Historical documents are not our primary focus.
However, as we come across documents or artifacts of interest–particularly those that are of relevance to a blog post we have done or are related to one of our Flickr photo albums–we scan and post them.
The document categories are in alphabetical order and within each category the documents are in chronological order:
Periodicals, Newspapers, Newsletters
Documents
Quick links to document categories
Anarchism and Syndicalism
Weather Underground FBI Wanted Poster – 1972
While never specifically espousing an anarchist philosophy, the Weather Underground’s political beliefs and actions mirrored some of the characteristics of anarchism. The group formed as a result in a split of the mass student-based organization Students for a Democratic Society in 1969.
The Weathermen, as they were originally known, carried out their first major action later in the year—The Days of Rage in Chicago’s streets October 8-11th. Several hundred hard-core activists battled Chicago police over three days under the slogan “Bring the War Home.”
A major focus of the demonstration was the trial of the Chicago 8—antiwar leaders of various philosophies charged with fomenting a riot at the 1968 Democratic Convention.
The clashes with police ended with six Weathermen wounded by police gunfire, 287 arrested and a number of other injured. The police suffered several dozen injuries—none serious. Many of those charged failed to appear in court resulting in most of the wanted profiles on the linked document.
The Weather Underground went on to conduct a symbolic bombing campaign of government, industrial or other political targets until 1977 when the group essentially disbanded.
A few members went on to participate in the May 19thCommunist Organization joint action with the Black Liberation Army of a 1981 robbery of a Brinks truck in New Jersey that resulted in the death of a guard and two police officers. Suspects were arrested over a five year period and sentenced to long prison terms.
Antiwar
(See Vietnam War for Indochina conflict)
Free speech a victim of war hysteria: 1917
This drawing “It’s got to be uprooted” shows Uncle Sam looking angrily at a “The Treason Weed” that has handguns, an anarchist bomb, a German Pickelhaube helmet and a skull and crossbones referring to what Rogers believed were domestic enemies that would undermine the U.S. war effort.
The illustration was apparently drawn shortly after the U.S. entry into World War I in April 1917.
The anarchist bomb represents the so-called Galleanisti anarchists who believed in the propaganda of the deed and planted a number of bombs in first third of the 20th Century to spark revolution. But it also refers more broadly to the Industrial Workers of the World, other anarchists and left-wing socialists who opposed WWI as a contest between the ruling classes of different countries for world domination where the only people dying were workers.
The Pickelhaube referred to German nationals who Rogers believed would act as German agents within the U.S.
During World War I, the U.S. enacted the Sedition Act, the Conscription Act and Espionage Act that were used to suppress dissent during the war resulting in the imprisonment of thousands, and/or deportments and/or revocation of citizenship—overwhelmingly because of speech and not any overt acts. As with those of Japanese descent in World War II, several thousand people of German descent living in the U.S. were also rounded up and put into camps and prisons without charges against them.
War hysteria captured in Rogers’ drawing: 1918
This drawing “Now for a Roundup” shows Uncle Sam rounding-up men labeled “Spy,” “Traitor,” “IWW,” “Germ[an] money,” and “Sinn Fein” with the United States Capitol in the background displaying a flag that states “Sedition law passed” referring to the Sedition Act of 1918 passed during World War I.
The IWW refers to the Industrial Workers of the World who, along with anarchists and left-wing socialists, opposed WWI as a contest between the ruling classes of different countries for world domination where the only people dying were workers. Sinn Fein refers to the Irish struggle for independence against Great Britain that was occurring during World War I.
The law, along with the Conscription Act and Espionage Act passed during the same period, were used to suppress dissent during the war and thousands were imprisoned, and/or deported and/or had their citizenship revoked as a result—overwhelmingly because of speech and not any overt acts.
Washington Area Citizens Against ABM – 1969
The Washington Area Citizens Against ABM publish a flyer in 1969 blasting the Washington D.C. City Council for not condemning the project and calling for funds authorized to be re-purposed for human needs.
The Anti-Ballistic Missile system proposed by President Lyndon Johnson in 1967 and continued by President Richard Nixon would have built an extensive, very expensive defensive missile system against a first strike by the Soviet Union.
However both technical and cost issues put the project on hold and in 1972 an anti-ballistic missile treaty was reached with the Soviet Union to severely limit strategic ABMs.
The Washington Area Citizens Against ABM was infiltrated by the FBI after an article was published in the Communist Party USA’s Daily Worker about the group. The infiltration of the group by the federal government was roundly condemned when it was revealed in 1976.
The FBI was ostensibly surveilling the Communist Party, but reported on a public forum where the Defense Department and opponents both made presentations, the planning of meetings, distribution of materials to schools and churches, plans to seek resolutions on the ABM from town councils, the names of local political leaders who attended meetings and forums, and other information that had nothing to do with the Communist Party.
Original held in the Bonnie Atwood papers, 1965-2005, Collection, Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA.
Support the D.C. Nine – May 1969
An unsigned flyer advertises and teach-in and rally May 27, 1969 at Georgetown University to support the D.C. Nine who were charged with breaking in and destroying records in the Dow Chemical office in Washington, D.C. March 22, 1969.
The nine protesters smashed glass, hurled files out a fourth floor window and poured blood on the remaining files and furniture at the Dow Chemical offices at 15th & L Streets NW Washington, DC and awaited police to arrive for their arrest.
In a prepared statement, the nine noted that Dow seeks “profit in the production of napalm, defoliants and nerve gas.”
On May 7, 1970, the nine were sentenced to terms ranging from three months to six years in jail. Their lawyer, Phillip J. Hirschkop was censured and sentenced to 30 days in jail for his trial conduct.
Seven of the nine appealed and won a reversal of their convictions at the U.S Court of Appeals in June 1972 that ruled that Judge John H. Pratt had erred when he denied the defendants the right to represent themselves. Hirschkop was cleared of contempt in a separate ruling in July 1972.
Original held in the Bonnie Atwood papers, 1965-2005, Collection, Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA.
Week of protest against chemical & biological warfare: Jul. 1972
A flyer advertises a series of demonstrations against chemical and biological warfare weapons in the triangle formed by Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Frederick, Md. in July 1972.
The protests scheduled July 1-8 were sponsored by the Quaker Action Group, the War Resisters League, Catholic Peace Fellowship, and the Jewish Peace Fellowship with the support of the Friends Peace Committee in Philadelphia and elsewhere.
Protest targets included the White House, U.S. Capitol, Edgewood Arsenal, and Fort Detrick.
Hiroshima Day commemoration – Aug. 1972
The Washington Area Peace Action Coalition flyer advertising Hiroshima Day events and calling for a planning meeting of interested groups. Hiroshima Day annually marks the 1945 bombing of both Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the U.S. using atomic bombs. The U.S. remains the only country that has used atomic weapons against an enemy–killing an estimated 200,000 Japanese, most of whom were civilians.
Civil Liberties
Free speech a victim of war hysteria: 1917
This drawing “It’s got to be uprooted” shows Uncle Sam looking angrily at a “The Treason Weed” that has handguns, an anarchist bomb, a German Pickelhaube helmet and a skull and crossbones referring to what Rogers believed were domestic enemies that would undermine the U.S. war effort.
The illustration was apparently drawn shortly after the U.S. entry into World War I in April 1917.
The anarchist bomb represents the so-called Galleanisti anarchists who believed in the propaganda of the deed and planted a number of bombs in first third of the 20th Century to spark revolution. But it also refers more broadly to the Industrial Workers of the World, other anarchists and left-wing socialists who opposed WWI as a contest between the ruling classes of different countries for world domination where the only people dying were workers.
The Pickelhaube referred to German nationals who Rogers believed would act as German agents within the U.S.
During World War I, the U.S. enacted the Sedition Act, the Conscription Act and Espionage Act that were used to suppress dissent during the war resulting in the imprisonment of thousands, and/or deportments and/or revocation of citizenship—overwhelmingly because of speech and not any overt acts. As with those of Japanese descent in World War II, several thousand people of German descent living in the U.S. were also rounded up and put into camps and prisons without charges against them.
War hysteria captured in Rogers’ drawing – 1918
This drawing “Now for a Roundup” shows Uncle Sam rounding-up men labeled “Spy,” “Traitor,” “IWW,” “Germ[an] money,” and “Sinn Fein” with the United States Capitol in the background displaying a flag that states “Sedition law passed” referring to the Sedition Act of 1918 passed during World War I.
The IWW refers to the Industrial Workers of the World who, along with anarchists and left-wing socialists, opposed WWI as a contest between the ruling classes of different countries for world domination where the only people dying were workers. Sinn Fein refers to the Irish struggle for independence against Great Britain that was occurring during World War I.
