Westport Trucker Newspapers in UMKC Digital Special Collections

The Dennis Giangreco Westport Trucker Collection (also known simply as the Westport Trucker Collection) was gifted to LaBudde Special Collections starting with the initial donation in June 2019 from editor and publisher Dennis Giangreco. Additional gifts have come in over the years from Giangreco and other donors: Janet Moss Awaken, Tom Barlow, Bill Beaumont, Bruce Burton, Mallory Edson, Peggy Furlong, Chuck Haddix, Joe Heyen, Kenan Houston, Marion Huet-Derrossett, Randall Hurley, Steve Hutt, Rick Ivonavitch, Robert John LaRoe, Paul Peterson, Lonnie Shelton, and Bob Zarker.

The heart of the collection comprises a comprehensive run of the underground newspaper The Westport Trucker, published in Kansas City from 1970 to 1976. The Westport Trucker was a voice for local counterculture, social activism, tongue-in-cheek commentary and rock music reviews. There are also other related and unrelated underground newspapers and alternative presses in the collection, including the first two issues of The Screw, a predecessor to the Westport Trucker. Also included are posters and flyers for concerts, festivals, and other events, many of which were advertised in the Westport Trucker. Assorted promotional materials round out the collection, including press releases, stationery, business cards, radio station bulletins, bumper stickers, and the original three-color (blue, red, yellow) separation art for the “smoking cow” cover of the Westport Trucker (Vol. 2, no. 2).

Read Dennis Giangreco's history of the Westport Trucker