Drum & Spear Bookstore and Press

Judy Richardson and Tony Gittens
Judy Richardson and Tony Gittens

Welcome To Drum & Spear

“I was hired by Joe Gross, an engineer by training, who served for a brief period as a manager at Drum and Spear bookstore before he went off to East Africa to explore opportunities related to Pan-Africanism and the emerging digital world. I had gone into the bookstore to purchase books for the first-grade students I taught at Hines Elementary School in Northeast D.C. I also worked as a clerk and salesperson at Brentano’s Bookstore, America’s first chain bookstore, founded in 1853.”
— Drum and Spear Bookstore (1968 – 1971) by Daphne Muse. Full article available at BlackPowerChronicles.com

In the tradition of our ancestors, Drum and Spear Bookstore was founded by and staffed with intellectually amazing people whose activism was fueled by scholars, writers, artists, and activists across many centuries. It went on to become a combination bookstore, library, community center, and iconic cultural heartbeat.

– Daphne Muse, 2020

Gallery


Downloads

File NameLink
The Drum & Spear Bookstore NewsletterDownload
Drum and Spear Press and Tanzania's Ujamaa IdeologyDownload
Library of Congress: Transcript for Symposium "Since 1968"Download
The Washington Afro-AmericanDownload

Visit the SNCC Digital Gateway for additional information, documents, and sources for The Drum & Spear Bookstore and Press.