Finding Aid to the SLATE records CU-592
Marjorie Bryer
University Archives
The Bancroft Library
University of California
Berkeley, CA 94720-6000
uarchive@library.berkeley.edu
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
University Archives
Title: SLATE records
Creator:
SLATE (Organization : Calif.)
Identifier/Call Number: CU-592
Physical Description:
6.8 Linear Feet
(4 cartons, 4 boxes, 1 oversize folder)
Date (inclusive): 1948-1988
Abstract: This collection documents the history and activities of SLATE and its predecessor, TASC (Towards an Active Student Community),
student political organizations active on the University of California, Berkeley campus from 1957 to 1966.
Language of Material: Collection materials are in English.
Physical Location: Many of the Bancroft Library collections are stored offsite and advance notice may be required for use. For current information
on the location of these materials, please consult the library's online catalog.
Scope and Content Note
This collection documents the history and activities of SLATE and its predecessor, TASC (Towards an Active Student Community)
, student political organizations active on the UC Berkeley campus from 1957 to 1966. There are records related to the formation
of SLATE and TASC; correspondence from, essays, and papers collected by SLATE members; election materials and political platforms;
ephemera; materials related to the Associated Students of the University of California; meeting minutes; SLATE publications;
newspaper clippings; and materials related to a 1984 reunion. The collection is divided into four series: TASC and SLATE Political
Activities; SLATE Reunion; Peter Franck Papers; and Michael Rossman Papers – SLATE Political Activities and Publications.
Organizational History
SLATE was a student political organization that was active on the University of California, Berkeley campus from 1958 through
1966. It was one of the first student groups of the emerging New Left and a precursor of the Free Speech Movement. In 1957,
Ralph Schaffer, Fritjof Thygeson, and Rick White formed an ad hoc group of students, Towards an Active Student Community (TASC),
to run for Associated Student University of California (ASUC) office. Their goal was to force discussion of socio-political
issues, like racial discrimination, that affected both the campus and society at large. TASC also campaigned against apartheid
in South Africa, the loyalty oath, and nuclear testing, and for free speech on campus.
TASC was short-lived, but in late 1957, Cal senior Mike Miller called together a group of student leaders, including former
members of TASC, and proposed they run as a “slate” for student government office. None of the “slate” was elected in Fall
1957, but they gained nearly 40 percent of the vote and contributed to increased voter turnout. SLATE was officially organized
on February 5, 1958; roughly 100 hundred students held a convention from February 28-March 1 and committed to run candidates
for student office who would engage in issue-oriented political education both on and off campus. Around that time, members
of SLATE also founded the independent newspaper
The Cal Reporter.
SLATE campaigned for “fair bear” minimum wages and affordable housing for students, and led demonstrations against compulsory
ROTC, the death penalty, the California House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), and racial discrimination. They also
worked to modify “Rule 17,” which limited the free speech and political organizing of students on campus. SLATE became a model
for similar campus political parties across the nation.
The University administration routinely tried to diminish SLATE’s popularity and political power on campus. Overwhelming graduate
student support for SLATE led, in April 1959, to the University disassociating graduate students from the ASUC, in an effort
to take away some of SLATE’s electoral power. Though the group continued to run candidates, following the 1959 decision few
were elected. SLATE remained politically active, which led to repeated clashes with the university, and in June 1961, the
administration revoked SLATE’s status as a recognized student organization.
In 1963, SLATE began publishing the SLATE
Supplement to the General Catalog, which offered student evaluations and recommendations of courses and professors. The supplement served as a guide for new
undergraduates about how to enroll in classes and navigate the large university. SLATE members took an active part in the
formation and life of the Free Speech Movement (FSM) in 1964-1965, and SLATE candidates swept the December 8, 1964 ASUC election.
SLATE came close to winning a majority in ASUC in spring 1965 but lost badly in the fall. During the life of SLATE, both as
an on campus and off campus group, roughly 850 students were “card carrying” members. For a more detailed history of SLATE,
see the SLATE Archives website: http://www.slatearchives.org/history.htm
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The SLATE records were given to The Bancroft Library in 2013 by the SLATE Archives Committee.
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research.
Alternate Forms Available
Digital reproductions of selected SLATE publications and leaflets are available through the SLATE Archives website and Calisphere.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], SLATE records, CU-592, University Archives, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
System of Arrangement
Arranged to the folder level.
Processing Information
Processed by Jessica Moran, in cooperation with the SLATE Archives Committee in 2003, and by Marjorie Bryer in 2017.
