Skip to content

Post Amerikan: The Newspaper That Wouldn't Die film screening and panel discussion at the Normal Theater

Event Details

September 18th at 7:00pm –

The Normal Theater, 209 W. North Street, Normal, IL

{ "name":"Post Amerikan: The Newspaper That Wouldn't Die film screening and panel discussion at the Normal Theater", "description":"

The Museum is pleased to be one of the sponsors of the new documentary, The Post Amerikan: The Newspaper That Wouldn't Die. The public debut of this film will be on Friday, September 18 at 7:00 p.m. at the Normal Theater.

The Post Amerikan was the longest, continuously published underground newspaper in USA history and spanned the baby boom, X, and millennial generations ---a tumultuous and transitional period noted for its idealism and challenge of social/political/economic norms.  This documentary examines the history and legacy of the collective of activists publishing the newspaper in the small Midwest towns of Bloomington-Normal in the Corn Belt of Illinois, and provides a microcosm of the tensions and societal evolution occurring throughout the nation.

The screening of this film in Bloomington-Normal was made possible with contributions by the following sponsors: ACLU Illinois, Ecology Action Center, McLean County Museum of History, PFLAG, Prairie Pride Coalition, and a number of Illinois State University departments, organizations, and programs including the  Department of History, Milner Library, Queer Coalition, School of Communication, Center for Civic Engagement, Department of Government and Politics, and the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program.

A Q&A session will immediately follow the film featuring five members of the Post Amerikan: Laurie Dahlberg, Mark Silverstein, Susan O’Neal, Chuck Willer, and Scott DeWitt. Steve Vogel, veteran print and broadcast journalist, and retired WJBC-AM news director, will moderate.

Meet the Filmmaker

Gary Fritz is a retired genetics professor from Eastern Illinois University and an avocational, award-winning documentary filmmaker. His first documentary examined the counterculture in Chile during the 1970s Socialist government of Salvador Allende to the military coup d’etat in 1973.  His film was chosen for the opening ceremony of the InEdit International Music Film Festival in 2011, won an honorable mention in the national film competition, and won a third-place award in the San Diego Film Festival at La Jolla, California in 2013.

", "startDate":"2026-09-18", "endDate":"2026-09-19", "startTime":"07:00", "endTime":"05:31", "location":"The Normal Theater, 209 W. North Street, Normal, IL", "label":"Add to Calendar", "options":[ "Google", "Apple", "iCal", "Outlook.com" ], "timeZone":"America/Chicago", "trigger":"click", "iCalFileName":"Reminder-Event" }

Share this event

The Museum is pleased to be one of the sponsors of the new documentary, The Post Amerikan: The Newspaper That Wouldn't Die. The public debut of this film will be on Friday, September 18 at 7:00 p.m. at the Normal Theater.

The Post Amerikan was the longest, continuously published underground newspaper in USA history and spanned the baby boom, X, and millennial generations ---a tumultuous and transitional period noted for its idealism and challenge of social/political/economic norms.  This documentary examines the history and legacy of the collective of activists publishing the newspaper in the small Midwest towns of Bloomington-Normal in the Corn Belt of Illinois, and provides a microcosm of the tensions and societal evolution occurring throughout the nation.

The screening of this film in Bloomington-Normal was made possible with contributions by the following sponsors: ACLU Illinois, Ecology Action Center, McLean County Museum of History, PFLAG, Prairie Pride Coalition, and a number of Illinois State University departments, organizations, and programs including the  Department of History, Milner Library, Queer Coalition, School of Communication, Center for Civic Engagement, Department of Government and Politics, and the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program.

A Q&A session will immediately follow the film featuring five members of the Post Amerikan: Laurie Dahlberg, Mark Silverstein, Susan O’Neal, Chuck Willer, and Scott DeWitt. Steve Vogel, veteran print and broadcast journalist, and retired WJBC-AM news director, will moderate.

Meet the Filmmaker

Gary Fritz is a retired genetics professor from Eastern Illinois University and an avocational, award-winning documentary filmmaker. His first documentary examined the counterculture in Chile during the 1970s Socialist government of Salvador Allende to the military coup d’etat in 1973.  His film was chosen for the opening ceremony of the InEdit International Music Film Festival in 2011, won an honorable mention in the national film competition, and won a third-place award in the San Diego Film Festival at La Jolla, California in 2013.