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Finding Aid to the Free Speech Movement records, 1936-1969
CU-309  
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Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Collection Summary
  • Information for Researchers
  • Administrative Information
  • Chronology of the Free Speech Movement
  • Scope and Content

  • Collection Summary

    Collection Title: Free Speech Movement records
    Date (inclusive): 1936-1969
    Collection Number: CU-309
    Creator: Free Speech Movement (Berkeley, Calif.)
    Extent: Number of containers: 4 boxes, 5 cartons, 2 oversize boxes Linear feet: 8.30
    Repository: The Bancroft Library.
    University of California, Berkeley
    Berkeley, CA 94720-6000
    Phone: (510) 642-6481
    Email: bancref@library.berkeley.edu
    URL: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/
    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], Free Speech Movement records, CU-309, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley

    Appendix 1: Related Materials

    Collections

    • University of California, Berkeley: University Archives and The Bancroft Library

      • Title: Records of the President of the University of California,
        Identifier/Call Number: CU-5
      • Title: Clark Kerr Personal Papers as Berkeley Chancellor and as President of the University of California,
        Identifier/Call Number: CU-302
      • Title: Records of the Office of the Chancellor, University of California, Berkeley, 1952-1971,
        Identifier/Call Number: CU-149
      • Title: Strong, Edward W. and Martin Meyerson Correspondence. 1964-1965,
        Identifier/Call Number: CU-436
      • Title: Center for Higher Education Papers regarding the Free Speech Movement,
        Identifier/Call Number: CU-310.2
      • Title: Free Speech Movement Photographs,
        Identifier/Call Number: UARC PIC 24B
      • Title: Henry F. May Papers, 1940-1990,
        Identifier/Call Number: BANC MSS 89/61 c
      • Title: Katherine Amelia Towle Papers,
        Identifier/Call Number: BANC MSS 71/111 c
      • Title: Donald H. McLaughlin Papers,
        Identifier/Call Number: BANC MSS 86/60 c
      • Title: Social Protest Collection,
        Identifier/Call Number: BANC MSS 86/157 c
      • Title: Wayne M. Collins Papers,
        Identifier/Call Number: BANC MSS 78/177 c
    • Hoover Institution Collections

      • Title: New Left Collection,
        Identifier/Call Number: CSUZ69001- A
      • Title: Sidney Hook Papers,
        Identifier/Call Number: CSUZ90003- A
      • Title: Seymour Martin Lipset Papers,
        Identifier/Call Number: CSUZ93062- A

    Oral Histories

    • Administration and Leadership : interview with Katherine A. Towle, BANC MSS 71/108 c, v. 1
    • Dean of Students Arleigh Williams: The Free Speech Movement and the Six Years War, 1964-1970, BANC MSS 91/102 c
    • Education Issues and Planning, 1953-1956 : interview with Alex C. Sherriffs, BANC MSS 81/89 c
    • Edward W. Strong, philosopher, professor and Berkeley Chancellor, 1961-1965, BANC MSS 92/773 c
    • "Interview with Mario Savio," in Student Movements of the 1960s collection, Columbia University Oral History Research Office
    • "Interviews with Clark Kerr and Morton Meyer: Eyewitnesses to UC Campus Turmoil in the Mid-1960s," in Interviews with 18 University Presidents, BANC MSS 83/141 z
    • Left-wing political activist and progressive leaders in the Berkeley Co-op : interview with Robert E. Treuhaft, BANC MSS 90/207 c
    • A newspaper editor's voyage across San Francisco Bay : San Francisco Chronicle, 1935-1971, and other adventures : interview with Scott Newhall, BANC MSS 91/118 c
    • A Native Daughter's leadership in Public Affairs : interview with Bernice Hubbard May, BANC MSS 76/175 c
    • Oral History Interview with Jerome C. Byrne: Special Counsel, Special Forbes Committee of the Regents of the University of California, 1965, BANC MSS 96/88 c
    • Physical Planning and Management: Los Alamos, University of Utah, University of California, and AID, 1942-1976, BANC MSS 93/98 c
    • "University Crises: Loyalty Oath and Free Speech Movement" : interview with Clark Kerr in Earl Warren: Views and Episodes, BANC MSS 77/140 c
    • A volunteer career in politics, in higher education, and on governing boards: interview with Elinor Raas Heller, BANC MSS 85/158 c
    • Versatile Berkeley Botanist: Plant Taxonomy and University Governance : interview with Lincoln Constance, BANC MSS 88/196 c