The law, along with the Conscription Act and Espionage Act passed during the same period, were used to suppress dissent during the war and thousands were imprisoned, and/or deported and/or had their citizenship revoked as a result—overwhelmingly because of speech and not any overt acts.
Virginia communists denounce Heller bill – 1940
The Virginia Communist Party issues a lengthy statement March 11, 1940 condemning the General Assembly for passing the so-called Heller Bill that would deny public facilities to communists or others.
Specifically, the bill would have instructed “custodians of all public buildings in Virginia” to deny the use of such buildings to anyone who “advocate, advise or teach the doctrine that the government of the United States or the Commonwealth of Virginia, or any political subdivision thereof should be overthrown or overturned by force violence or any unlawful means.”
After it passed the state senate without fanfare, a campaign was launmched to defeat the bill in the Virginia House of Delegates.
Delegate Francis Pickins Miller of Fairfax called it “a departure from the policies this state has cherished for three centuries” and declared it would “create a new public officer in Virginia, the custodian of dangerous thoughts.”
Gov. James Price ultimately vetoed the bill in a victory for the communists and civil liberties advocates.
Washington Committee for Democratic Action conference call – Apr. 1940
The Washington Committee for Democratic Action, the local affiliate of the National Federation for Constitutional Liberties, calls for a conference at the Washington Hotel at 15th and F Streets NW April 20-21, 1940.
Over 300 people attended the conference focused on civil rights, labor rights and gaining the right to vote and civil rights for District of Columbia residents.
The Washington Committee, along with the National Federation, merged with the International Labor Defense and the National Negro Congress to form the Civil Rights Congress in 1946.
In 1947 the Civil Rights Congress, along with the predecessor organizations, was listed as subversive by U.S. Attorney General Tom Clark.
National Federation for Constitutional Liberties membership brochure – circa 1940
The National Federation for Constitutional Liberties (NFCL) membership application brochure circa 1940 describes the purpose of the organization, lists its officers and provides a membership form.
The Washington Committee for Democratic Action was an affiliate of the national group that was founded at a convention in June 1940 and later merged in 1946 with the National Negro Congress and International Labor Defense to form the Civil Rights Congress..
In 1947, the NFCL was listed as a subversive organization, along with the Civil Right Congress, by U.S. Attorney General Tom Clark.
‘Five Men on a Hunger Strike’ – Mar. 1948
The American Committee for Protection of Foreign Born issues a tri-fold 8 ½ x 11 pamphlet describing the pending deportation cases of five left-wing leaders in the U.S. in 1948 and appeals for support.
The four, Gerhard Eisler a longtime Communist Party member in Austria, Germany and the United States; John Williamson, labor secretary for the Communist Party, Ferdinand C. Smith, Secretary of the National Maritime Union, CIO and Charles A. Doyle, vice president of the United Gas, Coke and Chemical Workers, CIO. A fifth labor leader, Irving Potash, manager of the Furriers Joint Council, was also slated for deportation.
Smith was the highest-ranking African American in the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) at the time.
The hunger strike ended when the four (Potash was released earlier) were granted bail on March 6th. However, all were ultimately forced out of the country at various times in the 1950s.
Virginia House Bill No. 6 criminalizing beliefs – Jan. 1948
House Bill No. 6, introduced January 15, 1948 in the House of Delegates of the Virginia General Assembly, seeks to criminalize beliefs—particularly the belief in the necessity of overthrowing the existing government of Virginia or the United States.
Further, mere membership in or aiding or abetting a group that believes in replacing the current government is considered felony criminal behavior under the bill.
The bill was introduced by Del. Frank P Moncure of Stafford and Del. Baldwin G Locher of Rockbridge County. Moncure said on the floor of the House, “Mr. Locher and myself have today introduced a bill which has for its purpose the barring of communism from the state off Virginia, and to outlaw the Communist Party…”
Penalties of from 3 to 5 years and fines up to $1,000 are provided for violators of the act.
A version of the bill ultimately passed in 1950 and remains part of the Virginia code.
Call for civil rights demonstration in Washington: Jun. 1948
An ad hoc committee called the National Non-Partisan Mass Delegation to Washington puts out a flyer calling for a gathering in Washington, D.C. June 2, 1948 to demand Congress pass civil rights legislation.
Specific demands included abolition of the poll tax, a permanent Fair Employment Practices Commission (The FEPC existed during World War II—similar to today’s EEOC), ending segregation in the armed forces, and passage federal legislation making lynching a crime.
Two of the main sponsors were NAACP founder W. E. B. DuBois and actor, singer and civil rights activist Paul Robeson.
Several thousand attended the demonstration and added defeat of the Mundt-Nixon anti-communist bill to its legislative demands.
Daily Worker on U.S. communist leaders’ arrest – Jul. 1948
The Daily Worker, publication of the Communist Party USA, reports on the initial arrest of its leaders July 21, 1948 for advocating overthrow of the U.S. government as defined under the Smith Act.
The issue also contains a statement issued by the Communist Party on the arrest of their leaders.
Negro Freedom Rally Committee flyer – Sep. 1949
Following the “Peekskill Riot” where a white supremacist mob attacked people who gathered for a Paul Robeson concert, protest rallies were organized around the country, including Washington, D.C.
Marie Richardson flyer – Dec. 1951
As the Second Red Scare moved into full swing, authorities brought felony charges against Marie Richardson Harris for lying on a federal job application. The federal government alleged she was a member of the Communist Party. Harris held the Library of Congress job for 2-3 months and handled no classified information.
However, she had been the first black woman to hold a full-time union position in a national union (United Federal Workers) and was executive secretary of the local National Negro Congress. She served 4 ½ years in prison.
The case of Marie Richardson Harris: The victim of a modern witch-hunt – 1952
As the Second Red Scare moved into full swing, authorities brought felony charges against Marie Richardson Harris for lying on a federal job application. The federal government alleged she was a member of the Communist Party. Harris held the Library of Congress job for 2-3 months and handled no classified information.
However, she had been the first black woman to hold a full-time union position in a national union (United Federal Workers) and was executive secretary of the local National Negro Congress. She served 4 ½ years in prison.
Her defense committee had a fundraiser broken up by D.C. police and itself was later designated as a subversive organization by the U.S. government.
NLRB non-communist affidavit – circa 1955
The Taft-Harley Act passed in 1948 prohibited members of the Communist Party from holding labor union office if the union were to use provisions of the National Labor Relations Act. It required officers to sign a “non-communist affidavit” in order for the union to be eligible for National Labor Relations Board services and the use of the law in disputes with employers.
The unions of the American Federation of Labor quickly agreed to this, but the Congress of Industrial Organizations briefly resisted and tried to use non-compliance with signing the affidavit as a direct action way of neutralizing other anti-labor provisions in the Taft-Hartley Act such as prohibition on secondary boycotts, sympathy strikes, authorization for states to enact so-called “right to work” laws, among others.
The refusal to sign quickly collapsed as major unions such as the United Auto Workers signed and anti-communist fervor swept the U.S. It wasn’t long before the CIO expelled or forced out 11 major national unions for alleged communist-domination and all the remaining union leaders signed the affidavits.
Many mark the decline of the labor movement to the Taft Harley Act and the inability of labor to wage effective resistance.
SDS reprints Ramparts article exposing CIA student funding – Aug. 1967
In August 1967, the University of Maryland College Park chapter of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) reprints the Ramparts magazine article in that blew the whistle on Central Intelligence Agency funding of the U.S. National Student Association (USNSA).
The SDS chapter distributed the article to USNSA delegates to the annual convention of the organization held that year at the University of Maryland and urged the group to disband.
The article exposed the long-running CIA relationship with the organization that included essentially running the group’s international operations and provided a building at 2115 S Street NW for the USNSA’s use and some other domestic funding as well.
The USNSA, composed of student governments throughout the country, did not dissolve. It cut its ties with the CIA over the next two years and at their 1969 convention in El Paso, Texas took a sharp turn to the left when Charles Palmer was elected president of the group.
USNSA staff member Larry Rubin’s notes on CIA student funding – 1967
The staff of the alternative newspaper Washington Free Press reprints former United States National Student Association (USNSA) staff member Larry Rubin’s diary of what USNSA officers were telling employees in January and February 1967 about revelations that the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was funding the organization’s international and some of its domestic operations.
The Free Press staff distributed Rubin’s notes to delegates attending the USNSA convention at the University of Maryland College Park campus in August 1967 and along with the campus Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) chapter called on the organization to dissolve.
Rubin’s notes and the Ramparts article revealed the long-running CIA relationship with the organization that included essentially running the group’s international operations and providing a building at 2115 S Street NW for the USNSA’s use and some other domestic funding as well.
