Anthony Rayson zine collection

Collection

Identifier: MSS0050

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This collection contains zines and other materials mostly created and/or distributed by Anthony Rayson through his South Chicago ABC Zine Distro. Most zines, artwork, and other materials in the collection contain political, anarchist, and/or social justice-related commentary and imagery.

Dates

1970-2020
Majority of material found within 1998-2020

Creator

Rayson, Anthony (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research use.

Biographical / Historical

Anthony Rayson (b. 1954) is a writer, political activist, and self-described anarchist. Rayson authored the zine Thought Bombs, creates and contributes to numerous other zines, and assists incarcerated people with the publication and distribution of their own zines. Rayson operates South Chicago ABC Zine Distro, a distribution network that provides zines to incarcerated people free-of-charge.

Extent

17 Linear Feet (36 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Spanish; Castilian

Additional Description

Arrangement

This collection is organized into 20 series: 1. Biographical; 2. Anarchism; 3. Art; 4. Catalogs, Directories, and Resource Lists; 5. Comics; 6. DIY and How-to; 7. Feminism; 8. Health; 9. Literary; 10. Music; 11. Personal; 12. Poetry; 13. Police; 14. Political; 15. Prison; 16. Queer; 17. Race and Ethnicity; 18. Religion and Spirituality; 19. Zines about Zines; 20. Oversized.

The first series contains biographical materials related to Anthony Rayson, followed by series in alphabetical order representing different zine genres or formats. Whenever possible, individual file titles include information about the author/creator (example: Thought Bombs #1 [Anthony Rayson]). The collection was almost entirely rearranged and redescribed in 2021, creating new and different series based on more commonly understood zine genres.

Throughout this finding aid, people held in prisons and jails are referred to as prisoners or incarcerated people based on the most widely accepted terminology used by prison activist and abolitionist groups. Additionally, many of the authors featured in this collection are self-described political prisoners.