UCLA Students. Student Activism materials.
1927-2014.
Finding aid prepared by University Archives staff, 1987 Jan 05; finding aid revised by Katharine Lawrie, 2016 April; machine-readable
finding aid created by Katharine Lawrie, 2016 April.
UCLA Library Special Collections
Room A1713, Charles E. Young Research Library
Box 951575
Los Angeles, CA, 90095-1575
(310) 825-4988
spec-coll@library.ucla.edu
©2016
Title: UCLA Students. Student Activism materials.
Identifier/Call Number: University Archives Record Series 259
Contributing Institution:
UCLA Library Special Collections
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
2.8 linear ft.
(7 boxes)
Date: 1927-1986
Abstract: Record Series 259 contains materials related to student activism at UCLA throughout the 20th and early 21st centuries. Themes
include communism, pacifism, World War II, the Vietnam War, civil rights, and freedom of expression.
Physical Location: Record Series 259 is located in Library Special Collections Technical Services Annex, A1713 Charles E. Young Research Library.
Creator:
UCLA University Archives.
Access
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE: Open for research. Advance notice required for access. Contact the UCLA Library Special Collections
Reference Desk for paging information.
Publication Rights
Copyright of this collection has been assigned to The Regents of the University of California. The UCLA University Archives
can grant permission to publish for materials to which it holds the copyright. All requests for permission to publish or quote
must be submitted in writing to UCLA Library Special Collections Public Services.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], UCLA Students. Student Activism materials (University Archives Record Series 259). UCLA Library
Special Collections, University Archives.
Historical note
Since the university's early years, students at UCLA have been moved by situations at home and abroad to raise their voices
in protest.
In the late 1920s and 1939s, student activism was fueled by the social and economic conditions of the Depression era, reaction
to the rise of fascism in Europe, threat of war, and political repression at home, particularly against Leftist groups. Students
held a strike for peace, and demanded the freedom to express their beliefs without enduring academic repercussion.
Academic freedom remained a much-discussed issue in the 1940s, as students reacted to World War II and its aftermath. Issues
such as discrimination and labor rights took greater prominence as veterans returned to campus in the late 1940s.
Controversy over the Loyalty Oath at the University of California, brought on by national anti-communism sentiments, ushered
in the 1950s. Discrimination, labor rights, and freedom of expression remained active topics.
The early 1960s saw students engaged in the Civil Rights Movement, protesting against segregation and for racial equality.
Student activism during this period also critiqued the university system and the nature of modern American higher education,
as evidenced in the Free Speech Movement which made its appearance at UCLA in December 1964.
Peace and antiwar movements, especially concerning American involvement in Vietnam, intensified during the late 1960s and
early 1970s, resulting in a strike of students, faculty, and staff. Students were roused to action in support of Black and
minority rights, with outrage and vehement protests by the UCLA campus community following the Angela Davis controversy. The
assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., the women’s liberation movement, and police violence on college and university campuses
inspired student action.
Student activism in the mid and late 1970s critiqued the University of California’s association with international programs
as students turned their attention to events in South East Asia and South America. At home, the labor rights of farmworkers,
funding for higher education, and environmentalism took focus.
During the 1980s students protested in opposition to apartheid in South Africa, and the University of California’s financial
ties to supporters of apartheid. Protests were held in support of political movements in Central and South America. Concerns
over nuclear war and nuclear energy also engaged students.
The cessation of affirmative action at UCLA prompted student activism in the 1990s, as did educational budget cuts enacted
by the University of California Regents, and experimentation on animals. The 1990s also saw the establishment of a Chicana/o
Studies Department at UCLA.
A resurgence of anti-war movements began in the 2000s, while concerns over the cost of higher education remained an issue.
Students at UCLA continue to engage in activism over local, national, and international concerns as they arise.
Scope and Content
Record Series 259 contains materials related to student activism at UCLA from 1927-2014. Files contain materials generated
by, or intended for, UCLA students.
Subjects include but are not limited to free speech, communism, pacifism, socialism, freedom of the press, resale of books/student
book store, parking on campus, WWII, racial discrimination, Jim Crow, affordable housing, job security, the Loyalty Oath controversy,
the Korean War, McCarthyism, the Rosenberg trial, the visit of the Shah of Iran to UCLA, the Civil Rights Movement, desegregation,
Selma, the Vietnam War, draft resistance, labor rights, farm worker rights, women's liberation, abortion, Chicano/a rights,
Martin Luther King Jr., the Black Panther Party, elections, and religion.
