Collection Summary
Information for Researchers
Administrative Information
Organizational History
Scope and Content of Collection
Collection Summary
Collection Title: Vietnam Veterans Against the War/Winter Soldier
Organization, California Nevada Regional records
Date (inclusive): 1966-1978
Date (bulk): 1972-1974
Collection Number: BANC MSS 81/20 c
Creator:
Vietnam Veterans Against the
War/Winter Soldier Organization
Extent:
9 cartons, 2 oversize folders
(11.25 linear feet).
Repository: The Bancroft Library.
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-6000
Phone: (510) 642-6481
Fax: (510) 642-7589
Email: bancref@library.berkeley.edu
URL: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/
Abstract: The Vietnam Veterans Against the War/Winter Soldier Organization,
California Nevada Regional Records, 1966-1978, consist of the office files from the
California Nevada division of the national organization.
Languages Represented: 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.
Information for Researchers
Access
Collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
Materials in this collection 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 .
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Vietnam Veterans Against the War/Winter Soldier Organization,
California Nevada Regional records, BANC MSS 81/20 c, The Bancroft Library, University of
California, Berkeley
Related Material
Pacific Counseling Service/Military Law Office Records, BANC MSS 86/89 c
National Lawyers Guild Records, BANC MSS 99/280 cz
Separated Material
Printed materials have been transferred to the book collection of The Bancroft Library.
Sound recordings have been transferred to the Microforms Collection of The Bancroft
Library.
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
library's online public access catalog
Vietnam Veterans Against the
War/Winter Soldier Organization--Archives
Vietnam Veterans Against the
War--History
Anti-imperialist movements
Protest movements--California
Social movements--California
Veterans--Employment
Veterans--Medical care
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Draft
resisters--California
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Protest
movements--California
Administrative Information
Acquisition Information
The Vietnam Veterans Against the War/Winter Soldier Organization, California Nevada
Regional records were given to The Bancroft Library by Jeanne Friedman in 1980.
Processing Information
Processed by Elizabeth Stephens in 2001.
Organizational History
Vietnam Veterans Against the War, Inc. (VVAW) was a national veterans'
organization that was founded in New York City in 1967, after six Vietnam vets marched
together in a peace demonstration. During the 1970s, the organization added Winter Soldier
Organization to its name, but has since removed it. The VVAW was organized to voice the
growing opposition among returning servicemen and women to the war in Indochina, and grew
rapidly to a membership of over 30,000 throughout the United States, as well as active duty
GIs stationed in Vietnam.
VVAW quickly took up the struggle for the rights and needs of veterans. In 1970, the first
rap groups were formed to deal with traumatic after effects of war. They fought for amnesty
for war resisters, including vets with bad discharges, and publicized the negative health
effects of exposure to chemical defoliants and the Veterans Administration’s
attempts to cover up these conditions, as well as their continued refusal to provide
treatment and compensation for many Agent Orange Victims.
Scope and Content of Collection
The Vietnam Veterans Against the War/Winter Soldier Organization, California Nevada
Regional Records, 1966-1978, consist of the office files from the California Nevada division
of the national organization. Their headquarters were alternately in San Francisco, San
Jose, and Los Angeles, Calif. The collection also includes some files from the Discharge
Upgrade Project, originally started in the San Francisco chapter of the VVAW/WSO and
incorporated into the national organization, and some from the National Anti-Imperialist
Caucus (NAIC), a splinter group from VVAW/WSO. The bulk of the collection spans the years
1972 to 1974, and consists of correspondence, position papers and statements, meeting
minutes, leaflets, resource files, publications, and miscellaneous ephemera.