William and Beatrice Eisman papers HLL.2019.004
Benjamin Cohen, edited by Allison Ransom
Holt Labor Library at CSU Dominguez Hills
September 2019
Contributing Institution:
Holt Labor Library at CSU Dominguez Hills
Title: William and Beatrice Eisman papers
Identifier/Call Number: HLL.2019.004
Physical Description:
3.34 Linear Feet
Physical Description:
8 boxes
Date (inclusive): 1964-2005
Abstract: 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.
Language of Material: Collection material is in English.
Scope and Contents
The William and Beatrice Eisman papers (1964-2005) comprises correspondence, newsletters, press releases, articles, and publications
that document the activities of various reparational and anti-war organizations, namely the U.S. / Vietnam Friendship Association,
in the years after the Vietnam War. Some subject files concerning the Chinese invasion of Vietnam and politically-motivated
attacks on Vietnamese emigres are present, as well as documents regarding the Association's fundraising for St. Paul Hospital
in Hanoi, Vietnam and the establishment of a preventative dental health program in Vietnamese schools. Other organizations
represented in the collection include the Association of Vietnamese Patriots in the United States, the Vietnamese Women's
Union, and the Campaign to Oppose the Return of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, among others. Videocassettes regarding the effects
of war in Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and the Middle East are present as well.
Also included are subject files related to the environmental and public health effects of Agent Orange and the political situations
in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos after the wars. The collection also contains various periodicals, magazines, and other publications
regarding the anti-nuclear weapon movement, and records documenting the Veterans' Speakers Alliance successful lawsuit against
the U.S. Army at the end of the Persian Gulf War.
Processing Information
The collection was processed by Benjamin Cohen in 2006 at the Holt Labor Library in San Francisco, California. In 2019 Allison
Ransom edited the finding aid in ArchivesSpace at the Gerth Archives and Special Collections, California State University,
Dominguez Hills.
Preferred Citation
Custodial History
The William and Beatrice Eisman papers were donated to the Holt Labor Library in San Francisco, California in 2005, and were
acquired by the Gerth Archives and Special Collections at California State University, Dominguez Hills in 2019.
Conditions Governing Access
Open for use by qualified researchers.
Conditions Governing Use
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Director of Archives
and Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical
materials and not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged in three series: Series I. U.S. / Vietnam Friendship Association, 1978-2005; Series II. Conflicts
in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, 1964-2005; Series III. Other Conflicts and Issues, 1964-2005.
Biographical / Historical
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.
Beatrice Eisman (1926-2014) was born in Monticello, New York, studied dietetics at Hunter College in New York City, and trained
at the Veteran's Hospital in Los Angeles. In 1979 she formed the U.S. / Vietnam Friendship Association with her husband, William
Eisman, which worked to normalize relations between the U.S. and Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia after the Vietnam War and other
associated conflicts. After witnessing the effects of Agent Orange upon visiting Vietnam, she became dedicated to fundraising
for the victims of the Vietnam war. The U.S. / Vietnam Friendship Association raised money to provide prostheses for about
100,000 Vietnamese victims of the war. After her husband's death, the Association continued to fundraise for various political
and reparational causes related to the U.S. role in destabilizing Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.
"Beatrice Eisman," obituary.
San Francisco Chronicle Feburary 16, 2014.
William and Beatrice Eisman papers, 1964-2005, HLL.2019.004, Letter to U.S. / Vietnam Friendship Association, December 1993,
Box 2, Folder 2.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Vietnam War, 1961-1975 -- Protest movements -- United States
Agent Orange -- Health aspects
Nuclear disarmament -- Cold War -- 20th century
Dental public health -- Human rights advocacy -- Vietnam -- 20th century
Peace movements -- United States -- 20th century
U.S. / Vietnam Friendship Association Series I.
1978-2005
Language of Material: English.
Arrangement
Arranged chronologically.