Materials include circulars, leaflets, fliers, pamphlets, newsletters, campaign materials, protest literature, clippings,
publications, bulletins, letters, press releases, ephemera, correspondence; and meeting, demonstration, conference, and event
documentation.
This is an active record series; additional University records are expected to be added.
Organization and Arrangement
This collection is arranged chronologically. Folder titles refer to dominant themes of materials within a given period of
time, but are not comprehensive lists of all subjects mentioned.
Related Material
For more on student activism, see also: Public Information Office. Administrative Files of Chandler Harris (University Archives
Record Series 543). For images of students engaging in activism, see: UCLA University Archives. Photographs (Reference Collection)
(University Archives Record Series 100).
UCLA Catalog Record ID
Box 1, Folder 2
Campus issues (parking, discipline, credits); international youth; freedom of expression/pacifism; social progress.
1931-1933.
Box 1, Folder 3
Student expulsion/freedom of expression; communism; labor rights; war/military presence on campus; student expenses; anti-fascism;
KKK.
1934.
Box 1, Folder 4
Clippings (communism, pacifism).
1934.
Box 1, Folder 5
Anti-war; communism; freedom of expression; academic freedom; higher education funding; ROTC; student bookstore.
1935.
Box 1, Folder 6
Clippings (communism, pacifism, strike, hazing).
1935.
Box 1, Folder 7
Student strike for peace; academic freedom; communism; labor rights; KKK.
1936.
Box 1, Folder 8
Student strike for peace; socialism; anti-fascism.
1937.
Box 1, Folder 9
Student strike for peace; campus issues; "Ham and Eggs" movement. Includes songbook.
1938.
Box 1, Folder 10
Anti-war; socialism; communism; Ludlow Amendment; co-op bookstore.
1939.
Box 2, Folder 1
Communism; socialism; WWII; pacifism; Jim Crow.
1940.
Box 2, Folders 2-3
WWII; anti-war; conscription/draft; ROTC; censorship; Jim Crow; co-op bookstore.
1941.
Box 2, Folder 4
War effort; draft; elections; unions; communism.
1942.
Box 2, Folder 5
WWII, international youth.
1943.
Box 2, Folder 6
WWII reactions; elections.
1944.
Box 2, Folder 7
Student life; radicalism.
1945.
Box 2, Folder 8
Communism; employment; labor rights; Jim Crow; campus housing.
1946.
Box 2, Folder 9
Communism; labor rights; campus housing/discrimination; Jim Crow.
1947.
Box 2, Folder 10
Labor rights; anti-fascism; communism; peace/draft; discrimination/Jim Crow (barbers in Westwood); elections; free press.
1948.
Box 3, Folder 1
Communism; socialism; anti-fascism; veterans; police violence; elections.
1948.
Box 3, Folder 2
Socialism; communism; loyalty oath/academic freedom; Jim Crow; ROTC; co-op bookstore.
1949.
Box 3, Folder 3
WWII; military training at UCLA; student strike for peace; youth roles.
1940's.
Box 3, Folder 4
Socialism; communism; labor party; loyalty oath; housing discrimination; Jim Crow; peace; ROTC.
1950.
Box 3, Folder 5
Loyalty oath; Korean War; communism; socialism.
1951.
Box 3, Folder 6
Rosenbergs; communism; socialism.
1952.
Box 3, Folder 7
Rosenbergs; housing.
1953.
Box 3, Folder 8
ROTC; Mexican-American education; socialism.
1954.
Box 3, Folder 9
Free press/independent student newspaper; NAACP.
1955.
Box 3, Folder 10
NAACP; labor rights/strikes; academic freedom.
1956.
Box 3, Folder 11
Free press; socialism.
1957.
Box 3, Folder 12
Discrimination/civil rights; communism; socialism; academic freedom/loyalty oath.
1950's.
Box 3, Folder 13
Segregation; religion; ROTC.
1960-1961.
Box 3, Folder 14
Communism; socialism; segregation/discrimination; labor rights; academic freedom; House Un-American Activities Committee.
1962.
Box 3, Folder 15
Socialism; communism; civil rights; labor rights; John F. Kennedy assassination; abortion; Iran; campus issues.
1963.
Box 4, Folder 1
Free speech; fair housing; discrimination; segregation; elections; Iran/Shah's visit to UCLA.
1964.
Box 4, Folder 2
Iran; Vietnam; abortion; labor rights; free speech; sexuality; Selma/desegregation; parking.
1965.
Box 4, Folder 3
Vietnam; sexuality; labor rights.
1966.
Box 4, Folder 4
Vietnam; labor rights; tuition; abortion; racism.
1967.
