With the Free Speech Movement Collections, You are There
The Free Speech Movement at the Berkeley Campus of the University of California announced the date of its creation in a pamphlet titled Here We Stand:
"On October 3, 1964, the Free Speech Movement was founded. Since that day we have worked unceasingly for free speech by attempting to create a public dialogue on the issues; by protesting regulations we think unconstitutional, inadequate, and unfair; and finally by reluctantly violating certain of the regulations. Tomorrow the question of free speech will be considered by the final authority, the Board of Regents." Later events included the famous Greek Theatre meeting on December 7, 1964, and a speech by President Clark Kerr, where Mario Savio demanded the right to speak but was refused, leading 10,000 students to march in protest.
Berkeley students and supporters march under Sather Gate, Fall 1964.
On January 4, 1965, the Free Speech Movement held its first legal rally on the steps on Sproul Hall accompanied by Joan Baez ballads.
These history-making events and many others are recorded in photographs, books, flyers, speeches, and other documents housed in The Bancroft Library. Bancroft launched the Free Speech Movement Collections in the summer of 1999. In the spring of 2001 we now celebrate its completion. A pioneer project for Bancroft, the concept combines original images and text documents with searchable digital materials. Those examining the archive on the Internet view samples of actual photographs, videos, documents, and a time line of events. The project is to be presented to the public at a Bancroft exhibit opening and symposium on April 13-14, 2001.
The Collections feature the University Archives' Free Speech Movement Records, with files focused on student movements primarily in California. However, the selection of original material stretches from the 1960s Civil Rights protests to the early 1970s when the Vietnam War ended and utilizes a number of Bancroft collections including the Social Protest Collection, the Meiklejohn Civil Liberties Institute Collections, and the Malcolm Burnstein Papers. As one looks through the material, it becomes clear that certain elements of these different protests are related.
A number of photographers contributed their work on the Free Speech Movement to the project including Ron Enfield, Steven Marcus, and Ronald Hecker. A selection of Helen Nestor FSM photographs is available through the courtesy of the Oakland Museum.
A major component of the Free Speech Movement Collections includes new oral histories. Lisa Rubens of the Regional Oral History Office (ROHO) has created many hours of interviews with participants and observers of the Free Speech Movement. In addition to these and ROHO's previous oral histories, several institutions have generously allowed us to mount one or more of their oral histories on the Internet: California State Archives' interview with Jerome Byrne, the Berkeley Historical Society's interview with Robert Treuhaft, and the Columbia University Oral History Offices' interviews with Mario Savio, Barbara Garson, Steve Hamilton and Pam and Steven Brier.
The symposium program is designed to promote scholarly interest in and use of Bancroft social protest and twentieth century collections, digital and otherwise. We hope that scholars and interested individuals of all ages will come explore this topic with us. Faculty, staff and friends of Bancroft have devoted much time and imagination to creating an outstanding program.
Please take a look at our website at www.lib.berkeley.edu/BANC/FSM to view documents and for more information about the symposium.
—Elizabeth Stephens
Project Archivist
Volume 118
Spring 2001
Table of Contents
With the Free Speech Movement Collections, You are There
From the Director: The Bancroft–Wells Fargo Audiotape Project
A Wrong Turn Led to a Half-Century of Service
Latin American Treasures on Display at the Bancroft
Collecting the California Feminist Press Materials
Bernard Rosenthal, the Antiquarian, Scholar, and Friend of The Bancroft Library
David Ross Brower, Leader of the Environmental Movement
Home at Last—Four Manuscript Chapters of Mark Twain's A Tramp Abroad Come to Bancroft
Willa Baum, ROHO Director, is Honored on Her Retirement
Wedding Bells and Fond Farewells
