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The Faith

In the early days of D.C. hardcore, the Faith were a critical part of the scene. Innovating hardcore with their more complex arrangements and melodic focus, vocalist Alec MacKaye, drummer Ivor Hansen, guitarist Michael Hampton, bassist Chris Bald and, later, additional guitarist Edward Janney issued multiple recordings on Dischord. Following the band’s split in 1983, members went on to the bands Rites of Spring and Embrace, who helped usher in the Revolution Summer period that remade the D.C. scene from 1984-1986.

Drawn from the punk collections in Special Collection in Perfoming Arts at the University of Maryland.

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Fliers

Flier with a grid of six images in the center, each with a different character.

The Faith and Youth Brigade - Arlington, Virginia, November 13, 1981

Flier with names of the bands scattered throughout the flier in cut-out letters, and there are random images of people as well.

Iron Cross, The Faith, Negative Approach - Arlington, Virginia, November 13, 1981

Government Issue flier with handwritten text and an image of guards using the American flag to attack people.

Government Issue, The Faith, Capitol Punishment - Arlington, Virginia, December 11, 1981

Flier for Deadline. The event details are handwritten in the bottom left, and there is a map of the location on the bottom right.

Deadline, The Faith, Government Issue - Market 5 Gallery, Washington, D.C., December 19, 1981

Flier for Government Issue with cartoon and skeleton illustrations on the right side.

Government Issue, Deadline, The Faith, Void - Market 5 Gallery, Washington, D.C., December 19, 1981

Flier for a Bad Brains event with handwritten text and an illustration of a man with a deformed face, resembling a skeleton.

Bad Brains and The Faith - 9:30 Club, Washington, D.C., January 3, 1982

The Faith Flier with a box of other featured bands. The background of this box has an illustration of a large shadow figure darkening the streets.

The Faith, Deadline and Iron Cross - Bethesda, Maryland, March 20, 1982

Iron Cross Flier with a drawing of a rat and band names including Void, Minor Threat, Faith, and Artificial Peace.

Iron Cross, Void, Minor Threat, Artificial Peace, Faith and Double-O - Wilson Center, Washington, D.C., April 30, 1982

Minor Threat Flier with a list of featured bands and event details on the left side, and on the right is the shape of a sword or cross made by the vertical repetition of the words 'DC' and 'HARDCORE'.

Minor Threat, The Faith, Artificial Peace, Iron Cross, Void, and Double O - Wilson Center, Washington, D.C., April 30, 1982

Flier for a concert at Wilson Center featuring multiple bands, with a street scene sketch as the background.

Minor Threat, Faith, Void, Iron Cross - Wilson Center, Washington, D.C., April 30, 1982

Flier for a concert at Wilson Center in varying stylized text.

Minor Threat, Void, and The Faith - Wilson Center, Washington, D.C., April 30, 1982

Void Flier with a drawing of five figures with decorated jackets sitting and standing in a line, all with their backs to the viewer, and the event details are written above them.

Void, Faith, Double-O, Iron Cross, Minor Threat and Artificial Peace - Wilson Center, Washington, D.C., April 30, 1982

Artificial Peace Flier listing other featured bands and event details, and there is a drawing of a graveyard scene.

Artificial Peace, Government Issue (G.I.), Black Market Baby, Deadline, Faith and Gang Green - Wilson Center, Washington, D.C., June 25, 1982

Artificial Peace Flier with featured bands listed, and illustrations featuring creatures and abstract elements.

Artificial Peace, Government Issue, Faith - Wilson Center, Washington, D.C., June 25, 1982

Flier for an event at Wilson Center titled 'Hardcore' with a list of performing bands. At the top are three large Xs and two black bars.

Government Issue, Faith, Scream, and Artificial Peace - Wilson Center, Washington, D.C., June 25, 1982

Black and white flier with various text and images, including a man in formal attire with a speech bubble that says 'New Hope'.

Minor Threat and The Faith - 9:30 Club, Washington, D.C., August 1, 1982

Black Flag Flier with bold, stylized text and a background image of a cracked screen.

Black Flag, Effigies, The Faith - Wilson Center, Washington, D.C., September 17, 1982

Flier with an illustration of a man laying on a bed, holding a sword that is penetrated in his stomach where he is bleeding, and there are sheep stickers on the wall right above his head.

Faith, Iron Cross, Effigies, Black Flag and Double-O - Wilson Center, Washington, D.C., September 17, 1982

Dark red flier with black text and illustrations. There are little drawings supporting the text at the bottom, which includes directions to the school.

D.O.A., Minor Threat, The Faith, and Iron Cross - H.B. Woodlawn High School, Arlington, Virginia, October 30, 1982

A yellow punk rock event flier with black illustrations and text for event details and a list of bands.

Minor Threat, D.O.A., Iron Cross, and The Faith - H.B. Woodlawn High School, Arlington, Virginia, October 30, 1982

Black and white Flier. The title text 'Insurrection' is written sideways on the left side of the page, and there is a disturbing image of a battleground.

Insurrection, The Faith, and Double-O - 9:30 Club, Washington, D.C., November 7, 1982

Faith flier with a background image of the band performing on stage and various stylized text.

Faith, Minor Threat and Marginal Man - 9:30 Club, Washington, D.C., January 2, 1983

Flier for an event at the 9:30 Club with hand illustrations and band names.

Hate from Ignorance, Meatmen, Faith and Necros - 9:30 Club, Washington, D.C., March 6, 1983

A flier for a benefit event for 'Touch and Go' with a large illustration of a distressed looking man with his hands on his face in the background.

Necros, Faith and Meatmen - 9:30 Club, Washington, D.C., March 6, 1983

Marginal Man flier with black text and illustrations on a light yellow background. There is a prominent illustration on the left of a four-fingered hand with text under it that says '...I'm different... Ha...'

Marginal Man, Iron Cross, The Faith concert flier, Georgetown University Hall of Nations, Washington, D.C., March 11, 1983

Flier with black and orange text, and an image of the four band members.

Crucifix, Marginal Man, Faith and Hate from Ignorance - Wilson Center, Washington, D.C., May 6, 1983

Faith, Youth Brigade, No Labels, Corrosion of Conformity and Committee for Public Safety concert flier, Space II Arcade, Washington, D.C., August 17, 1983 (Design 1)

Faith, No Labels, Corrosion of Conformity, Scam, and Committee for Public Safety concert flier, Space II Arcade, Washington, D.C., August 17, 1983 (Design 2)

Faith, No Labels, Corrosion of Conformity, Scam, and Committee for Public Safety concert flier, Space II Arcade, Washington, D.C., August 17, 1983 (Design 3)

Zines

A patterned background with a picture of the band performing on stage in the center.

Zone V, Issue 2, 1983

About

Persistent Vision presents the University of Maryland's digitized special collections materials related to punk in the Washington, D.C. area. Most of these materials reside at Special Collections in Performing Arts (SCPA) in the Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library. These materials help to tell the story of a subculture and a community that has thrived since 1976.

Curators: John Davis, Ben Jackson
Design: Ben Jackson, Natalie Salive
Authors: Ben Jackson, John Davis, and Jessica Grimmer

With help from: Cindy Zhao, Jeremy Gottwig, Amanda Henderson, Gabby Cameron, Hayden Kramer

Contact Us

Special Collections in Performing Arts is located in the Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library on University of Maryland’s College Park campus.

For general information about the library and our collections, contact us