The collection contains the personal and professional papers of William and Beatrice Eisman, political activists who founded the U.S. / Vietnam Friendship Committee in 1979, which aimed to normalize relations between the U.S. and Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. It includes correspondence, newsletters, press releases, articles, publications, and videocassettes.

William Eisman (1922-1993) was a dentist as well as a political activist who worked to normalize relations between the U.S. and Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. In the 1950s he joined a dental group in Southern California which developed a dental plan for children of West Coast longshoreman, and in the 1970s he organized the first dental care center for the Sonoma County Indian Health Project. After the 1975 U.S. defeat in Vietnam he formed the U.S. / Vietnam Friendship Association with his wife, Beatrice Eisman, in 1979 to reconcile relations between Vietnam and the U.S., as well as Laos and Cambodia. He frequently traveled to Vietnam and established a children's dental project there to provide dental equipment, toothbrushes, and a fluoride mouth washing and oral examination program for over 800,000 Vietnamese children. Eisman also worked with the Committees of Correspondence to reduce the U.S. military budget, and participated in other political actions related to the aftermath of U.S. wars with Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.

3.34 Linear Feet

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Open for use by qualified researchers.