Inventory of the Robert West Beyers papers
Finding aid prepared by Hoover Institution Library and Archives Staff
Hoover Institution Library and Archives
© 2014
434 Galvez Mall
Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-6003
hoover-library-archives@stanford.edu
Title: Robert West Beyers papers
Date (inclusive): 1962-1967
Collection Number: 2014C42
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
5 manuscript boxes
(2.0 Linear Feet)
Abstract: Speeches and writings, correspondence, notes, press releases, memoranda, and printed matter, relating to work of the Council
of Federated Organizations (composed of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and other organizations) in carrying
out a voter registration drive among black citizens of Mississippi in 1964, involvement of Northern college student volunteers,
and attendant violence.
Creator:
Beyers, Robert West, 1931-2002
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Access
The collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual
or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.
Use
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Acquisition Information
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives. Material in the papers was previously a part of the New Left Collection,
Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Robert West Beyers papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Biographical/Historical Note
1931 |
Born, New York City |
1953 |
B.A., Cornell University |
1954-1955 |
Public relations director, U.S. National Student Association |
1956-1961 |
Assistant managing editor, University of Michigan News Service |
1961-1990 |
Director, Stanford University News Service |
1964 |
Volunteer communications coordinator, Mississippi Summer Project |
1990-1995 |
Volunteer associate editor, Pacific News Service |
2002 |
Died, Palo Alto, California |
Scope and Content of Collection
While Robert W. Beyers had a long and varied journalistic career as director of the Stanford University News Service and in
other capacities, his papers in the Hoover Institution Library & Archives are narrowly focused on a single episode in that
career, the Mississippi Summer Project of 1964. The project was sponsored by a number of civil rights organizations, the Student
Nonviolent Coordinating Committee foremost among them, grouped together as the Council of Federated Organizations. Its goal
was to secure voter registration of black Mississippians and otherwise to promote improvement of their condition in what was
widely considered to be the most thoroughly segregated state in the country.
The project depended heavily on college student volunteers from the North to carry out this work. Approximately forty Stanford
University student volunteers participated in the project. Beyers, taking leave from his job, joined them as volunteer communications
coordinator for four weeks in June and July 1964. The project predictably elicited strong opposition from the Mississippi
power structure, including local law enforcement officers. Incidents of harassment, arrest, intimidation and violence culminated
in the murder of three civil rights workers. Although concrete immediate achievements of the Mississippi Summer Project were
limited, it did draw national attention to the condition of blacks in the Deep South and to the broader national civil rights
movement.
The collection includes correspondence, internal memoranda, circulated materials and press clippings, documenting the project
from a number of perspectives. These include the Stanford University community; the Council of Federated Organizations on
the scene in Mississippi; the white Mississippian response, as seen from local newspaper coverage; and the national public
reaction, as reflected in national press coverage.
Related Materials
New Left collection, Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Civil rights -- United States
African Americans -- Civil rights
Council of Federated Organizations (U.S.)
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (U.S.)
Personal File
1963-1966.
Scope and Contents note
Correspondence, writings, notes and personal documents generated by Robert W. Beyers relating to the Mississippi Summer Project
box 1, folder 1
Mississippi Summer Project data sheet
1964
box 1, folder 5
Speech material
1964-1965.
Scope and Contents note
Drafts and notes for talks at Stanford University and in the San Francisco Bay Area about Mississippi Summer Project
box 1, folder 6
Press releases
1963-1965.
Scope and Contents note
Drafts and final press releases for Council of Federated Organizations in Mississippi and for Stanford University News Service
box 1, folder 7
Incident reports
1964
Scope and Contents note
Draft and final reports of incidents of violence and discrimination associated with the Mississippi Summer Project. Includes
interview summaries by Beyers and affidavits
box 1, folder 8
Mississippi notes
1964-1966
box 1, folder 9
Miscellaneous notes, undated
Stanford University File
1963-1969.
Scope and Contents note
Circulated materials, newsletters and radio broadcast transcripts relating to Stanford University student participation in
the Mississippi Summer Project
box 2, folder 1
General
1964-1969.
Scope and Contents note
Circulars, lists and newsletters emanating from the Stanford University and Bay Area community about the Mississippi Summer
Project. Includes lists of participating Stanford students and newsletters of Bay Area support groups
box 2, folder 2
Luke Kabat writings
1964
Scope and Contents note
Circulated typescript and mimeographed letters by Kabat, a Stanford student volunteer in Mississippi
box 2, folder 3
KZSU (Stanford University)
1963-1965.
Scope and Contents note
Radio broadcast transcripts and reports about coverage of civil rights activities in the South
Council of Federated Organizations File
1963-1965.
Scope and Contents note
Circulars, reports, memoranda and other issuances by the Council of Federated Organizations relating to the Mississippi Summer
Project
box 2, folder 4
Prospectus, leaflets and announcement of Mississippi Summer Project
1964
box 2, folder 5
Background studies
1963-1964.
Scope and Contents note
Includes "Outline for Projected Black Belt Program," "The General Condition of the Mississippi Negro," "The Mississippi Legislature"
and "On Arkansas in General"
box 2, folder 6
Circulars, internal memoranda and reports relating to progress of the Mississippi Summer Project
1964-1965
box 2, folder 7
Incident reports of violence and discrimination associated with the Mississippi Summer Project
1964-1965
box 3, folder 1
Freedom Schools reports and circulars
1964
Scope and Contents note
Includes Southern Teaching Program report
box 3, folder 2
Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. Press releases, circulars and resolutions
1964-1965.
Scope and Contents note
Includes report, "Mississippi: How Negro Democrats Fared"
Printed Matter
1962-1966.
Scope and Contents note
Flyers, leaflets, pamphlets, printed articles, clippings and other printed matter relating to the Mississippi Summer Project
and civil rights in the South
box 3, folder 3
Congress of Racial Equality issuances
1962-1965
box 3, folder 4
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People issuances
1964-1966
box 3, folder 5
National Committee to Abolish the House Un-American Activities Committee issuances
1963-1965
box 3, folder 6
Southern Christian Leadership Conference issuances
1964-1966
box 3, folder 7
Southern Conference Educational Fund issuances
1964
box 3, folder 8
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee issuances
1964-1966
box 3, folder 9
Miscellaneous civil rights organization issuances
1964-1966
box 3, folder 10
United States government issuances (mainly by the Department of Justice)
1963-1965
box 3, folder 11
Mississippi Black Paper (documentary publication)
1965
box 3, folder 12
Sequoia (Stanford University literary magazine). Special issue focusing on the Mississippi Summer Project
1965
box 3, folder 13
Tucker, Shirley, Mississippi from Within
1965
Printed miscellany
1964-1966.
Scope and Contents note
Includes anti-communist circulars, special issue of Jet on Mississippi, and journal article reprints
box 3
National press coverage of the Mississippi Summer Project and civil rights in the South
box 4
National press coverage of the Mississippi Summer Project and civil rights in the South
Stanford and Bay Area press coverage of the Mississippi Summer Project and civil rights in the South
Mississippi press coverage of the Mississippi Summer Project and civil rights in the South