    Books

    • Draper, Hal. Berkeley: The New Student Revolt, 308h F85 D77
    • Goines, David Lance. The Free Speech Movement: Coming of Age in the 1960s, 308h F85 G615
    • Heirich, Max. The Beginning: Berkeley 1964, 308h F85 H47 be
    • Heirich, Max. The Spiral of Conflict: Berkeley 1964, 308 F85 H47 sp
    • Rorabaugh, W.J. Berkeley at war : the 1960s, 308h R787 b
    • Rossman, Michael. The Wedding Within the War, F870 E3 R58
    • Warshaw, Steven. The Trouble in Berkeley, 308h F85 W29

    Media Materials

    • Video

      • Berkeley in the Sixties, VIDEO/C 1761
      • Berkeley in the 90's: What Happened to Student Activism?, VIDEO/C 3277
      • Beyond Sproul Plaza: Analysis of the Free Speech Movement, VIDEO/C 5508
      • Decision in the Streets, VIDEO/C 2795
      • A Dream Deferred, VIDEO/C 2799
      • FSM Demonstrations, 12/10/64, VIDEO/C 5510
      • [Free Speech Movement, 30th Anniversary] The Current Political Situation, VIDEO/C 3647
      • [Free Speech Movement 30th Anniversary] Noon Rally, Sproul Plaza, VIDEO/C 3646
      • Free Speech Movement, 30th Anniversary] Thirty Years Later...FSM Poetry Central, VIDEO/C 3644
      • [Free Speech Movement, 30th Anniversary] What Happened in the FSM? The Issues, the Events, the Spirit, VIDEO/C 3645
      • Interview with Bettina Aptheker, 5/4/78, VIDEO/C 3803
      • Interview with Pat Brown, 10/13/78, VIDEO/C 3805
      • Interview with Howard Jetter, 5/8/78, VIDEO/C 3804
      • Interview with Clark Kerr, 1978, VIDEO/C 3806
      • Interview with Peter Dale Scott, 3/13/77, VIDEO/C 38002
      • Interviews with John Searle and Persons on the Street, 1978, VIDEO/C 3807
      • The Torch is Passed, VIDEO/C 2276
      • U.C. Fallout: Let Freedom Rain?, VIDEO/C 456, Pt. 1-3
      • U.C. Student Demonstrations, 1964, VIDEO/C 5509
      • We Who Believe in Freedom Cannot Rest: A History of the Berkeley Student Movement, VIDEO/C 1743
      • Where's Mario?, VIDEO/C 5491
    • Sound

      • Is Freedom Academic? : A Documentary of the Free Speech Movement at the University of California, Berkeley, Fall 1964, SOUND/C 456
      • Joy to UC: Free Speech Carols, SOUND/C 442
      • The Free Speech Movement : twenty years later, National Public Radio, SOUND/C 560
      • Free Speech Movement: 20th anniversary -- Panel Discussion: The Story of the Free Speech Movement, October 1984, Berkeley Language Center, Speech Archive SA 1537
      • Free Speech Movement: 20th anniversary noon rally, Berkeley Language Center, Speech Archive SA 1533