Scope and Contents
Series I. contains correspondence, newsletters, bulletins, press releases, and newspaper clippings which document the reparation
activities of the U.S. / Vietnam Friendship Association and various subjects of interest to the Association, including attacks
and harrassment of Vietnamese people in the United States. Correspondence of note, including letters written by Beatrice Eisman
to Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, flyers advertising pro-Vietnam events, and announcements regarding the death
of William Eisman are present as well.
box 1, folder 1
Nutrition for Vietnamese
1978-1983
Language of Material: English.
box 1, folder 2
Chinese Invasion of Vietnam
1979-1981
Language of Material: English.
box 1, folder 3
Incarceration of David Truong
1979-1986
Language of Material: English.
box 1, folder 4
U.S. / Vietnam Friendship Association
Newsletter
August 1979- December 1986
Language of Material: English.
box 1, folder 5
Correspondence, Newsletters, and Press Releases
1979-2005
Language of Material: English.
box 1, folder 6
Murder of Lam Trong Duong
1980-1983
Language of Material: English.
box 1, folder 7
St. Paul Hospital, Hanoi, Vietnam
1981-1988
Language of Material: English.
box 1, folder 8
Preventative Dental Health Program
1981-2001
Language of Material: English.
box 1, folder 9
Murder of Edward Lee Cooperman
1984
Language of Material: English.
box 1, folder 10
Politically-Motivated Attacks on Vietnamese Emigres/Supporters
1984-1986
Language of Material: English.
box 1, folder 11
Harassment of Vietnamese in the United States
1985-2003
Language of Material: English.
box 2, folder 1
Vietnam Today : Newsletter of the US / Vietnam Friendship Association
Winter 1987- April 1996
Language of Material: English.
box 8, folder 16
Newspaper Clippings of Published Letters to Editor by U.S. Vietnam Friendship Association
1991-2004
VHS tapes, donated by the Beatrice Eisman, U.S./ Vietnam Friendship Association
box 6, item VHS 1
"A Tribute to Cambodia: The Cambodian Genocide Remembered"
1991
Physical Description: 1 videocassette (VHS) (30 min. 12 sec.) : [sound, color] ; 1/2 in.
box 6, item VHS 2
"New Life from the Killing Fields of Cambodia: A World Concern Special Report"
undated
Physical Description: 1 videocassette (VHS) : [sound, color] : 1/2 in.
box 6, item VHS 3
"Cambodia: From the Killing Fields"
undated
Physical Description: 1 videocassette (VHS) : [color, sound] : 1/2 in.
box 6, item VHS 4
"Cambodia: The Jungle War," documentary film on Kampuchea
undated
Physical Description: 1 videocassette (VHS) (100 min.) : [sound, color] ; 1/2 in.
box 6, item VHS 5
"Cambodia: Year 10"
undated
Physical Description: 1 videocassette (VHS) (50 min.) : [sound, color] : 1/2 in.
box 7, item VHS 6
"Cambodia Year 10"
undated
Physical Description: 1 videocassette (VHS) : [sound, color] : 1/2 in.
box 7, item VHS 7
"CPP Profile"
undated
Physical Description: 1 videocassette (VHS) : [sound, color] ; 1/2 in.
Language of Material: Label is in Khmer.
box 7, item VHS 8
"Cuban President Fidel Castro Addresses US Religious Leaders." An event sponsored by the Interreligious Foundation for Community
Organization (IFCO), New York City
1995, October 25
Physical Description: 1 videocassette (VHS) (101 min.) : [sound, color] ; 1/2 in.
box 7, item VHS 9
"Cuba Spech de Castro; Actualiades cubanos; La Vivienda ; Un año de libertad"
undated
Physical Description: 1 videocassette (VHS) : [sound, color] ; 1/2 in.
box 7, item VHS 10
"Dear America, Vietnam documentary"
undated
Physical Description: 1 videocassette (VHS) : [sound, color] ; 1/2 in.
box 7, item VHS 11
"Footage on Chinese Border"
undated
Physical Description: 1 videocassette (VHS) : [sound, color] ; 1/2 in.