Publication Rights
Some materials in these collections may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). In addition, the reproduction
of some materials may be restricted by terms of University of California gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions,
privacy and publicity rights, licensing and trademarks. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond
that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be
commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.
All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from, or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the
Head of Public Services, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley 94720-6000. See: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/reference/permissions.html.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Student movements -- California -- Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley -- Students -- Political Activity.
Free Speech Movement (Berkeley, Calif.)
University of California, Berkeley -- Associated Students
SLATE (Organization : Calif.)
Series 1.
TASC and SLATE Political Activities
1957-1988
Physical Description: Boxes 1-2; Carton 4, folders 1-29
Scope and Content Note
This series documents the history and political activities of SLATE and its predecessor, Towards an Active Student Community
(TASC). It includes candidate lists and platforms, correspondence, founding documents, leaflets, meeting minutes, membership
lists, materials from summer conferences, and SLATE publications. There is also correspondence and essays from Mike Miller
and other early SLATE members, Associated Students of the University of California meeting minutes and election results, materials
related to the student movement and New Left more broadly, and newspaper clippings documenting SLATE activity from the
Daily Cal. Prominent issues include free speech, the House Un-American Activities Committee, housing discrimination, and ROTC.
box 1, Folder 1-3
Associated Students University of California (ASUC) Executive Committee Minutes and Election Documents
February-December 1957
box 1, Folder 3
ASUC Election Documents
April 15, 1957
box 1, Folder 5
Correspondence and Written Statements
1957
box 1, Folder 6
ASUC Executive Committee Election Documents
December 1957
box 1, Folder 7
SLATE Election leaflets
December 1957
box 1, Folder 8-9
SLATE Organizing Convention Documents
February-March 1958
box 1, Folder 10
SLATE internal Documents
1958
box 1, Folder 11
Mike Miller Correspondence
April 1958
box 1, Folder 13
SLATE vs. ASUC Executive Committee
circa 1958
box 1, Folder 14-15
SLATE Election Leaflets and Documents
1958
box 1, Folder 16
Stephen Plagemann Correspondence
1964
box 1, Folder 17
SLATE Miscellaneous
1959, undated
box 1, Folder 18
Student Political Behavior and Attitude
1958
box 1, Folder 19
Untitled Essay on ASUC and SLATE
undated
box 1, Folder 20-21
“SLATE: A Case Study in the Structure and Function of Social Conflict,” including Draft, by Michael Miller
undated
box 1, Folder 22-23
The History of SLATE
circa 1958
box 1, Folder 24-25
SLATE Summer Conference
1961-1962
box 2, Folder 7
SLATE Pamphlets
circa 1959-1961
box 2, Folder 8
SLATE Mailing and Membership Lists
1959-1965
box 2, Folder 9
Pre-SLATE Political Activities – Tentative Statements
undated
box 2, Folder 10
Student Movement – Miscellaneous
circa 1964-1986
box 2, Folder 11
SLATE Campaign Materials and Platforms
circa 1962
box 2, Folder 12
Free Speech Movement – 1984 Anniversary
1984
Carton 4, Folder 1
SLATE Summer Conference Papers
1962-1963
Carton 4, Folder 2
ASUC Judicial Committee (SLATE Involvement)
circa 1961
Carton 4, Folder 3
National Student Association (NSA) Coordinator Applications
1963
Carton 4, Folder 4
New University Writings
1960-1963
Carton 4, Folder 5
Student Civil Liberties Union
1961
Carton 4, Folder 6
SLATE vs. Kerr Directives
1961
Carton 4, Folder 7
SLATE Correspondence – Miscellaneous
1957-1963
Carton 4, Folder 8
Mike Myerson (SLATE President) Correspondence
1961
Carton 4, Folder 9-10
Jerry Miller Correspondence and Papers
1961-1963
Carton 4, Folder 11
Brad Cleaveland Papers
circa 1963
Carton 4, Folder 12
SLATE – "The Big Myth"
undated
Carton 4, Folder 13
SLATE –
Daily Cal Newspaper Clippings
1956-1964
Carton 4, Folder 14
Creighton Case – Compulsory Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC)
1961
Carton 4, Folder 15
Graduate Students Leave ASUC
1959-1962
Carton 4, Folder 16
Graduate Students Association
1960-1962
Carton 4, Folder 17
Housing Discrimination
1961-1962
Carton 4, Folder 18
Student Civil Liberties Union and Anti-Communist Activities
circa 1962-1963
Carton 4, Folder 19
"Berkeley in the Sixties"/ Mark Kitchell
circa 1986-1988
Carton 4, Folder 20-21
Victor Garlin’s SLATE Papers, SLATE Catalogs
1959-1972
Carton 4, Folder 22
Campus Political Activities
circa 1964-1966
Carton 4, Folder 23
SLATE Summer Conference
1961-1968
Carton 4, Folder 24
SLATE and Student Government Papers
1962
Carton 4, Folder 25-26
SLATE Forum, Summer Conference, Report, Flyers, and Miscellaneous
circa 1960-1963
Carton 4, Folder 27
SLATE Candidate Lists and Platforms
circa 1962-1963
Carton 4, Folder 28
SLATE Anti-ROTC Packet
1958-1962
Carton 4, Folder 29
SLATE General
circa 1958-1962
Series 2.
