Inventory of the Arthur K. Bierman Papers, 1959 - 1969
Processed by The Labor Archives & Research Center staff; machine-readable finding aid created by
Xiuzhi Zhou
Labor Archives and Research Center
San Francisco State University
480 Winston Drive
San Francisco, California 94132
Phone: (415) 564-4010
Fax: (415) 564-3606
Email: larc@sfsu.edu
URL: http://www.library.sfsu.edu/special/larc.html
© 1999
San Francisco State University. All rights reserved.
Inventory of the Arthur K. Bierman Papers, 1959 - 1969
Accession number: 1991/026
Labor Archives & Research Center
San Francisco State University
San Francisco, California
Contact Information:
- Labor Archives & Research Center
- San Francisco State University
- 480 Winston Drive
- San Francisco, California 94132
- Phone: (415) 564-4010
- Fax: (415) 564-3606
- Email: larc@sfsu.edu
- URL: http://www.library.sfsu.edu/special/larc.html
- Processed by:
- The Labor Archives & Research Center staff
- Encoded by:
- Xiuzhi Zhou
© 1999 San Francisco State University. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Title: Arthur K. Bierman Papers,
Date (inclusive): 1959 - 1969
Accession number: 1991/026
Creator:
Bierman, Arthur K.
Extent: 1.75 cubic feet
Repository:
San Francisco State University. Labor Archives & Research Center
San Francisco, California 94132
Shelf location: For current information on the location of these
materials, please consult the Center's online catalog.
Language:
English.
Administrative Information
Access
Collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
Copyright has not been assigned to the Labor Archives & Research Center. All requests for
permission to publish or quote from materials must be submitted in writing
to the Director of the Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf
of the Labor Archives & Research Center as the owner of the physical items and is not intended
to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be
obtained by the reader.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Arthur K. Bierman Papers, 1991/026, Labor Archives & Research Center,
San Francisco State University.
Introduction
San Francisco State University Professor Arthur K. Bierman donated this collection to the Labor Archives and Research Center
in 1991. This collection covers his activities for the years 1959 through 1969 and includes Bierman's early organizing for
the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), his work to abolish the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC), and other
efforts in the field of civil liberties. It precedes and supplements the chronological scope of an earlier collection donated
in 1986 which reflected the activities of an AFT organizer over the period 1966-1984 (Acc. #1986/2).
History
This material was collected during a very turbulent period in San Francisco history. It covers the proposed visit of the House
Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) in 1959 when 140 California teachers were subpoenaed. (This hearing was later postponed
and ultimately canceled.) Bierman was instrumental in forming a group called San Franciscans for Academic Freedom and Education
(SAFE) to protect the civil rights of the subpoenaed teachers. The following year, in May 1960, HUAC again focused on California
and held hearings at San Francisco City Hall which provoked mass opposition from students, teachers and other groups who demonstrated
at City Hall. The Committee limited attendance at the hearings by issuing passes; on the second day, the demonstrators were
attacked with water hoses and the resulting riot was a dramatic beginning of the 1960s, a forerunner of the student "Free
Speech" movement and the anti-Vietnam War protests which followed.
Bierman collected material reflecting the acceleration of opposition to HUAC following the 1960 City Hall riots. Its goal
was abolition of HUAC. His participation is recorded as a member of many different groups, and his name appears on public
petitions. There are also papers from other campaigns for civil liberties from the early 1960s: Californians Against State
Executions (1960-1961); an ad opposing Richard Nixon's campaign for California governor (1962); support to Pacifica Foundation
(KPFA), an investigative target of the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee (1963), and support to victims given harsh sentences
in the San Francisco sit-in trials (1964).
Bierman's papers on union organizing on California State University campuses include the major issues of collective bargaining
for teachers, the organizing of state college professors, studies on teachers' salaries, and academic freedom. The focus of
the collection is the organizing of San Francisco State College Federation of Teachers, Local 1352. There is additional material
from the AFT State College Council which reflects organizing activity throughout the state college system during that time.
Scope and Content
The bulk of this collection of the personal papers of Arthur K. Bierman is divided into two major series: 1) American Federation
of Teachers, and 2) Anti-HUAC Activities. The AFT material is focused primarily on organizing activities in Local 1352, San
Francisco State College Federation of Teachers, and includes a draft constitution, correspondence, circular letters, a membership
list, and various faculty lists. There is printed material and publications generated by the California Federation of Teachers
and two files of clippings--one covering collective bargaining rights for teachers.