The USNSA, composed of student governments throughout the country, did not dissolve. It cut its ties with the CIA over the next two years and at their 1969 convention in El Paso, Texas took a sharp turn to the left when Charles Palmer was elected president of the group.
A flyer protesting HUAC hearings in D.C. – 1968
A September 1968 flyer advertising protests at the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) hearings in Washington, D.C. into the clashes at the 1968 Democratic Convention. The flyer is unsigned, but lists the alternative newspaper Washington Free Press as a contact on the reverse side.
At the hearing, prominent Yippie Abbie Hoffman was arrested for wearing an American flag shirt while his compatriot Jerry Rubin was hustled out of the hearing when he showed up bare-chested with an ammunition bandolier and a toy M-16 rifle [see Rubin and Hoffman].
Rubin and other Yippies tried to stand in silent protest of the “unfair treatment” they received at the hands of the committee.
Fact sheet on antiwar seaman Roger Priest – 1969
A 1969 fact sheet on the case of Roger Priest, a Navy seaman who worked at the Pentagon charged with a variety of offenses for his publication of an anti-Vietnam War newsletter called OM. The flyer is uncredited.
OM had a print run of 1000 and featured anti-Vietnam War articles and information as well as acting as a “gripe” forum for armed service members.
The court martial at the Washington Navy Yard included charges of soliciting fellow soldiers to desert, urging insubordination and making statements disloyal to the United States.
He was convicted of minor charges and received a reprimand, reduction in rank and a bad conduct discharge for promoting disloyalty. Upon appeal the charges were voided and he was given an honorable discharge.
Stop the Trial – Nov. 1969
A flyer from the Youth International Party (Yippies) advertises a “Stop the Trial” demonstration at the U.S. “Injustice Department” in Washington, D.C. against the trial of the Chicago 8 after the main Moratorium anti-Vietnam War mass march November 15, 1969.
The flyer specifically notes Bobby Seale, Black Panther leader and one of the Chicago 8 defendants—those charged with conspiracy to foment violence at the Democratic Convention in Chicago the previous August.
The rally following the march advertised by the Yippies erupted into street fighting with police by the 10,000 or more people who attended after a barrage of rocks broke windows at the Justice Department and struck police officers.
Original held in the Bonnie Atwood papers, 1965-2005, Collection, Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA.
The Day After (TDA) Watergate protest flyer – 1970
A flyer advertises for a The Day After demonstration to protest the pending verdicts of the Chicago 8—defendants charged with fomenting disturbances at the 1968 Democratic Convention by their speech.
The 600-1000 demonstrators who gathered would later march on the Watergate home of Attorney General John Mitchell (People’s Tour of the Watergate) where they clashed with police in some of the bitterest street fighting in D.C. of the anti-Vietnam War period.Fighting broke out between police who used batons and tear gas and protesters who used rocks, bottles and sticks.
145 people were arrested during the hours-long confrontation that followed the initial halt of the march. The 145 were later awarded damages after a lawsuit. The demonstration was organized weeks in advance with leaflets advertising “The Day After (TDA)” the verdict with a time and place to gather. The TDA was used multiple times over the next few years as a way to spread the word about an action in the pre-internet era.
This flyer should be viewed in conjunction with a related flyer below.
A flyer containing a map called a “Tour Guide” for the Watergate The Day After demonstration – 1970
A “tour guide” map of a planned demonstration to follow the verdict in the Chicago 7 (formerly Chicago 8) trial produced in February 1970. The creators are not known.
The defendants were charged with conspiracy to foment disturbances at the 1968 Democratic Convention.
The 600-1000 demonstrators who gathered would later march on the Watergate home of Attorney General John Mitchell (People’s Tour of the Watergate) where they clashed with police in some of the bitterest street fighting in D.C. of the anti-Vietnam War period.
Fighting broke out between police who used batons and tear gas and protesters who used rocks, bottles and sticks. 145 people were arrested during the hours-long confrontation that followed the initial halt of the march. The 145 were later awarded damages after a lawsuit.
The demonstration was organized weeks in advance with leaflets advertising “The Day After (TDA)” the verdict with a time and place to gather. The TDA was used multiple times over the next few years as a way to spread the word about an action in the pre-internet era.
This flyer should be viewed in conjunction with a related flyer above.
SDS reprints Ramparts article exposing CIA student funding – Aug. 1967
In August 1967, the University of Maryland College Park chapter of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) reprints the Ramparts magazine article in that blew the whistle on Central Intelligence Agency funding of the U.S. National Student Association (USNSA).
The SDS chapter distributed the article to USNSA delegates to the annual convention of the organization held that year at the University of Maryland and urged the group to disband.
The article exposed the long-running CIA relationship with the organization that included essentially running the group’s international operations and provided a building at 2115 S Street NW for the USNSA’s use and some other domestic funding as well.
The USNSA, composed of student governments throughout the country, did not dissolve. It cut its ties with the CIA over the next two years and at their 1969 convention in El Paso, Texas took a sharp turn to the left when Charles Palmer was elected president of the group.
Dillingham for Sheriff poster – 1970
A full page ad in the alternative newspaper Quicksilver Times was the only expense J. Brinton “Brint” Dillingham recorded during his September 15, 1970 Democratic primary quest for Sheriff of Montgomery County, Md.
Dillingham campaigned on freeing all political prisoners, including those incarcerated because of their economic status, and disarming sheriffs’ deputies. Early in the campaign in November 1969, Dillingham blasted incumbent Sheriff Ralph W. Offutt charging that sheriff’s deputies used undue force in shooting a convicted cattle rustler in the rump when he tried to escape from jail.” Offutt responded, “if that long-haired s.o.b. wants to make an issue, let him.”
Later in the campaign he sought writs of habeus corpus for a dozen people charged with crimes but held in jail because they couldn’t make bail. When the election was held, Dillingham drew a surprising 10,000 votes to Offutt’s 40,000.w
To the Fascist pigs who entered our apartment 8/19/70 – Aug. 1970
After coming home to find their apartment had been entered, but nothing taken on August 19, 1970, activists Robert “Bob” Simpson and Eleana Simpson left a note for the suspected agents who searched the premises.
The Simpsons lived in Langley Park, Md. apartments at the time.
During that period, police and FBI agents routinely surreptitiously entered offices and residences of left wing and black activists to conducted searches.
One of the most prominent break-ins of left-wing activists in the Washington area was the search of the offices of the alternative newspaper Washington Free Press in January 1970 where suspected agents broke into the office through an adjacent rest room and rifled through files.
The Simpsons were active supporters of the recently established chapter of the Black Panther Party and well-known antiwar activists.
Mother Jones collective exposes alleged police agent – 1970 ca.
The Mother Jones Collective in Baltimore, a Marxist-Leninist formation that grew out of the student movement, puts out a flyer describing a suspected police agent named John Shaw circa 1970.
The Mother Jones collective along with the Mother Bloor collective in Maryland were typical formations that grew out of the student movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s that laid some of the basis for the new communist movement of the 1970s.
The Mother Jones collective held Marxist-Leninist study sessions, developed communist work at factories, shipyards other places of employment in Baltimore, held rallies and demonstrations and defended the Baltimore Black Panther office among other activities.
U. of Md. ‘wanted poster’ of undercover police – 1970 ca.
The first in a series of “wanted” posters put out anonymously on the University of Maryland campus of police agents and informers following the student strike of 1970.
This one features state police officers John Paul Cook and Bob Wacker.
U. of Md. ‘wanted poster’ of undercover police (2) – 1970 ca.
The second in a series of “wanted” posters put out anonymously on the University of Maryland campus of police agents and informers following the student strike of 1970.
This one features alleged state police officer or informer Jim Lair.
U. of Md. ‘wanted poster’ of police/FBI informant (3) – 1970 ca.
The third in a series of “wanted” posters put out anonymously on the University of Maryland College Park campus of police agents and informers following the student strike of 1970.
This one features alleged police/FBI informant Thomas Hyde.
Pocket rights card – Aug. 1972
A card given out to protesters at the 1972 Republican Convention that outlines rights during arrest and contains the phone numbers of attorneys.
Civil Rights and Black Liberation Before 1955
Petition for integrated D.C. public schools – 1870
An April 29, 1870 petition for integrated District of Columbia schools by the National Executive Committee of the Colored People is printed in “Index to the Miscellaneous Documents of the Senate of the United States for the3 Second Session of the Forty-First Congress 1869-’70.”
The petition was inserted into the Congressional Record by U.S. Senator Charles Sumner (R-MA), a long-time civil rights advocate and one of the so-called radical Republicans that fought for equality for Black Americans and punishment for former Confederate leaders in the aftermath of the U.S. Civil War.
