The Saga of Patty Hearst

Patty Hearst and the Symbionese Liberation Army

Patricia Campbell Hearst was born in San Mateo, California on the 20^th of February, 1954. Her father was Randolph Apperson Hearst, son of the famous newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst. Heiress of the famous Hearst family, hers was a life of affluent luxury growing up in the wealthy San Francisco suburb of Hillsborough.

However, it was the events on and following February 4^th, 1974 that would thrust Patty Hearst into the headlines of newspapers across the world and popular American culture. On this February day, just over two weeks before her 20^th birthday, Patty Hearst was kidnapped by the militant radical group the Symbionese Liberation Army.

The Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) was a revolutionary terrorist organization who saw themselves as fighting the fascist corporate powers that were in control of America. They saw themselves as struggling for the common man, in particular African-Americans although they never had more than two African-American members.

“Death to the fascist insect that preys upon the life of the people,” was the motto of the SLA. Their symbol was the seven-headed hydra, representing the seven principles of Kwanzaa: Unity, Self-Determination, Collective Responsibility, Cooperative Economics, Purpose, Creativity and Faith. This symbol would be made famous in publicity images featuring Patty Hearst standing in front of the hydra holding a weapon in her hand.

After losing one of their members in an arrest after their first action, the assassination of Dr. Marcus Foster, superintendent of schools in Oakland, California, the SLA decided to kidnap a prominent member of society in order to negotiate a prisoner swap. The target: 19 year old Patty Hearst.