box 7, item VHS 12
"Letters Home from Vietnam" EP
undated
Physical Description: 1 videocassette (VHS) : [sound, color] ; 1/2 in.
box 7, item VHS 13
"Metal of Dishonor, Depleted Uranium: The Pentagon's Secret Radioactive Weapon," International Action Center
1997
Physical Description: 1 videocassette (VHS) (50 min.) : [sound, color] ; 1/2 in.
box 7, item VHS 14
"Nature, Regeneration of Vietnam Flora and Fauna" (E.OP.) ; "Vietnam: A Country Not a War," PBS
1993, undated
Physical Description: 1 videocassette (VHS) (60 min.) : [sound, color] ; 1/2 in.
box 7, item VHS 15
"Press Conference by H.E. Mr. Ung Huot, First Prime Minister of the Royal Government of Cambodia; Briefing to the Correspondents
by H.E. Mr. Ung Huot and Samdech Hun Set at the UN Headquarters; Press Conference by Samdech Hun Sen Second Prime Minister"
1997, September 26, 30; October 1
Physical Description: 1 videocassette (VHS) : [sound, color] ; 1/2 in.
box 7, item VHS 16
"Thanh's War" KQED
1990, September 23
Physical Description: 1 videocassette (VHS) : [sound, color] ; 1/2 in.
box 7, item VHS 17
"The Fast for Life," New York: IFCO/Pastors for Peace
undated
Physical Description: 1 videocassette (VHS) (10 min.) : [sound, color] ; 1/2 in.
box 7, item VHS 18
"'Vietnam After the Fire,' Documentary on U.S. Destruction of Vietnam and replanting of rainforests, by Vietnam"
1987
Physical Description: 1 videocassette (VHS) (60 min.) : [sound, color] ; 1/2 in.
box 7, item VHS 19
"'Vietnam: A Television History,' Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia documentary, Part 1"
1991
Physical Description: 1 videocassette (VHS) : [sound, color] ; 1/2 in.
box 7, item VHS 20
"Vietnamese Pianist, Dang Thai Son"
undated
Physical Description: 1 videocassette (VHS) : [sound, color] ; 1/2 in.
box 7, item VHS 21
"'Where Smoke Cannot Penetrate,' Anet Margot Ris, Vietnam"
1990
Physical Description: 1 videocassette (VHS) (8 min. 52 sec.) : [sound, color] ; 1/2 in.
box 2, folder 2
William Eisman Memorial
1993
Language of Material: English.
box 8, folder 12
Newspaper Clippings
2004-2006
Conflicts in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia Series II.
1964-2005
Language of Material: English.
Arrangement
Arranged chronologically.
Scope and Contents
Series II. contains newspaper clippings, press releases, and subject files which include correspondence, petitions, flyers,
and other documents that reflect the statuses of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos after the Vietnam war and other conflicts. Also
included are various periodicals such as
Vietnam Studies and
Women of vietnam Review, and subject files related to the health affects of Agent Orange on the environment and public health.
Vietnam
1979-2005
Language of Material: English.
box 2, folder 3
Vietnam Woman's Union
1979
Language of Material: English.
box 2, folder 4
Association of Vietnamese Patriots in the United States
1979-1981
Language of Material: English.
box 2, folder 5
Newspaper Clippings
1979-2004
Language of Material: English.
box 8, folder 1-9
Newspaper Clippings
1989-2007
box 2, folder 6
Socialist Republic of Vietnam Press Releases
1979-1984
Language of Material: English.
box 2, folder 7
Environmental Issues
1982-1996
Language of Material: English.
box 8, folder 14
Re-Greening Vietnam Conservation Newspaper Clippings
1984-2007
box 8, folder 13
Phan Thi Kim Phuc Newspaper Clippings
1989-2000
box 2, folder 8
Beatrice Eisman's Writings
1991, undated
Language of Material: English.
box 2, folder 9
Vietnam Studies
1998
Language of Material: English.