The petition regarding District of Columbia schools was taken up by Sumner in an 1870 national civil rights bill that would have required integrated schools nationwide along with a requirement that all publicly funded entities be integrated.
The mixed race school requirement was the most contentious provision, but it survived in the bill until near the end of debate when the bill passed in 1875. The 1875 Civil Rights Bill, enacted shortly after Sumner’s death, was the last civil rights bill passed by Congress until 1957. Its equal protections provisions for publicly funded entities were struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1883.
Headquarters Central Bureau of Relief, D.C. – 1889
The Central Bureau of Relief issues a proclamation October 31, 1889 declaring their intent to lead a fight for “political and civil rights and privileges for the Colored American Citizen in the United States.”
The organization intended to “urge the thorough and complete organization of the people throughout the United States, in that by a united effort, we may be able to assist in relieving the millions of our brethren in the south from lawless men, who openly and unblushingly set at defiance the Constitution and laws of our common country.”
The document also issues a convention call.
The organization, headquartered in Washington, D.C., was founded days before with representatives throughout the United States and headed by initially by Perry Howard, a black Republican Party leader from Mississippi who also practiced law in the District of Columbia.
Perry H. Carson, the leader of the District’s working class black communities, also served on the executive board of the organization and would later be elected president of the organization and chair a convention sponsored by the group.
Stop lynching; demand death penalty – 1931
A flyer advertising a December 29, 1931 Washington, D.C. meeting sponsored by communist aligned groups to protest recent lynchings is shown above.
The flyer demands the death penalty for the murderers of Matthew Williams in Salisbury, Maryland and Sam Jackson and George Banks in Lewisburg, West Virginia.
The League of Struggle for Negro Rights, the International Labor Defense and the Scottsboro Defense Committee were all communist-led organizations.
The Dawning of a Better Day – 1936
Longtime District of Columbia civil rights leader Francis J. Grimke publishes an open letter in the fall of 1936 entitled “The Dawning of a Better Day” predicting that current events would lead toward progress in race relations despite entrenched opposition.
The letter addressed calls by alumni to fire University of North Carolina Chapel Hill English professor Dr. E. E. Ericson after he, along with other white people, dined with Communist Party vice-presidential candidate James Ford and other black communists at Ford’s hotel room October 25, 1936.
Dr. Roy W. McKnight, president of the Mecklenburg chapter of the Alumni Association, was among those objected, calling on the school to conduct a “general housecleaning” and declared:
“I believe a university professor should enjoy the right of freedom of speech and liberality of thought; as a matter of fact, it is his duty to do so. But when a faculty member s conduct and philosophy of life become so opposed to American tradition, especially to Southern tradition as to be offensive to the sensibilities of the thousands of alumni and the taxpayers of the state, then it is time to act.”
In his prediction of a “better day,” Grimke cites the formation of a committee on freedom of conscience that rebuked calls for dismissal of the professor and a ban on interracial dining, a broad-based defense of the “Scottsboro Boys” committee in Birmingham, Al.; and a Commission on Interracial Cooperation with headquarters in Atlanta, Ga.
Protest D.C. refusal to permit Marian Anderson concert – 1939
A poster for a mass meeting March 26, 1939 protesting the District of Columbia Board of Education’s refusal to permit the all-white Central High School (now Cardozo) to be used for the acclaimed black American singer Marian Anderson’s concert is published by Marian Anderson Citizens Committee.
Activists sought the use of the high school after Anderson was turned down for the use of the Daughters of American Revolution’s Constitution Hall because she was black.
Among the advertised speakers were Oscar Chapman, Charles Hamilton Houston, Mary McLeod Bethune and Rev. Albert T. Mollegen at the event to be held at the Metropolitan A.M.E. Church at 16th and M Streets NW.
The March 26th protest meeting was held after a month-long campaign that involved hundreds of people rallying and attending Board of Education meetings in an attempt to secure Central High for the singer.
The Marion Anderson concert was ultimately held at the Lincoln Memorial on April 9, 1939 drawing some 75,000 people while millions more listened to the radio broadcast–effectively become the largest civil rights demonstration in the U.S. up to that point in time.
Historic Marian Anderson concert flyer: 1939
A handbill for the historic Marian Anderson concert performed outdoors at the Lincoln Memorial April 9, 1939 where an integrated crowd of 75,000 listened to her performance after she was barred from the District of Columbia Central High School and the Daughters of the American Revolution’s Constitution Hall because she was black.
The flyer was produced by the Marian Anderson Citizens Committee, a broad coalition of black groups and activists and white New Deal liberals.
The denial of facilities to Anderrson marked a high point in a continuing civil rights movement in the city that began earlier in the 1930s with the Scottsboro campaign, a boycott of stores in black communities that refused to hire black front-line employees, and a mass campaign against police brutality. Campaigns to break down Jim Crow hiring would continue against defense contractors and the Capital Transit Company during World War II and end with the picketing of eating establishments 1949-53 until the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the District’s so-called “lost laws” prohibiting discrimination. Mass campaigns against school inequity and hiring would continue into the 1970s.
Negro Congress meeting against police brutality: Jun. 1939
The Washington Council of the National Negro Congress issues a flyer for a mass meeting June 25, 1939 during a campaign in the city against police brutality that lasted from 1936-41.
Among the speakers listed were Jacob Baker, president of the United Federal Workers of America; Major Ernest Brown, superintendent Metropolitan Police; Judge William H. Hastie; Rev. J. S. L Holloman, Interdenominational Ministers Alliance; Dr. C Herbert Marshall, president of the D.C. NAACP; George Goodman, secretary of the Washington Urban League; Eugene Davidson, administrator of the New Negro Alliance; Harry Lamberton, Chair of the American League for Peace and Democracy; John P. Davis, secretary, National Negro Congress; Rev. Arthur Gray, chair of D.C. National Negro Congress and Pastor of Plymouth congregational Church.
New Negro Alliance claims victories in rally flyer – Jun. 1939
The New Negro Alliance produces a flyer in June 1939 entitled “$50,000 Reward!” contending that their picketing has resulted in 50 new jobs for black clerks at stores on 7th Street, 14th Street and U Street NW in the past year since they started protests in front of People’s Drug Store.
The 50 jobs represented a $50,000 reward to the black community, according to the Alliance.
The flyer also called for a joint rally at the Second Baptist Church and 3rd and I Streets NW with the left-leaning National Negro Congress to mark the one-year anniversary of the campaign against People’s.
The Alliance began their picketing and store boycotts in 1933 and had initial success at A&P grocery stores, Highs Dairy Stores, and a number of independent merchants. But the boycott never forced the largest employers, Sanitary (Safeway) grocery stores or People’s (now CVS) drug store, to hire black clerks.
Even with the mixed success, the New Negro Alliance tactics, the Scottsboro campaign, the D.C. campaign against police brutality and the Marian Anderson concert all represented a breakout from church meetings toward direct action and protests in the streets for the D.C. civil rights movement during the 1930s.
‘To All Fair Minded People” – People’s Drug boycott – Jun. 1939
The New Negro Alliance produces a flyer on the one-year anniversary of their boycott against People’s Drug Store in June 1939 calling for customers to stop patronizing all stores in the drug chain over the company’s refusal to hire black clerks in black neighborhoods.
The Alliance began their picketing and store boycotts in 1933 and had initial success at A&P grocery stores, Highs Dairy Stores, and a number of independent merchants. But the boycott never forced the largest employers, Sanitary (Safeway) grocery stores or People’s (now CVS) drug store, to hire black clerks.
Even with the mixed success, the New Negro Alliance tactics, the Scottsboro campaign, the D.C. campaign against police brutality and the Marian Anderson concert all represented a breakout from church meetings toward direct action and protests in the streets for the D.C. civil rights movement during the 1930s.
Washington Committee for Democratic Action conference call — Apr. 1940
The Washington Committee for Democratic Action, the local affiliate of the National Federation for Constitutional Liberties, calls for a conference at the Washington Hotel at 15th and F Streets NW April 20-21, 1940.
Over 300 people attended the conference focused on civil rights, labor rights and gaining the right to vote and civil rights for District of Columbia residents.
Labor speakers included Rep. John Coffee (D-Wa.); John P. Davis, National Negro Congress; Arthur Stein, D.C. council of the United Federal Workers and David Lasser, president of the Workers Alliance; and Cecil Owen, president of the Washington Industrial Council, CIO.
Civil rights speakers included Rep. John Gavagan (D-N.Y.); Charles Hamilton Houston, general counsel of the NAACP; and Elizabeth Gurley Flynn of the Communist Party
The Washington Committee, along with the National Federation, merged with the International Labor Defense and the National Negro Congress to form the Civil Rights Congress in 1946.