SLATE Reunion
1984-1986
Physical Description: Carton 4, folders 30-36
Scope and Content Note
This series consists of materials relating to the 1984 SLATE Reunion. There is correspondence about organizing the event,
membership lists, leaflets distributed at the meeting, post-reunion newsletters, and reflections on the meaning and influence
of SLATE and the student movement of the 1960s more generally. Correspondents include Irene Theodore, Peter Franck, Mike Miller,
and Fritjof Thygeson.
Carton 4, Folder 32
Miller Notes and Drafts
1984
Carton 4, Folder 34
Post-Reunion Documents
1984
Series 3.
Peter Franck Papers
1948-1980
Physical Description: Boxes 3-4
Scope and Content Note
This series consists of papers collected by, or related to, SLATE Archives Committee member, Peter Franck. Along with Hank
DiSuvero and Pat Denton, Franck was part of a campus-wide committee of undergraduate and graduate students who worked to modify
“Rule 17,” which limited free speech on campus. He was a member of TASC, and part of the Temporary Coordinating Committee
that officially organized SLATE on February 5, 1958. The series includes correspondence; election leaflets, materials about
Rule 17, HUAC and ROTC protests; summer conference materials; and SLATE publications.
box 3, Folder 1
Peter Franck Correspondence
1961-1962, undated
box 3, Folder 2
Student Civil Liberties Union
1956-1962
box 3, Folder 3-5
Rule 17 Correspondence, Change Organizing Documents, Revisions, and Drafts
1948-1961
box 3, Folder 6
Stiles Hall Records
circa 1956
box 3, Folder 7-9
House Un-American Activities Documents, Anti-HUAC Demonstrations, and HUAC Committee Protest Newspaper Clippings
1960-1961
box 3, Folder 10
Committee for Voluntary ROTC Newspaper Clippings
1956
box 3, Folder 11-13
National Student Committee for Civil Liberties – HUAC Documents, Correspondence, Anti-HUAC Newspaper Clippings
1959-1961
box 3, Folder 14
Student Civil Liberties Union Publications
1956
box 3, Folder 15
Committee for Voluntary ROTC Documents
1956
box 3, Folder 16
Student Movement Writings
circa 1961-1967
box 4, Folder 3
SLATE Inter-campus Coordinator Correspondence
1960
box 4, Folder 4
SLATE Expulsion as a University of California, Berkeley Campus Group – Notes
1959
box 4, Folder 5-6
SLATE Summer Conference
1961-1963
box 4, Folder 7
SLATE Election Leaflets
1961
box 4, Folder 8
SLATE Newsletters
1958-1963
Series 4.
Michael Rossman Papers – SLATE Political Activities and Publications
1958-1971
Physical Description: Cartons 1-3
Scope and Content Note
This series consists of materials collected by, or related to, Michael Rossman, who was active in creating the Free Speech
Movement (FSM) Archives. Rossman, a member of the executive and steering committees of FSM, was not a member of SLATE but
was, in his own words, “a fellow traveler.” The series includes administrative materials; correspondence; election materials
and platforms; position papers; SLATE publications, including supplements to university course catalogs, newsletters and newspapers;
and materials from summer conferences. There are materials related to SLATE’s activism within the student association at the
University of California, the ASUC, and to student activism more broadly, in the anti-war, civil rights, farm labor, and free
speech movements.
