixties had worn off and the tone of the paper became more concerned with struggle than fun. Ovshinsky had left in 1969, leaving a group of young people (teenagers or people in their early twenties) to run the paper. Peter Werbe, a 29-year-old

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

dropout who had been with the paper since March 1966, took over as editor. The staff sent delegations to Vietnam,

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

and

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

. The massive defeat of

George McGovern George Stanley McGovern (July 19, 1922 – October 21, 2012) was an American politician, diplomat, and historian who was a U.S. representative and three-term U.S. senator from South Dakota, and the Democratic Party (United States), Democ ...

and the election of

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

for a second term with an increased vote damaged the movement — many underground papers ceased publication and alternative news agencies such as the

Liberation News Service Liberation News Service (LNS) was a New Left, anti-war underground press news agency that distributed news bulletins and photographs to hundreds of subscribing underground, alternative and radical newspapers from 1967 to 1981. Considered the "Asso ...

, and the

Underground Press Syndicate The Underground Press Syndicate (UPS), later known as the Alternative Press Syndicate (APS), was a network of countercultural newspapers and magazines that operated from 1966 into the late 1970s. As it evolved, the Underground Press Syndicate crea ...

were beginning to collapse. The ''Fifth Estate'' was mentioned in the national press when one of its reporters, Pat Halley, threw a shaving cream pie at Guru Maharaj Ji in 1973. Though the guru forgave him publicly, two of his followers attacked Halley a week later and fractured his skull. In 2002, the center of the magazine shifted from Detroit, Michigan to Liberty, Tennessee when long-time contributor Andrew Smith (who wrote under the name Andy Sunfrog) took over the main editorial duties of the magazine, although long-time Detroit staffers like Peter Werbe remained involved.

References

External links

*
Fifth Estate Issue 368-369, Spring-Summer, 2005, includes several articles relating to the publication's historyMetro Times story on ''Fifth Estates 40th anniversaryLabadie Collection Finding Aid for ''Fifth Estate''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fifth Estate (Periodical) Anarchist periodicals published in the United States Magazines established in 1965 Post-left anarchism Anti-consumerist groups Triannual magazines published in the United States Magazines published in Detroit Political magazines published in the United States Anarchist periodicals Socialism in Michigan

History

See also

References

Further reading

External links