March on Washington: 1941
A March 1941 letter from A. Phillip Randolph, head of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, to NAACP leader Walter White inviting him to join a march on Washington for fair employment.
The March on Washington Movement led to President Franklin Roosevelt issuing an executive order banning discrimination in defense-related industry and enforcing it through a Fair Employment Practices Commission. The planned march was cancelled after Roosevelt’s order.
Poll Tax Repealer – Mar. 1943
The March 1943 edition of the Poll Tax Repealer, a national newsletter published by the National Committee to Abolish the Poll Tax.
Poll taxes (a tax levied when voting in an election) were imposed in many U.S. Southern states as one of several methods to minimize African American voters. Laws typically excluded from the tax anyone whose father and/or grandfather, had voted prior to the Civil War—assuring that nearly all African Americans were subject to the tax and most white Southerners were not.
The national campaign against the poll tax began in the early 1940s and continued through the end of the decade.
The campaign had some success at the local level as some states repealed their poll tax, including Georgia in 1945.
The civil rights movement wasn’t successful at ending the tax until the 24thAmendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified in 1964. Poll taxes in state elections were outlawed by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1966.
For other issues of the Poll Tax Repealer, see periodicals below.
D.C. NAACP Victory Mass Assembly – May, 1945
The District of Columbia branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) holds a Victory Mass Assembly at the Metropolitan A.M.E. Church on M Street NW May 6, 1945 following the victory of Allied forces in Europe over Adolph Hitler’s Nazi regime.
The war against Japan was ongoing at the time.
The program includes Judge William Hastie, police chief Edward J. Kelly, opera singer Lillian Evanti, former Liberian ambassador Dr. Rafael O’Hara, rights activist Eugene Davidson and civil rights and liberties attorney George E. C. Hayes.
The D.C. NAACP ‘Case Against Lansburgh’s’: 1945
An October 11, 1945 flyer targeting Lansburgh’s Department Store for a campaign to desegregate its lunch counter is launched by the Washington, D.C. branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
The flyer urges the public to close their credit accounts at Lansburgh’s in order to pressure the store. The effort did not succeed in desegregating Lansburgh’s.
It would be another four years before the Coordinating Committee for the Enforcement of the D.C. Anti-Discrimination Laws was launched in late 1949 headed by long-time rights activist Mary Church Terrell that would ultimately break the back of Jim Crow in the city.
D.C. NAACP meeting protesting police riot in Columbia, Tennessee – 1946
This handbill by the D.C. chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) calls for a protest meeting April 7, 1946 at the Asbury Methodist Church at 11th and K Streets NW
The meeting was called to protest a police riot in Columbia, Tennessee that resulted in shootings and looting black businesses and mass arrests of black people by state police after a white lynch mob had gathered in town.
The incident, along with the 1946 Moore’s Ford, Georgia lynching of four black Americans, galvanized the civil rights movement after World War II.
One of the main speakers was Channing Tobias, a leading civil rights figure at the time having developed a career in the black section of the YMCA and was director of the Phelps Stokes Fund that invested in education at the time of the meeting.
The other was Mrs. James Morton (first name unknown) of Columbia who provided eyewitness testimony of the destruction wreaked by state police.
NAACP recruiting flyer: Make D.C. stand for Democracy’s Capital – Jan. 1948
The D.C. branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People publishes a flyer for their 1948 membership drive.
The group pitched making D.C. stand for “Democracy’s Capital” in terms of a beacon for non-discrimination.
NAACP mass meeting to support Truman’s civil rights plan – Apr. 1948
The Washington, D.C. branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) calls for a city-wide meeting April 18, 1948 at All Souls Church on 16th Street NW appealing to people “Don’t wreck the President’s civil rights plan; support it.”
There is a handwritten date of 1943 in the upper right hand corner. However this seems incorrect. Arthur Powell Davies, listed on the flyer, didn’t become pastor of All Souls Church until the fall of 1944. The date of April 18th falls on a Sunday in both 1943 and 1948, making 1948 the more likely year.
The call to support the President’s plan was at odds with Paul Robeson, the Civil Rights Congress and other activists that took a more confrontational approach and demanded immediate action.
It also came during a time when former vice president Henry Wallace had announced he would make a third-party candidate run for president on a platform of peace, civil rights and labor rights.
The rally served as an implicit endorsement of Truman and a rejection of Wallace.
Call for civil rights demonstration in Washington – 1948
An ad hoc committee called the National Non-Partisan Mass Delegation to Washington puts out a flyer calling for a gathering in Washington, D.C. June 2, 1948 to demand Congress pass civil rights legislation.
Specific demands included abolition of the poll tax, a permanent Fair Employment Practices Commission (The FEPC existed during World War II—similar to today’s EEOC), ending segregation in the armed forces, and passage federal legislation making lynching a crime.
Two of the main sponsors were NAACP founder W. E. B. DuBois and actor, singer and civil rights activist Paul Robeson.
Advertisement calls for end to Jim Crow at the Bureau of Engraving – May 1949
A display ad published in the Washington Afro American May 7, 1949 by a number of prominent labor and black organizations in the D.C. area calling on President Harry Truman to end Jim Crow at the Bureau of Engraving.
A broad coalition led by Margaret Gilmore, president of United Public Workers of America Local 3, organized pickets at the Bureau of Engraving and at the White House.
Gilmore led a three-year fight against Jim Crow at the agency that printed U.S. money, winning major victories along the way.
Negro Freedom Rally Committee flyer – Sep. 1949
Following the “Peekskill Riot” where a white supremacist mob attacked people who gathered for a Paul Robeson concert, protest rallies were organized around the country, including Washington, D.C.
Save the Martinsville 7 from the electric chair – Mar. 1950
A flyer by the Committee to Save the Martinsville Seven calls for a rally in Richmond, Virginia March 23, 1950.
The Martinsville 7 were seven African American men convicted of raping a white woman in 1949 and sentenced to death. All 45 men executed in Virginia’s electric chair up until 1951 for the crime of rape were black men convicted of assaulting white women.
A nationwide campaign by the Civil Rights Congress highlighted the issue of racial injustice, but failed to stop the executions. The men were electrocuted by the state of Virginia in February 1951.
Announcement of 2 interracial workshops – Jul. 1950
The civil rights group Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR), a pacifist group dedicated to non-violent social change, issue a call for interracial workshops in July 1950 following clashes during attempts to integrate public swimming pools in Washington, D.C. and St. Louis, MO and the subsequent closure of the pools.
The purpose of the workshops was to prepare participants to engage in a non-violent campaign to re-open the pools.
Participants were to be housed in an integrated hotel in the two cities that still largely practiced Jim Crow.
Workshop leaders included Mary McLeod Bethune, National Council of Negro Women; E. Franklin Frazier, Howard University Department of Sociology; Leon Ransom, counsel for the District of Columbia NAACP; representatives of the Hotel and Restaurant Workers Union; the Congress of Industrial Organizations; and U.S. Department of Justice; and Sushila Nayar, formerly Gandhi’s personal physician.
Why the Crusade on the Martinsville Seven – Nov. 1950
The Civil Rights Congress and the Virginia Committee to Save the Martinsville Seven publish a flyer November 8, 1950 explaining why the Virginia case of seven black men sentenced to death was important for the fight against white supremacy.
The Martinsville 7 were charged with the rape of a white woman, Ruby Stroud Floyd, in a black neighborhood of Martinsville, Virginia on January 8, 1949. After a long legal battle led by the NAACP and a grassroots campaign led by the Civil Rights Congress, the seven were executed in 1951 on February 2nd and February 5th.
Civil Rights Congress highlights Martinsville 7 case – Jan. 1951
The January 8, 1951 Charter Bulletin, newsletter of the Civil Rights Congress, features the Martinsville 7 case on the front page.
The Martinsville 7 were seven African American men convicted of raping a white woman in 1949 and sentenced to death.
All 45 men executed in Virginia’s electric chair up until 1951 for the crime of rape were black men convicted of assaulting white women.
A nationwide campaign by the Civil Rights Congress highlighted the issue of racial injustice, but failed to stop the executions.
The men were electrocuted by the state of Virginia in February 1951.
Civil Rights Congress takes on white supremacy – Feb. 1951
A Civil Rights Congress (CRC) flyer issued March-April 1951 on the execution of the Martinsville 7, Willie McGee’s pending execution and the re-trial of the Trenton 6.
Washington Mobilization to Free Willie McGee flyer – Mar. 1951
The Washington Mobilization to Free Willie McGee calls on demonstrators arriving for a “Peace Crusade” to support freedom for Willie McGee, a black man convicted of raping a white woman in Mississippi and sentenced to death.
