Collection Guide
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Bay Area Radical Teachers' Organizing Collective Records
SFH 459
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Table of contents
Title: Bay Area Radical Teachers' Organizing Collective Records
Date (inclusive): 1969-1974
Identifier/Call Number: SFH 459
Creator:
Bay Area Radical Teachers Organizing Collective
Physical Description:
7 cartons
(7 Cubic Feet)
Contributing Institution:
San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library
100 Larkin Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 557-4567
info@sfpl.org
Abstract: The Bay Area Radical Teachers’ Organizing Collective (BARTOC) was a small collective of Bay Area teachers, active from October
1969-1974, committed to providing alternatives to the conventional curriculum of the time. The collection contains correspondence,
a written history of BARTOC, meeting minutes, materials used to produce their brochure (No More Teachers Dirty Looks), a log
book, workshop outlines, writings, lesson plans and flyers. The collection also includes periodicals, ephemera and photos.
Many of the periodicals and newsletters are examples of rare leftist publications from the time period, including national
and international sources.
Language of Materials: Collection materials are in
English.
The collection is available for use during San Francisco History Center hours, with photographs available during Photo Desk
hours. Collections that are stored offsite should be requested 48 hours in advance.
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the City Archivist. Permission
for publication is given on behalf of the San Francisco Public Library as the owner of the physical items.
[Identification of item], Bay Area Radical Teachers' Organizing Collective (SFH 459), San Francisco History Center, San Francisco
Public Library.
Donated by Tim Lennon on September 29, 2009.
Researchers are encouraged to see also No More Teachers Dirty Looks listed in the library catalog.
During processing both the original order and folders were retained as much as possible. Loose materials were placed in acid
free folders and interfiled with the rest of the collection.
The Bay Area Radical Teachers’ Organizing Collective (BARTOC) was a small collective of elementary and secondary Bay Area
teachers active from October 1969-1974. BARTOC was committed to providing alternatives to the conventional curriculum which
they viewed as imperialist and racist. They viewed school culture as subversively programing kids to be automatons and saw
themselves as teaching more than skills and subject matter.
They believed teachers should cooperate with other teachers and students as comrades and partners and viewed the administration
as the enemy.
The group’s founders received a Vanguard grant for $1000 which allowed them to provide three key services to local teachers.
They published a small magazine titled No More Teachers Dirty Looks (NMTDL) which received a positive reception, they operated
a resource center on Sanchez Street with a substantial library, and they presented teacher workshops. In 1974 the collective
disbanded when their grant funding ended and irreconcilable differences divided the members.
The Bay Area Radical Teachers’ Organizing Collective (BARTOC) was a small collective of Bay Area teachers, active from October
1969-1974, committed to providing alternatives to the conventional curriculum of the time. The collection contains administrative
papers including correspondence, a written history of BARTOC, meeting minutes, materials used to produce their brochure (NMTDL),
a log book for the resource center, a sexism workshop outline, and writings about their funding. It also includes a writing
sample, lesson plan and flyers.
BARTOC’s Resource Center provided support to teachers in their community and operated as a lending library. The files contained
in the Resource Center series include lesson plans, background reading, writing samples, flyers, pamphlets, and other ephemera.
For the most part, periodicals, newsletters and monographs were collected into a series of their own but some still remain
in the Resource Center files. Many of the periodicals and newsletters are examples of rare leftist publications from the time
period, including national and international sources. The collection also contains a small number of photos that were likely
used to produce NMTDL.
The collection is arranged in 4 series: Series 1: Administrative Papers, Series 2: Periodicals, Newsletters and Monographs,
Series 3: Resource Center Files, Series 4: Photographs.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Teachers.
Teaching.
Education -- Experimental methods.
Education -- Curricula.
Alternative schools.
Bay Area Radical Teachers Organizing Collective