Friends of Perfection: Oneida, Digger Do, Queer Beat, and the Kaliflower Experiment

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A talk at the Communal Studies Association annual conference, October 3, 2026.

I was invited to present a paper at CSA. The conference was held at the home of the 19th century Oneida Community in upstate New York. How could I turn down such an invitation? Kaliflower, after all, was deeply influenced by Oneida and its founder, John Humphrey Noyes. Eventually I will post a video of my presentation. But, first, I promised the attendees to have the list of references and credits up on diggerfeed.

Selected Texts and Sources

Primary texts and digital archives referenced in this talk.

English Diggers

Oneida Perfectionism (Texts Influential to Kaliflower)

Queer and Beat Influences

San Francisco Diggers

Kaliflower and Angels of Light

Image Credits for “Friends of Perfection …” Slide Show

Slide 1. Photos of the cover of Bible Communism, a page from the 1649 Digger manifesto, the cover of Howl by Allen Ginsberg, the cover of Kaliflower volume 3, number 1 (May 6, 1971).

Slide 2. Pages from Kaliflower.

Slide 3. Photo by Miriam Bobkoff.

Slide 4. Photo of Hunga Dunga Commune (courtesy of Lily Marnell); screenshot from film “Polk Gulch Gayla” by Jilala Jet von Jalopy; photo of Scott Street Commune by Miriam Bobkoff; photo of Flo Airwaves Commune (courtesy of Lily Marnell); photo of Mukluk Manor Commune (courtesy of Wendy Mukluk); photo of the Angels of Light performing the “Greek Show” by Miriam Bobkoff.

Slide 5. Photos of Irving Rosenthal, William Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, and Lawrence Ferlinghetti (photographers unknown).

Slide 6. Screenshot from the film “Flaming Creatures” by Jack Smith; photos of New York’s Beat scene (photographers unknown); cover of Sheeper by Irving Rosenthal.

Slide 7. Photo of an underground print shop (photographer unknown); cover page from Transit Glory by Edward Marshall; cover of Time Magazine “Hippie” issue; photograph of Morning Star Ranch Commune (from the Time Magazine issue).

Slide 8. Scans of Digger street sheets, manifestos, and articles (from the Digger Archives).

Slide 9. Photo of Digger Free Feed in 1966 by William Gedney; photo of Roy Ballard and crew of the Black People’s Free Store (from Glide Foundation publication); page from the San Francisco Express Times announcing the Free City Bank.

Slide 10. Free City News sheet; front page article “Poetry Bust” from the San Francisco Chronicle; poster announcing the opening of the Free Print Shop in 1968.

Slide 11. Assortment of Free Print Shop publications 1968–1972 (from the Digger Archives).

Slide 12. Photo of the Scott Street Commune by Miriam Bobkoff; pages from Kaliflower.

Slide 13. Pages from Kaliflower; a Kaliflower Board with an issue of Kaliflower affixed.

Slide 14. Photo of Little Richard and Mike Marnell making a Free Food Conspiracy delivery. Photo by Miriam Bobkoff.

Slide 15. Poster announcing the Angels of Light Christmas Eve performance at Grace Cathedral, printed by the Free Print Shop; photo by Miriam Bobkoff of the Angels of Light performing the “Greek Show.”

Slide 16. Photos from top, left to right: screenshot from the film “Peking on Acid” by Jilala Jet von Jalopy; photo of Beaver Bauer and Tahara by Eric Noble; photo of the Second Intercommunal Carnival in Wolf Creek, Oregon (photographer unknown); photo of Sister Ed by Miriam Bobkoff; collage of screenshots from the film “Peking on Acid” by Jilala Jet von Jalopy; photo of the communal bedroom at Scott Street Commune by Miriam Bobkoff; collage of screenshots from the film “Peking on Acid” by Jilala Jet von Jalopy; photo by Miriam Bobkoff of Martin Wong, Tahara, and Beaver Bauer on Roundtop Mountain, Oregon.

Slide 17. Cover of “Mutants Commune” in the Berkeley Barb; cover of Kaliflower, volume 3, number 1 (May 6, 1971).

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