    Miscellaneous

    • Academic Senate: Dec. 8, 1964, 308h F85 C15 1966
    • Ad Hoc Committee on Student Conduct Report and recommendation, 1965, 308h F85 C45
    • The Administration Monster, 308h F85 C74
    • Administrative Pressures and Student Political Activity at the University of California: a Preliminary Report, 308h F85 R82
    • The Aging Revolutionaries, 308h F85 M385
    • An Analysis of Crisis at Berkeley, 308h F85 S794
    • Anarchy on the Campus: the Rebels and the Law, 308h F85 M821
    • Behind the Protests at Berkeley, 308h F85 B688
    • Berkeley 1964: The Movement, the Press, the Public, 308h F85 L346
    • The Berkeley Affair, 308h F85 H67
    • Berkeley Campus in Revolt, 308h F85 S562
    • The Berkeley Case: Issues in Student Academic Freedom, 308h F85 L716
    • Berkeley Free Speech Controversy, 308h F85 L665
    • Berkeley: the Demonstrations, 308h F85 N149
    • The Berkeley Phenomenon: Reports, Observations, and Some Basic Papers, 308h F85 W729
    • The Berkeley Revolt, 308h F85 W76
    • The Berkeley Student Revolt: Facts and Interpretations, 308h F85 L76
    • Bibliography [of thesis entitled Demonstrations at Berkeley: Collective Behavior during the Free Speech Movement of 1964-1965], 308h F85 H47 bib
    • Big Business and the American University, 308h F85 A65 b
    • Bulletin number one. Report of the Constitutional Committee, 1965, 308h F85 F97 a
    • Bulletin number two. The Trouble With the Meyer Report, What Kind of Regulations?, Notes on the Byrne Report, [and] $20 Million Theft, 308h F85 F97 b
    • California Encounters the New Radicals, 308h F85 N523
    • Comments on Berkeley, f308h F85 S267 co
    • Crisis and the Administrator, 308h F85 C26
    • Crisis at Berkeley, 308h F85 L27
    • An End to History, 308h F85 S267 en
    • Faculty Memoranda on F.S.M., 308h F85 fac
    • Faculty Rebellion at Berkeley, 308h F85 P48 fac
    • For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge, 308h F85 F95
    • Freedom of Speech in the University: An Episode of the Year 1934, 308h F853
    • Free Speech Advocates at Berkeley, 308h F85 W35
    • The "Free Speech" Crises at Berkeley, 1964-1965: Some Issues for Social and Legal Research, 308h F85 L96
    • The Free Speech Movement and the Heroic Movement, 308h F85 H639
    • The Free Speech Movement and the Negro Revolution, 308h F85 S267 fn
    • Free Speech Movement Handbills Issued on the University of California Campus, 1964-1966, 308h F85 han
    • The Free Speech Movement: University of California at Berkeley, 308h F85 E36
    • FSM: Berkeley Free Speech Movement, 308h F85 S939
    • FSM: a New Era, 308h F85 I59
    • FSM: the Free Speech Movement at Berkeley, 308h F85 D81 f
    • FSM: Freedom Fighters or Misguided Rebels?, f308h F85 D77
    • An FSM Miscellany, 308h F85 G73
    • FSM Profile, 308h F85 W7225
    • "The Good Fight, FSM 1964-1984," Express, f308h F85 G646
    • Intellectual Responsibility and Political Conduct, 308h F85 L593
    • Issue: Those Who Make the Waves, 308h F85 I86
    • La Leccion Universitaria de Berkeley, 308h F85 R173
    • Legal Aspects of Campus Unrest, 308h F85 C97
    • The Lesson of Berkeley, 308h F85 L76 L
    • Lessons from Berkeley, 308h F85 T113
    • "Letter from Berkeley" Despite Everything, 308h F85 D468
    • "Letter from Berkeley" The New Yorker, 308h F85 T829
    • The Mainsprings of the Rebellion: A Survey of Berkeley Students in November, 1964, 308h F85 S695
    • An Open Letter to the Students and Faculty of the University of California, 308h F85 H198
    • Order and Freedom on the Campus; the Rights and Responsibilities of Faculty and Students, 308h F85 O65 p
    • Order and Freedom on the Campus, workbook, 308h F85 O65 w
    • People of the State of California, plaintiff and respondent, versus Mario Savio and 571 others, defendants and appellants. Appellants' opening brief. On appeal from the Municipal Court, Berkeley-Albany Judicial District. Honorable Rupert Crittenden, Judge. Malcolm Burnstein, Richard M. Buxbaum, Henry M. Elson, Stanley P. Golde, Douglas J. Hill [and] Norman Leonard, attorneys for appellants, 308h F85 B96
    • Public Reactions to the Student Protest Movement on the Berkeley Campus, F870 E3C4122N5
    • "Rebellion at Berkeley" The New Leader, 308h F85 F42
    • Report on Berkeley to the National Supervisory Board and the 18th National Student Congress, 308h F85 D262
    • Resolution of the Academic senate of the University of California, Berkeley adopted December 8, 1964 by a vote of 824-115, 308h F85 C15 1966
    • The Revolution at Berkeley, f308h F85 S989
    • Revolution at Berkeley: the Crisis in American Education, 308h F85 M649
    • "Sather Gate" Handbills, 308h H24, v. 4.
    • The Save the Steps Rally, Friday Nov. 4, 1966 [transcript], 308h F85 S266
    • "A Season of Discontent" California Monthly, 308h F85 P58
    • Second Thoughts on Berkeley, 308h F85 H78
    • Songbook. Songs of, by and for the FSM, 308h F85 so
    • The Student Movement. Some Impressions at Berkeley, 308h F85 M46
    • The Student Revolt, 308h F85 M648
    • Students in Revolt: the Battle of Berkeley Campus, 308h F85 P86
    • U.S.L.O. Newsletter, 308h F85 usl
    • What Happened at Berkeley, 308h F85 G55
    • What Have We Learned?: a Look at the Nature and Problems of the Berkeley Campus as Seen Through the Student Demonstrators of the Fall, 1964, 308h F85 P849
    • What's Left at Berkeley, 308h F85 P48 wh