The flyer called for a prayer vigil at the U.S. Supreme Court March 15th, lobbying Congress March 16th and a vigil in front of the White House. McGee was scheduled to be executed March 20th.
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black issued a stay, but the full Court would not hear the case. More demonstrations were held in D.C., including one in which protesters chained themselves to the Lincoln Memorial, but McGee was executed May 8, 1951.
Washington Mobilization to Free Willie McGee press release – Mar. 1951
The Washington Mobilization to Free Willie McGee writes two press releases March 15, 1951 about U.S. Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black and the case of Willie McGee.
The first press release that applauded Black for issuing a stay in the case was ultimately issued March 16, 1951 after Black acted on the petition. The other draft condemned Black and was not issued.
Jack Zucker, who issued the release, was the legislative director of the United Shoe Workers of America, CIO and a member of the Communist Party.
Marie Richardson flyer – Dec. 1951
As the Second Red Scare moved into full swing, authorities brought felony charges against Marie Richardson Harris for lying on a federal job application.
The federal government alleged she was a member of the Communist Party. Harris held the Library of Congress job for 2-3 months and handled no classified information.
However, she had been the first black woman to hold a full-time union position in a national union (United Federal Workers) and was executive secretary of the local National Negro Congress. She served 4 ½ years in prison.
The case of Marie Richardson Harris: The victim of a modern witch-hunt – 1952
The Committee to Defend Marie Richardson Harris publishes an 8-page description of the case and appeals for help defending Ms. Harris who was sentenced to prison for failing to disclose communist affiliations on a government job application.
As the Second Red Scare moved into full swing, authorities brought felony charges against Marie Richardson Harris for lying on a federal job application. The federal government alleged she was a member of the Communist Party. Harris held the Library of Congress job for 2-3 months and handled no classified information.
However, she had been the first black woman to hold a full-time union position in a national union (United Federal Workers) and was executive secretary of the local National Negro Congress. She served 4 ½ years in prison.
Her defense committee had a fundraiser broken up by D.C. police and itself was later designated as a subversive organization by the U.S. government.
DC Anti-Discrimination Pamphlet – 1952
The group headed by Mary Church Terrell, the Coordinating Committee for the Enforcement of D.C. Anti-Discrimination Laws, put out regular updates to the public about which restaurants served both black and white people.
The committee was conducting pickets and boycotts of those that operated Jim Crow. Most of the chain restaurants and lunch counters in the downtown area desegregated under this pressure prior to the group winning the Thompson’s Restaurant case in 1953 where the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Washington, D.C.’s so-called “lost laws” of 1872 and 1872 that banned discrimination in public accommodations.
Coordinating Committee for the Enforcement of the D.C. Anti-Discrimination Laws appeal – 1953
The U.S. Court of Appeals rules against the Coordinating Committee for the Enforcement of D.C. Anti-Discrimination Laws in the Thompson’s Restaurant case and the group puts out an appeal for funds.
The U.S. Supreme Court would later reverse that decision and uphold Washington, D.C.’s so-called “lost laws” of 1872 and 1872 that banned discrimination in public accommodations.
Civil Rights and Black Liberation After 1955
D.C. NAACP flyer for annual meeting and elections – 1957
A Washington, D.C. NAACP branch flyer advertising its annual meeting December 15, 1957 where the president of the organization gives an annual report and elections of officers are held.
The meeting was to be held at the Turner Memorial Church and 6th and Eye Streets NW. Eugene Davidson was elected as president of the branch to his sixth term.
Davidson was a long time civil rights advocate in the city who once headed the New Negro Alliance that organized boycotts of merchants that wouldn’t hire front line black employees while doing business in the black community.
The Afro American newspaper gave an account of the meeting and quotes Davidson’s report on the state or racial progress in the city in its December 28, 1957 edition
Flyer for the Youth March on Washington – 1959
A flyer for the April 18, 1959 Youth March on Washington to demand enforcement of the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court decision desegregating public schools and for civil rights legislation championed by the Republican leaders in Congress and supported by U.S. Rep. Adam Clayton Powell Jr. (D-N.Y.).
The flyer was published by the Youth March for Integrated Schools of New York.
The demonstration drew 26,000 people to Washington, D.C. April 18, 1959 as estimated by U.S. Park Police.
William Moore special supplement to CORE newsletter – 1963
A supplement to the regular CORE newsletter published in June 1963 chronicles the murder of Baltimore civil rights worker William Moore.
Moore worked in Baltimore as a letter carrier when he became involved in the civil rights movement there. He staged two lone marches—one to Annapolis and one to Washington, D.C. to deliver letters written by him urging the Maryland governor and the president to support civil rights.
He decided to stage a march through Alabama to see Mississippi Gov. Ross Barnett and deliver another letter. He was murdered near Reece City, Alabama August 23 1963.
Jazz benefit for Julius Hobson’s ACT – 1964
A flyer advertising a benefit jazz concert for ACT, a civil rights group initiated by Julius Hobson in the city after he was expelled by CORE earlier in the year, is scheduled for November 23 1968 at WUST at 9th and V Streets NW.
ACT was not an acronym and was the full name of the civil rights organization that existed briefly from 1964 until about 1968 with chapters in several cities. When other civil rights organizations began abandoning direct action after the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, ACT tried to pick up the slack.
The flyer corresponds with a campaign by ACT for a citizen review board of complaints of police brutality. ACT held a series of street corner meetings throughout the District of Columbia in 1964 where the demand was raised.
The image on the flyer shows a police officer firing a gun at a black person with an X over the police officer indicating ACT’s demand for an end to police brutality.
D.C. SNCC calls for anti-draft march – May, 1967
The Washington, D.C. Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee calls on black youth to protest the draft May 8, 1967 by joining a march from 14th and H Streets NE to the Rayburn Office Building.
About 100 students from different East Coast colleges marched from the Rosedale playground to the Rayburn Building where they were barred from entering the building or attending a hearing being conducted by U.S. Senator Mendel Rivers (D-S.C.) on the draft.
Call for a black power conference at Howard – May 1967
Huey LaBrie, one of the leaders of the student protests at Howard University in 1967 issues a call for a black power student conference to be held in Washington, D.C. May 19-21, 1967.
The informal conference was a run-up to the larger Newark Conference held in the summer ofr1967 that included the NAACP, The Urban League, Afro-American Unity, Harlem Mau and Maus along prominent leaders such as Jessie Jackson, Ron Karenga, Floyd McKissick, Rap Brown, and Charles 27X Kenyatta.
Following up the Newark conference, Stokely Carmichael (later Kwame Ture) pulled together a Black United Front in the District of Columbia in January 1968 that was intended to act as a unified voice for black people in the city.
LaBrie was the brother of Aubrie LaBrie who was a prominent black leader at San Francisco State University. Huey LaBrie was a leader of the 1967 Black Power Committee on the Howard campus along with Dr. Nathan Hare, Robin Gregory and others.
Appeal to those facing induction into the military: 1967 ca.
The Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and The Resistance publish a flyer handed out to draftees facing military induction outlining rights and appeals.
SNCC had morphed from a student civil rights organization into a Black liberation organization by 1967. It had always been opposed to the war in Vietnam. The Resistance was formed by four California-based anti-draft activists as a national network for direct action and non-cooperation with the Selective Service System.
Draft Resisters Need Your Support – Nov. 1967
As part of the leadup to draft resisters week Dec. 4-11, 1967, Ethel and Julius Weisser sponsor a support party held on Dec. 1st for Akida Kimani, a black liberation activist facing extradition to California for draft evasion.
Archie Stewart provided music for the event. Kimani made a name for himself as an activist/leader in the Afro American Association, a black self-help group formed in 1962 in California with chapters in a number of cities and a few overseas.
Ethel and Julius Weisser were long-time activists in a wide variety of social and economic causes in the Washington, D.C. area.
Ethel Weisser was once secretary of the Washington Area Committee to Abolish the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1950s and fought a D.C. ballot initiative on mandatory minimum sentencing in the 1980s,
Ethel Weisser also served as a spokesperson for the local chapter of the Grey Panthers for more than 25 years.
Stewart was a local jazz guitarist who was performing with The New Thing group at the time and became a fixture at clubs and coffeehouses in the city during the 1970s.
White Man’s Road Through Black Man’s Home – 1968
This is a poster designed by Sammie Abbott of the Emergency Committee for the Transportation Crisis in 1968 that encapsulated the group’s fight against planned freeways in the District of Columbia.
In January 1967, Abbott used the words “a white man’s road…through black men’s homes,” in testimony before the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) on the North Central Freeway.