Box 4, Folder 5
Martin Luther King Jr. assassination; women's liberation; free speech; religion; elections; racism; Vietnam/draft resistance.
1968.
Box 4, Folder 6
Racism; Angela Davis; environmentalism; academic freedom; Chicano Studies; ROTC; Vietnam; UC (University of California) strike.
1969.
Box 5, Folder 1
Vietnam; police oppression/ROTC; police occupation at UC Berkeley; labor rights; minority rights; Angela Davis; Eldridge Cleaver;
women's liberation; environmentalism; UC Regents/campus issues.
1969.
Box 5, Folder 2
Religions; American Nazi Party; racism; academic freedom; student strike; Vietnam/draft; women's liberation.
1960's.
Box 5, Folder 3
Political campaigns; women's liberation; abortion; childcare; labor rights; minority rights; racism.
1970.
Box 5, Folder 5
Student and faculty strike; crisis curriculum; tuition; police presence on campus.
1970.
Box 6, Folder 2
Vietnam; elections; labor rights; social revolution; religion; women's liberation; Iran; environmentalism; co-ops; campus
issues; parking.
1971.
Box 6, Folder 3
Vietnam; campus issues; labor rights; elections; religion; Iran.
1972.
Box 6, Folder 4
Convenio/University of Chile program; racism; elections; socialism; psychosurgery/Center for the Study and Reduction of Violence;
religion; Iran, Native American rights.
1973.
Box 6, Folder 5
Psychosurgery/Center for the Study and Reduction of Violence; racism; elections; Iran; Chile, religion.
1974-1975.
Box 6, Folder 6
Socialism; labor rights; racism; Vietnam.
1976.
Box 6, Folder 7
Labor rights/farmworkers; higher education funding; Iran; Palestine; Vietnam; racism.
1977.
Box 6, Folder 8
Elections; environmentalism; nuclear power; religion; communism; Iran; Chile; South Africa/Apartheid.
1978.
Box 6, Folder 9
Nuclear power; labor rights/lettuce strike; religion; ROTC; communism; police corruption; KKK; Iran; Puerto Rican independence.
1979.
Box 6, Folder 10
Vietnam/draft; elections.
1970's.
Box 7, Folder 1
Draft; ROTC; anti-war; political campaigns; nuclear power; racism; communism; Iran's Shah.
1980.
Box 7, Folder 2
UCLA's nuclear reactor; draft/anti-war; international issues; women's rights; religion; unemployment/student expenses; affirmative
action.
1981.
Box 7, Folder 3
International issues (El Salvador, Iran, Poland, Israel, Central America); disarmament; Reaganomics; communism.
1982.
Box 7, Folder 4
Racism; higher education funding; El Salvador/Central America; religion; women's rights; disarmament.
1983.
Box 7, Folder 5
International issues (El Salvador, Central America, Russia, Middle East, South Africa).
1984.
Box 7, Folder 6
Divestment; anti-apartheid; Central America; Pakistan.
1985.
Box 7, Folder 7
South Africa; Central America/CIA; police state.
1986.
Box 7, Folder 8
Animal rights; political campaigns; campus issues.
1988.
Box 7, Folder 9
Animal rights/experimentation; campus issues; women's rights; labor rights.
1989.
Box 7, Folder 10
UC student fee rates; El Salvador.
1992.
Box 7, Folder 11
Establishment of Chicano/a Studies Center; dissolution/restructuring of departments; Justice for Janitors; student elections.
1993.
Box 7, Folder 12
Immigration/Proposition 187; student fees/higher education funding; Americorp; ROTC/LGBT rights; elections.
1994.
Box 7, Folder 13
Affirmative action.
1995.
Box 7, Folder 14
Affirmative action/Proposition 209; student fees; elections; gender issues; police brutality.
1996.
Box 7, Folder 15
Graduate student strike/labor rights; Propositions 226/227; animal research.
1998.
Box 7, Folder 16
Anti-impeachment; animal liberation.
1999.
Box 7, Folder 17
Affirmative action; dissolution/restructuring of departments.
1990's.
Box 7, Folder 19
Elections; anti-war.
2001.
Box 7, Folder 22
Student fees; labor rights; Minutemen.
2007-2009.
Box 7, Folder 23
Student fees; use of police force.
2010.
Box 7, Folder 24
Graduate student labor.
2014.
Box 7, Folder 25
Socialism; Vietnam/draft; student strikes; academic freedom; freedom of speech; police use of force; ROTC; Jim Crow/segregation;
labor rights; religion; elections; LGBT rights; tuition.
Undated.