    Indexing Terms

    The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog
    University of California, Berkeley--Students--Political activity
    Free Speech Movement (Berkeley, Calif.)
    Freedom of speech--California--Berkeley
    Social movements--California--Berkeley

    Administrative Information

    Acquisition Information

    The Free Speech Movement Records were acquired by The Bancroft Library from Marston Schultz in the late 1960s.

    Funding

    Funding for major acquisitions and processing provided by a gift from Stephen M. Silberstein.

    Chronology of the Free Speech Movement

    September 1964

    14 Dean Towle announces that University regulations prohibiting advocacy of political causes by student organizations at Bancroft and Telegraph Avenues will henceforth be "strictly enforced".
    15 All active student organizations lodge a protest and form the United Front, which presents a list of demands to Dean Towle.
    21 Towle "clarifies" regulations. She distinguishes between advocating and mounting political actions and prohibits the latter.
    27 United Front holds all-night vigil on Sproul Hall steps.
    28 Chancellor Strong, during a University meeting, "re-clarifies" the regulations to permit advocating "yes" or "no" on political questions. United Front pickets meeting.
    28-30 Test-violations of the regulations by Campus CORE, University Friends of SNCC, SLATE (student political party), the Young Socialist Alliance, Students for a Democratic Society, DuBois Club.
    30 Noon: a representative of the Dean's Office approaches 5 students manning an SNCC table and asks them to leave. The students refuse and receive summons to see Dean Williams in Sproul Hall at 3:00. 3:00 p.m. : 400 students go to Williams' office and demand to be included in the summons. Williams cancels appointment. 700 students sit-in at Sproul Hall until 3 a.m. At 11:45 p.m. Williams announces indefinite suspension of 5 students, plus 3 more suspected of leading the sit-in.

    October 1964

    1 During a rally on the Sproul Hall steps protesting suspension of 8 students, Jack Weinberg is arrested at CORE table for "trespassing." He is taken to a police car parked in front of Sproul Hall, which is spontaneously surrounded by students. A general protest with extemporaneous speeches from atop the police car continues for 32 hours.
    2 At 5 p.m., 500 police arrive on campus. Number of demonstrators increases to 3,000. At 7:30 p.m., President Kerr and 8 representatives of the student demonstrators sign a pact.
    3-4 Student groups combine as the Free Speech Movement (FSM).
    5 First FSM open meeting on Sproul Hall steps.
    7-13 Chancellor's Study Committee on Political Freedom (SCPF) formed. First hearings begin on the 13th. 45 student representatives demand equal student representation.
    14 FSM issues an ultimatum that the administration show good faith on the "Pact of Oct. 2nd" by Oct. 15th.
    15 An emergency meeting of the Academic Senate creates the Ad Hoc Committee on Student Conduct (CSC) to hear the cases of the 8 suspended students. The Chancellor reconfigures the SCPF, now to be called the Committee on Campus Political Activity (CCPA).
    16 Regents meet at Davis and refuse to hear delegation from the FSM.
    20-Nov. 7 CCPA hearings.