Abbott may have used the words first, but Reginald Booker turned them into a slogan that galvanized black opposition to new highways and put the issue in stark racial terms. Abbott, a graphic arts designer, produced the dozens of posters and flyers that featured it.
The group would successfully lead a confrontational fight against new freeways, for public takeover of the private bus company and for construction of the new Metrorail system that resulted in almost complete victory against powerful opponents.
Flyer for the Poor People’s Campaign (national office) – 1968
An early flyer by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference national office in Atlanta, Ga. calling for a Poor People’s Campaign in Washington, D.C. in the spring of 1968.
The early demands were “jobs, income and a decent life.”
The six-week Poor People’s Campaign from May 21st until June 24th for economic justice and against the Vietnam War drew upwards of 100,000 people at its peak in addition to the 3,000 encamped on the national mall.
Flyer for the Poor People’s Campaign (Mississippi) – 1968
An early flyer by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in Grenada, Mississippi calling for a Poor People’s Campaign in Washington, D.C. in the spring of 1968.
The early demands were “Decent Jobs and Income!” and “The Right to a Decent Life.”
The six-week Poor People’s Campaign from May 21st until June 24th for economic justice and against the Vietnam War drew upwards of 100,000 people at its peak in addition to the 3,000 encamped on the national mall.
UMD Poor People’s Campaign support contacts – Mar. 1968
The University of Maryland Committee in Support of Dr. Martin Luther King’s Poor People’s Campaign publishes a list of College Park campus contacts in March 1968.
King would be assassinated prior to the campaign that brought several thousand people to Washington, D.C. who lived in plywood huts near the Lincoln Memorial May-June 1968 and conducted demonstrations and token civil disobedience throughout the city.
King had initially envisioned shutting down the city using civil disobedience to demand a minimum guaranteed income, among other demands, but those plans were abandoned after his death.
At its peak, the campaign drew upwards of 100,000 people to a rally.
Bob Simpson, a vintage and current Washington Area Spark contributor is listed as one of the contacts.
Marshals needed for Poor People’s Campaign – Mar. 1968 ca.
A plea for demonstration marshals is issued by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and the Poor People’s Campaign circa March 1968.
The flyer issues the plea in the name of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., indicating that it was printed prior to King’s assassination. Also of note is the plea for men—the movement for women’s equality had not yet come into full bloom.
The six-week Poor People’s Campaign from May 21st until June 24th for economic justice and against the Vietnam War drew upwards of 100,000 people at its peak in addition to the 3,000 encamped on the national mall.
UMD Poor People’s Campaign rally – Apr. 1968
An unsigned flyer, probably by the University of Maryland Committee in Support of Dr. Martin Luther King’s Poor People’s Campaign advertises a rally April 9, 1968 and calls on the school administration to open the campus for marchers to stay and to provide food and supplies.
King was assassinated days prior to the issuance of this flyer.
The campaign that brought several thousand people to Washington, D.C. who lived in plywood huts near the Lincoln Memorial May-June 1968 and conducted demonstrations and token civil disobedience throughout the city.
King had initially envisioned shutting down the city using civil disobedience to demand a minimum guaranteed income, among other demands, but those plans were abandoned after his death.
At its peak, the campaign drew upwards of 100,000 people to a rally.
Poor People’s Campaign questions and answers – Apr. 1968
The Poor People’s Campaign sets out its goals and beliefs in an 8 ½ x 11, four-page question-and-answer style flyer circa April 1968.
The six-week Poor People’s Campaign from May 21st until June 24th for economic justice and against the Vietnam War drew upwards of 100,000 people at its peak in addition to the 3,000 encamped on the national mall.
Poor People’s March timetable of events flyer – Apr. 1968
The Poor People’s Campaign of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) publishes on April 28, 1968 a six-page detailed timetable of the planned events of the campaign.
The six-week Poor People’s Campaign from May 21st until June 24th for economic justice and against the Vietnam War drew upwards of 100,000 people at its peak in addition to the 3,000 encamped on the national mall.
Poor People’s Campaign volunteer committees – Apr. 1968
The Poor People’s Campaign describes 18 volunteer committees to build the campaign in an 8 ½ x 11, three-page flyer circa April 1968.
The six-week Poor People’s Campaign from May 21st until June 24th for economic justice and against the Vietnam War drew upwards of 100,000 people at its peak in addition to the 3,000 encamped on the national mall.
Eldridge Cleaver speech flyer at American University – Oct. 1968
Black Panther Party Minister of Information Eldridge Cleaver, presidential candidate on the Peace and Freedom Party ticket and author of Soul on Ice is invited to speak on the American University campus in Washington, D.C.
The Panthers would establish a small chapter in the city in 1970 and prominent leaders, including David Hilliard, Huey Newton, Elbert “Big Man” Howard, Donald Cox, Eldridge Cleaver, and Kathleen Cleaver all made public appearances in the city.
American Independent Party candidate for President George Wallace handbill – Nov. 1968
A handbill passed out at polling places in Maryland November 5, 1968 for white supremacist candidate for president George Wallace who was running as a third-party candidate on the American Independent Party ticket.
Wallace hoped to garner enough electoral votes to throw the election into the House of Representatives where he could be a kingmaker and bargain to preserve white supremacy in the south. He won five southern states, but Richard M. Nixon won enough electoral votes to win the presidency.
Wallace ran behind both Nixon and Humbert Humphrey in Maryland in 1968, gaining about 170,000 votes to the other two nominees who each received about 470,000.
Farm Workers ‘Boycott Grapes’ flyer – 1969 ca.
A United Farm Workers Organizing Committee leaflet passed out in the Washington, D.C. are circa 1969 during the years-long boycott of California table grapes in an effort to secure a labor contract for farmworkers.
The United Farm Workers Organizing Committee (UFWOC) union reached a three-year contract with major grape growers in 1970 after years of struggle and a nationwide grape boycott.. They also expanded into the lettuce fields and into the Florida fruit groves and vegetable fields and became the United Farmworkers Union.
Original held in the Bonnie Atwood papers, 1965-2005, Collection, Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA.
Flyer and rallies call for King holiday – 1969
A flyer by the Metropolitan Community Aid Council calls for a national holiday and four Washington, D.C. community rallies April 4, 1969 on the one year anniversary of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s assassination
The early calls for a national holiday on the anniversary of his assassination later gave way to demands for a holiday on King’s birthday.
The original is held in the Bonnie Atwood papers, 1965-2005, Collection, Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA.
A Memorial to Malcolm X – May 1969
A flyer published by the Malcolm X Memorial Committee advertises two days of events in the Washington, D.C. area in May 1969 commemorating the slain Black nationalist leader and his birthday.
The D.C. Committee was headed by chair Jan Bailey and co-chair Jean Koko Hughes, two people closely associated with Black nationalist leader and former SNCC chair Stokely Carmichael and who often traveled with him.
The previous year the committee attempted to have merchants in the 7th Street and 14th Street corridors shut their businesses on May 19th (Malcolm X Birthday) to mixed success.
Original held in the Bonnie Atwood papers, 1965-2005, Collection, Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA.
A Freedom School at Eastern High School – Sept. 1969
A September 28, 1969 letter from Acting Director of the Washington, D.C. Freedom School Charles Robinson to students in the public school system urging them to join in establishing a Freedom School annex at Eastern High School
It became the first public school curriculum to be designed by students.
The program ran concurrently with D.C. school year, offering elective credit in lieu of elective courses from regular curriculum at Eastern High School.
Two 3-hour sessions daily in Black History, Black Literature, Black Philosophy, Community Organization, Third World Studies, Contemporary Problems, Economics, Black Art and Drama, Black Music, Swahili.
Original held in the Bonnie Atwood papers, 1965-2005, Collection, Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA.
Coolidge student march against the war flyer – Oct. 1969
A flyer advertises a demonstration held during the Vietnam Moratorium by black students at Coolidge High School in Washington, D.C. October 15, 1969.
Over 100 students from Coolidge High School sought to enter the White House grounds with a black pinewood coffin containing letters from students asking President Nixon to end the war.
Refused entry by White House guards, the students pressed forward anyway. Park and metropolitan police bolstered the guards and arrested three students and one passerby. 500 bystanders gathered around the confrontation angrily shouting at police to let the arrested students go.
D.C. WITCH urges participation in Panther defense – 1969
The Washington, D.C. Women’s International Conspiracy from Hell (WITCH) group issues a flyer calling on women to participate in a November 22, 1969 protest in New Haven, Conn. Against treatment of six Black Panther Party women that were imprisoned.
The reverse side of the flyer is a joint call by the New England Women’s Liberation Group and the Black Panther Party to join in the demonstration.
Freedom Seder – April 1969
The first Freedom Seder organized by Arthur Waskow and scheduled for April 4, 1969 at the Lincoln Memorial Temple in Washington, D.C. is advertised in this flyer.