Carton 1, Folder 1
Completed SLATE Questionnaires
1964-1969
Carton 1, Folder 2-4
SLATE Supplements and Synopsis of Courses
1958-1972
Carton 1, Folder 5
University Education Reform
1965-1967
Carton 1, Folder 6
SLATE Graduate Coordinating Committee and Free Speech Movement
1965-1966
Carton 1, Folder 7
SLATE, Free Speech Movement, Strikes
1961-1968
Carton 1, Folder 8
Free Speech Movement, Student Government Reform, SLATE
1965-1967
Carton 1, Folder 9
SLATE Organizing Materials
1959-1967
Carton 1, Folder 10
The Campus Voice,
The University Socialist
1963
Carton 1, Folder 11
SLATE and Other Political Activities
1960-1966
Carton 1, Folder 12-13
SLATE Membership Lists
1963-1965
Carton 1, Folder 14
SLATE Correspondence, Student Government, and Political Activities
1961-1968
Carton 1, Folder 15
SLATE – Miscellaneous
1963-1965
Carton 1, Folder 16-17
Cal Reporters, SLATE Newsletters, and
New University News
1960-1963
Carton 1, Folder 18
SLATE ASUC Candidates
circa 1962
Carton 1, Folder 19
SLATE Election Issues, Sather Gate Proposal, and Platforms
circa 1962
Carton 1, Folder 20
Cal Reporter and Letter from SLATE
circa 1963
Carton 1, Folder 21
ASUC
SPARK,
The Campus Voice
circa 1963
Carton 1, Folder 22
SLATE Newsletters
1958-1962
Carton 1, Folder 23
SLATE Summer Conference
1962
Carton 1, Folder 24-25
SLATE Supplement to the General Catalog/ASUC Synopsis
1963-1967
Carton 1, Folder 27
Daily Cal By-Laws
Fall 1960
Carton 1, Folder 28
SLATE Administrative Papers and Notes
circa 1961
Carton 2, Folder 1
Correspondence, ASUC and University
1961-1967
Carton 2, Folder 2
SLATE Internal Papers
1961-1965
Carton 2, Folder 3
SLATE Film and Lecture Series
1962-1965
Carton 2, Folder 4-5
SLATE Summer Conference
1961-1964
Carton 2, Folder 6
SLATE Administrative Papers and Notes
circa 1961-1962
Carton 2, Folder 7
Robin Room Administrative Papers, Position Papers, etc.
1966-1967
Carton 2, Folder 8
SLATE Position Papers and Notes
1961-1965
Carton 2, Folder 9-10
SLATE Platform Notes and Drafts, Election Leaflets
1963-1965
Carton 2, Folder 12
SLATE Publications
1961-1968, undated
Carton 2, Folder 13-14
SLATE Supplement to the General Catalog
1963-1967
Carton 2, Folder 15
ASUC Campus Rules Committee
circa 1967
Carton 2, Folder 16-18
Robin Room, Response to Herr Committee, Drafts. "To the Icebox"
circa 1960-1967
Carton 2, Folder 19
ASUC Constitutions, ABC’s
1958-1963
Carton 2, Folder 22-25
ASUC Constitutional Convention
circa 1966
Carton 2, Folder 26
Student Political Parties, Activities, and Movements (Non-SLATE)
circa 1964-1969
Carton 2, Folder 27
Graduate Coordinating Committee
1965
Carton 2, Folder 28
University Reform/ New University Movement Leaflets
circa 1963-1968
Carton 2, Folder 29
Free Speech Movement
1964-1965
Carton 2, Folder 30
Free Student Union
circa 1965
Carton 2, Folder 32
Local Civil Rights Activities
circa 1964-1965
oversize_folder 1
Freedom Riders Benefit
June 19, 1961
Carton 2, Folder 33
Anti-Discrimination Leaflets
undated
Carton 2, Folder 34
Vietnam Day Committee and Other Anti-Vietnam War Activities
circa 1965
Carton 2, Folder 35
Student Political Activities
1963-1968
Carton 2, Folder 36
People’s Park, Women’s History, Miscellaneous
1969
Carton 2, Folder 39
The Berkeley Gate
1964-1967
Carton 2, Folder 40
The VDC News (Vietnam Day Committee)
1965-1966
Carton 2, Folder 41
Miscellaneous Student Publications
1961-1967
Carton 2, Folder 42
Center for Participant Education – Catalog
1969
Carton 2, Folder 43-45
Associated Students of University of California (ASUC), including Executive Committee Minutes
1959-Fall 1960
Carton 3, Folder 1-26
Associated Students of University of California (ASUC). including Executive Committee, Senate, Judicial Committee, and Student
Conduct Committee Minutes; Budgets; Student Forums; and Election Rule Changes
1960-1966, undated