    November 1964

    7 CCPA deadlocks in negotiations on free speech policy.
    9 FSM begins manning tables again at Bancroft and Telegraph Avenues. Names of 75 students manning tables are taken by representative of the Dean's office. 800 students sign a statement of complicity in the violations.
    10 T.A.'s and graduate students set up tables in front of Sproul Hall in violation of regulations. 200 TA's sign statements that they violated regulations.
    12 Ratification of a provisional constitution for a Union of University-Employed Graduate Students. Publication of Rossman Report.
    20 Regents meet at Berkeley. FSM holds mass rally and quiet vigil during meeting. Regent's discount the recommendations of the Heyman Report and vote to increase administrative and police presence on the campus.
    24 Chancellor Strong announces new rules for student political activity. The Academic Senate defeats by a narrow margin a motion supporting FSM position.
    28 Letters initiating new disciplinary action arrive at the residences of Mario Savio and Arthur Goldberg.
    29 FSM Steering Committee holds an emergency meeting and issues a statement demanding the charges be dropped.
    30 Chancellor rejects the demand. T.A.'s announce a meeting to "plan for a T.A. strike" to be held tomorrow.

    December 1964

    1 FSM issues an ultimatum and the GCC announces a strike for Friday, Dec. 4.
    2 Approximately 1,000 persons pack 4 floors of Sproul Hall following a huge rally in the plaza between Sproul and the Student Union. As the sit-in develops offices are closed and employees sent home. Most of the demonstrators settle down for a long night.
    3 At 3:45 a.m., Gov. Brown orders police officers to begin arresting demonstrators. It takes 12 hours to clear the building. Faculty members raise $8,500 for bail bond fees. At 1:00 p.m. more than 800 professors and instructors meet in Wheeler Auditorium. They pass two resolutions supporting the FSM position.
    7 Arraignment is postponed until Dec. 14th for 768 arrested demonstrators. At 11:00 a.m. approximately 16,000 persons gather in the Greek Theater for a convocation called by the Council of Department Chairmen. President Kerr formally accepts the proposals presented by the Chairmen. 10,000 student jam the plaza at Sproul Hall after the convocation and reject by acclamation the proposal Kerr has just accepted.
    8 Academic Senate passes a resolution in favor of FSM goals and the fight continues.
    18 Regents reject Academic Senate solution.

    January 1965

    2 Chancellor Strong replaced by Martin Meyerson.
    3 Meyerson institutes new regulations for political activity on the Berkeley campus which meet the demands of the FSM.

    Scope and Content

    The Free Speech Movement Records, 1936-1969 (bulk 1964-1965), consist of materials created or collected by the Free Speech Movement (FSM) organization. The FSM, created in the fall of 1964 to protest administrative efforts to curb political activities on the Berkeley campus, disbanded in April 1965. The collection documents the formation and dissolution of the FSM as well as its daily operation through leaflets, notebooks, letters, logs, petitions, and orders for phonograph records, buttons, and bumper stickers. The correspondence files include an extensive group of letters written to the FSM spokesperson, Mario Savio, by supporters and detractors during the movement.
    Material not concerned with the operation of the FSM is often in the form of photocopies of letters and publications from other organizations, departments, and offices on the U.C. Berkeley campus. Individuals creating notes on photocopies are usually unidentified. Also included is an extensive selection of pamphlets, articles, and other publications written about the FSM by FSM participants and others.
    Many of the documents in this collection are online as searchable text or as images at www.lib.berkeley.edu/BANC/FSM.