Scope and Contents
No. 1-2, 4.
box 3, folder 1
Vietnam Review
1999-2000
Language of Material: English.
Scope and Contents
1999: No. 481-482, 487. 2000: 493, 495, 497
box 3, folder 2
Women of Vietnam Review
2001-2005
Language of Material: English.
Scope and Contents
2001, No. 4; 2002, No. 2-4; 2003, No. 1, 3; 2004, No. 3-4, 2005, No. 1.
box 3, folder 3
Publications regarding Vietnam
2004, undated
Language of Material: English.
Scope and Contents
Includes
Friends of the Vietnam Center, Volume 11, Issue 1, 2004, and "The U.S. and Vietnam" article manuscript by Felix Greene.
Cambodia and Laos
1979-2003
Language of Material: English.
box 3, folder 4
Articles about the conflict in Cambodia
1979-2002
Language of Material: English.
box 3, folder 5
Opposition to Pol Pot's Seating in the United Nations
1980-1984
Language of Material: English.
Scope and Contents
Includes newsletters, petitions, and correspondence sent to Beatrice Eisman.
box 3, folder 6
Campaign to Oppose the Return of the Khmer Rouge (CORKR)
1990-1991
Language of Material: English.
Scope and Contents
Contains flyers, press releases, and blank petitions.
box 3, folder 7
Cambodian Government Press Releases
1980-1997
Language of Material: English.
box 3, folder 8
Articles about the conflicts in Laos
1982-2003
Language of Material: English.
box 8, folder 10
Cambodia, Newspaper Clippings
2001-2005
box 8, folder 11
Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Newspaper Clippings
2007
Agent Orange
1980-2004
Language of Material: English.
box 4, folder 1
"Operation Ranch Hand" Research
1980-1983
Language of Material: English.
box 8, folder 15
Articles and Newspaper Clippings
1984-2004
box 4, folder 2
Politics of Agent Orange
1986-1995
Language of Material: English.
box 4, folder 3-4
Newspaper Clippings
1989-2002
Language of Material: English.
box 4, folder 5
Environmental Conference on Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam Reports and Articles
2002
Language of Material: English.
box 4, folder 6
Health Issues
2004
Language of Material: English.
box 5, folder 1-2
Newspaper Articles and other Research Materials
1970-2004
Language of Material: English.
Other Conflicts and Issues
1964-2005
Language of Material: English.
Arrangement
Arranged chronologically.
Scope and Contents
Series III. contains correspondence, meeting notes, and legal documents regarding a lawsuit between the Veterans Speakers
Alliance (VSA) and the U.S. Army for damages caused by the Army to the VSA when they were attacked by police during the 1991
Armed Services Day Parade at the Presidio Army Base in San Francisco. Also included are various publications and newsletters
regarding nuclear power, disarmament, and the opposition to the use of nuclear energy in space, such as
Citizen's Watch and
Space Alert.
Persian Gulf War
1991-1994
Language of Material: English.
box 5, folder 3
Veterans' Speakers Alliance Lawsuit Against U.S. Army
1991-1994
Language of Material: English.
box 7, item VHS 22
"The Iran Contra Affair (Scandal)," Frontline, Bill Moyers, PBS
undated
Physical Description: 1 videocassette (VHS) : [sound, color] ; 1/2 in.
Anti-Nuclear Activism
1964-2005
Language of Material: English.
box 5, folder 4
Scientist and Citizen
September-October 1964
Language of Material: English.
Scope and Contents
Contains one issue.
box 5, folder 5
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
July / August, September, December 1987
Language of Material: English.
box 5, folder 6
Flyers and Newsletters
1999-2005
Language of Material: English.
box 5, folder 7
Space Alert
2000, 2003-2004
Language of Material: English.
Scope and Contents
2000: No. 8-10; 2003: No. unknown; 2004: No. 15 (2 copies).
box 5, folder 8
Citizen's Watch
2001-2004
Language of Material: English.
