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Finding Aid to Vietnam Veterans Against the War/Winter Soldier Organization, California Nevada Regional records, 1966-1978 (bulk 1972-1974)
BANC MSS 81/20 c  
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Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • 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.