In the history of the 1960s Digger movement in San Francisco and the West Coast, there is an arc of events and a continuity of intention that can be discerned starting in the late 1950s with the Beat poets and avant-garde happenings amidst the burgeoning social movements of the period. The Diggers themselves formed out of a nexus of radical arts and social consciousness that swirled around the San Francisco Mime Troupe and the Haight-Ashbury formations that took place in 1965 onward. Ecology was always an important aspect of this continuity. When the Diggers dispersed from their daily activities on the streets of San Francisco after the Summer Solstice 1968, many moved to rural outposts with the intent of creating new social formations as they had done in the urban context. Planet Drum was a signal moment in 1972 when Peter Berg and Judy Goldhaft returned to the City from their travels to remote communes and country families. Planet Drum at first was a communication medium — periodic bundles distributed to a wide-flung network to stay in touch with others who were attuned to the idea that would come to be known as “bioregion.” Later, Planet Drum was the name of the non-profit foundation that was incorporated to engender awareness of and communication with all manner of bioregional groups and activities across the continent and worldwide. Planet Drum Foundation is still active with dozens of programs and projects.

The San Francisco Public Library’s Wallace Stegner Environmental Center is hosting a retrospective exhibit on the history of Planet Drum. This exhibit takes place from September 1 through November 29, 2018. For anyone close by, it is well worth the visit.

Click here for more information on the exhibit. The collage of images (above) are a selection of the informative placards in the current exhibit. Judy Goldhaft will host groups of 5-20 people who are interested in a guided tour of the exhibit. Contact Planet Drum (415-285-6556 or mail@planetdrum.org) to make the arrangements.