There is one folder with printed material and a publication from the Association of California State College Professors.
The second major series is Anti-HUAC Activities. Seven folders constitute the records of SAFE, including correspondence, fund
raising actions, bank statements, mailing lists, and a survey made of subpoenaed teachers which includes interviews on the
effect this action had on their careers. Five folders contain Bierman's activities with other anti-HUAC groups-- correspondence,
drafts of articles and reports, and his participation in collecting signatures for petitions. Three folders contain printed
material from these groups. There are two folders on films: HUAC's "Operation Abolition," and a proposed video series for
PBS titled "The Vocal Generation" (not produced). Bierman collected a large quantity of clippings and these are arranged chronologically,
covering the years 1959-66.
The final series contains folders on other civil liberties campaigns in which Bierman participated concurrently with his anti-HUAC
activities.
Additional Information
Material Cataloged Separately
The following title was transferred to the book collection of the Labor Archives and Research Center:
- President's Commission On Campus Unrest.
The Report of the President's Commission on Campus Unrest. Washington: GPO, 1970.
Related Collections
For further papers pertaining to Arthur K. Bierman, see descriptive guide for Arthur K. Bierman Papers, Accession No. 1986/2.
The Archive also has an oral history interview with Arthur K. Bierman on the San Francisco State College Faculty Strike conducted
by Peter Carroll, 1992.
Container List
Series I American Federation of Teachers (AFT)
Box-folder 1/1
S.F. State College Fed. of Teachers - Constitution
1963
Box-folder 1/2
S.F. State College Fed. of Teachers
1961-1962
Box-folder 1/3
S.F. State College Fed. of Teachers
1963
Box-folder 1/4
S.F. State College Fed. of Teachers
1964
Box-folder 1/5
S.F. State College Fed. of Teachers
1965
Box-folder 1/6
S.F. State College Fed. of Teachers
1966
Box-folder 1/7
S.F. State College Fed. of Teachers
1967-1969
Box-folder 1/8
S.F. State College Fed. of Teachers - Faculty
1959-1968
Box-folder 1/9
S.F. State College Fed. of Teachers - Membership
Box-folder 1/10
California Fed. of Teachers - College Council
1964-1966
Box-folder 1/11
California Fed. of Teachers - Publication:
Sacramento Bulletin
1963-1964
Box-folder 1/12
California Fed. of Teachers - General
1961-1966
Box-folder 1/13
Academic Freedom, articles, statements
1956-1963
Box-folder 1/14
Liberman for AFT President
1961-1962
Box-folder 2/2
Clippings, Collective Bargaining
1959-1965
Series II Association of California State College Professors (ACSCP)
Box-folder 2/3
Ass'n. of California State College Professors
1963-1966
Series III Anti-huac Activities
Box-folder 2/4
SAFE (San Franciscans for Academic Freedom in Education)
1959
Box-folder 2/6
SAFE - Finances
1959-1962
Box-folder 2/8
SAFE - Labor Response
1959
Box-folder 2/10
SAFE - Survey of Subpoenaed Teachers
1959
Box-folder 3/1
Correspondence, Petitions, Drafts
1960
Box-folder 3/2
Correspondence, Petitions, Drafts
1960
Box-folder 3/3
Correspondence, Petitions, Drafts
1961
Box-folder 3/4
Correspondence, Petitions, Drafts
1962
Box-folder 3/5
Correspondence, Petitions, Drafts
1963-1967
Box-folder 3/6
Film--"Operation Abolition"
1960
Box-folder 3/7
Film--"The Vocal Generation," Proposed KQED/PBS Series
1960
Box-folder 3/9
Pamphlets & Printed Materials
1958-1959
Box-folder 3/10
Pamphlets & Printed Materials
1960-1961
Box-folder 3/11
Pamphlets & Printed Materials
1962-1967
Box-folder 3/12
Pamphlet--"Collection of Editorials & Resolutions"
1960-1961
Series IV Civil Liberties
Box-folder 4/6
Californians Against State Executions (CASE)
1960-1961
Box-folder 4/7
Nixon for Governor, Ad Protesting His Attack on 5th Amendment
1962
Box-folder 4/8
Investigation of Pacifica Foundation by Senate Internal Security Subcommittee
1963
