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Archives at Cornell

Iron Cross correspondence

 Collection
Identifier: 8154

Content Description

36 letters with enclosures comprising fan correspondence to Sab Grey and Mark Haggerty of the skinhead band Iron Cross. Most letters are addressed to Grey at Dischord Records’ “Dischord House” in Arlington, Virginia; several are addressed to Haggerty in Bethesda, Maryland. Also included are replies from Grey and Haggerty expressing appreciation for the correspondence, clarifying the band’s skinhead identity, and occasionally enclosing photocopies of flyers.

Correspondence primarily concerns the band’s appearance on Dischord Records’ compilation album Flex Your Head, local Hardcore scenes, and the Washington, D.C., scene. Fans inquire about album releases and touring plans; ask how to obtain the band’s EP Skinhead Glory; and request information, flyers, and records for use in local fanzines and compilation albums. Some letters express political anxieties about the growing association of skinhead culture with Nazism and fascism.

Items of note include multiple letters from two teenage boys describing their experiences at a Utah reform school; a November 1982 circular from Brainstem Records calling on Hardcore bands to contribute to a self-funded compilation album; and an undated letter from Jeff Clayton, vocalist of the punk band Antiseen and editor of the punk zine New Breed.

Dates

  • 1982-1983, undated

Creator

Biographical / Historical

Iron Cross was a hardcore punk band formed in Washington, D.C., in 1979. The band incorporated elements of the British punk subgenre Oi! and adopted the associated skinhead aesthetic. Singer Sab Grey briefly lived at Dischord Records’ “Dischord House” in Arlington, Virginia. Because of its name and skinhead appearance, Iron Cross was frequently associated with Nazism and fascism, associations that band members rejected. In the song “Crucified,” from the band’s EP Skinhead Glory, Grey addresses the association of skinhead culture with violence and describes what he perceived as intolerance toward white skinheads in Washington, D.C.

Extent

.1 cubic feet.

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

36 letters with enclosures comprising fan correspondence to Sab Grey and Mark Haggerty of the Washington, D.C., hardcore punk band Iron Cross. Most correspondence is addressed to Grey at Dischord Records’ “Dischord House” in Arlington, Virginia, with some addressed to Haggerty in Bethesda, Maryland. Also included are replies from Grey and Haggerty to fans, some with photocopied flyers.

Status
Completed
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections Repository

Contact:
2B Carl A. Kroch Library
Cornell University
Ithaca NY 14853
607-255-3530
607-255-9524 (Fax)