Also advertised in the first Freedom Sedar are readings by Channing Phillips, Phillip Berrigan and Rabbi Balfour Brickner. The three would weave the theme of Black liberation into the story of Passover. Topper Carew also ended up participating along with others.
Black Panthers seek to recruit D.C. white student allies – Dec. 1969
During the Black Panther recruiting drive in December 1969 led by Jim Williams, the group also sought to set up an affiliated chapter of the National Committee to Combat Fascism (NCCF).
The flyer publicizes a number of events designed to familiarize area students with the Panthers and to recruit members to the NCCF chapter.
The tour came shortly after the Chicago police murder of Fred Hampton on Dec. 4thand this event is addressed on the reverse side of the flyer.
The NCCF only functioned for a short time, but the Panthers established a full-fledged chapter at their announcement of the Revolutionary People’s Constitutional Convention at the Lincoln Memorial in June 1970.
Flyer calling for a strike and school boycott on King’s birthday – 1970
A flyer calling calling for a work stoppage on the birthday of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr January 15, 1970 also advertises a rally at Howard University.
The work and school boycott achieved some success across the Washington, D.C. City agencies reported absenteeism as high as one-third of the normal staff. In the sanitation department where garbage collectors had which been designated as “essential” employees, 70 percent were absent.
Teachers across the city were absent in higher rates as well with the Washington Post reporting that 40 teachers were absent at the Moten Elementary school in Anacostia.
Students across the region also boycotted classes. The Washington Post reported that 800 students out of 2,400 at Eastern High School in the city were absent. “School attendance also declined in Arlington, Prince Georges and Fairfax counties, the newspaper reported.
Call to support the Panther New Haven 9 – Apr. 1970
An unsigned and undated flyer (circa April 1970) addressed primarily to the black community calling for rallying around the Black Panther Party New Haven 9 that including Panther chair Bobby Seale.
The flyer specifically addresses criticism from some sectors of the black community over the support of the Panthers’ white allies and is published just before a mass rally to coincide with the opening of the trial of Seale and Ericka Huggins.
Ericka Huggins, a D.C. native and a New Haven, Ct. Panther leader, and Seale were charged with the murder and kidnapping of an alleged police informant, Alex Rackley. Huggins was one of the main leaders of the New Haven Panther chapter. The trial resulted in a hung jury for the two and prosecutors dropped all charges against them shortly afterward.
Call to protect the D.C. Black Panther organizing office – Apr. 1970
An unsigned, undated flyer calling on supporters of the Black Panther Party to protect the Party organizing headquarters in Washington, D.C. and to attend the May 1, 1970 rally in New Haven, Ct. in support of Panther chair Bobby Seale and New Haven Panther leader Ericka Huggins.
For a period of days, white supporters sat outside the National Committee to Combat Fascism, the Panther organizing office, on 18th Street NW as a buffer against possible police action until the immediate threat subsided.
Carpools were organized from Washington, D.C. to New Haven where 15,000 demonstrated for the Panther leaders’ freedom. They had been charged with murder, but the trial resulted in a hung jury and charges were dropped thereafter.
The D.C. police did raid the Panther’s on July 4, 1970 while they were celebrating on the holiday with community members.
The flyer was probably published in late April 1970.
Remember the Augusta Six – May 1970
A rally is called at the University of Maryland College Park May 20, 1970 to honor the six slain black men in Augusta, Ga. who were shot to death by police—most apparently in the back—while they were protesting the violent death of a 16-year-old that was in police custody.
The campus was under martial law at the time following two weeks of confrontations between students and National Guard and police. Gatherings were prohibited. This is likely why the flyer is unsigned. The first demand of the 1970 student strike was the ending of repression of black people.
Black Panther Party call for a rally and press conference at the Lincoln Memorial – June 1970
The Black Panther Party issues a call for a rally and press conference at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. to be held June 19, 1970—Emancipation Day—to announce plans for a Revolutionary People’s Constitutional Convention.
The tabloid-sized call was put out by the D.C. chapter of the National Committee to Combat Fascism—a Panther allied group that permitted whites to join.
The broadside referred to Judge Julius Hoffman’s chaining Panther leader Bobby Seale to a chair during the trial of the Chicago 8:
“The shackling like a slave of Black Panther Party Chairman Bobby Seale is like the reincarnation of Dred Scott 1857. This brazen violation of Bobby Seale’s Constitutional rights exposes without a doubt that black people have no rights that the racist oppressor is bound to respect.”
The press conference drew about 1,000 people.
Black Panther Party Message to America – Jun. 1970
The Black Panther Party issues a “Message to America, delivered on the 107th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation at Washington, D.C., Capital of Babylon, world racism and imperialism, June 19, 1970.”
The proclamation was issued at a rally at the Lincoln Memorial atte4nded by about 1,000 people on the occasion of calling for Revolutionary People’s Constitutional Convention to write a new document outlining what a new America would look like.
Black Panther Party call for a Revolutionary Peoples Constitutional Convention – June 1970
The Black Panther Party issued its call for a Revolutionary People’s Constitutional Convention on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. June 19, 1970 (Juneteenth).
This tabloid size paper contains the proclamation and essays by Chair Huey Newton and Minister of Information Eldridge Cleaver.
D.C. Black Panther Party press release – July 1970
A press release by the newly formed Washington, D.C. chapter of the Black Panther Party issued July 5, 1970 after a raid by the D.C. police.
Call to plenary session of the Revolutionary Convention – Aug. 1970
The four regional offices of the Black Panther Party, including the southern regional office headquartered in Washington, D.C., publish this two-sided invitation to the plenary of the Revolutionary People’s Constitutional Convention to be held in Philadelphia, Pa. September 5-7, 1970.
Guide to the Philadelphia plenary of the Black Panther Revolutionary Convention – Sept. 3, 1970
A four-page pull-out guide produced by the alternative newspaper Philadelphia Plain Dealer to the Revolutionary People’s Constitutional Convention Plenary (RPCC) held in Philadelphia, Pa. Sept. 4-7 organized under the auspices of the Black Panther Party.
Contains the agenda, workshop information, maps of the city and convention proceedings, a guide to legal issues, a list of information centers and friendly nearby restaurants.
The Plenary of the RPCC was generally deemed a success by the 10,000 participants, but a coordinated effort to deny a venue for the convention itself held in Nov. 1970 in Washington, D.C. ultimately doomed the effort to adopt a unified platform for revolutionary groups.
Southern Regional Headquarters Black Panther Party on venue for planned revolutionary convention – Sept. 1970
A two-sided informational flyer put out by the Southern Regional headquarters of the Black Panther Party located in Washington, D.C. early in the battle (probably late Sept. 1970) over obtaining a venue for the planned Revolutionary People’s Constitutional Convention.
The reverse side of the flyer appeals for logistical support for the planned convention.
The Armory Board would turn down the Panthers, citing the need for the armory in the event the National Guard was called up to quell Panther violence.
The Panthers would also be turned down by the University of Maryland and would be rejected by Howard and American Universities as well. Howard demanded a large upfront cash payment bond far exceeding the resources of the Panthers.
The Panthers ultimately cobbled together churches and other facilities and held a semblance of a convention attended by a few thousand with workshops and the drafting of different parts of a revolutionary constitution, but a venue was never found for the requisite mass meetings.
Panther Trial News, What’s Really Happening at the Trial of Bobby and Ericka – Oct. 25, 1970
The October 25, 1970 edition of Panther Trial News, What’s Really Happening at the Trial of Bobby and Ericka covers two weeks of pretrial motions in the case of Black Panther leaders Ericka Huggins and Bobby Seale.
One of the motions involved a defense effort to have charges dropped due to the inability to get a fair trial due to pre-trial publicity.
The other motion sought to show that the defendants couldn’t get a fair trial because the jury selection system was biased against black people.
In May 1971 the jury deadlocked 11 to 1 for Seale’s acquittal and 10 to 2 for Huggins’ acquittal. Prosecutors dropped the charges shortly afterward.
D.C. Black Panther Party free children’s breakfast program – Oct. 1970
Although the D.C. chapter only formed a few months previously, this flyer announces the opening of a second location for the Black Panther Party free breakfast for children program. One at their Community Center at 1932 17th Street NW and the other at 2804 14th Street NW.
Black Panther Party calls for rally at Malcolm X Park – Oct. 1970
The Black Panther Party calls for a rally at Malcolm X Park protesting the failure of the D.C. Armory Board to permit the Panthers to use the facility for the planned Revolutionary People’s Constitutional Convention.
The Panthers would also be rejected by the University of Maryland, Howard University and American University before cobbling together several church venues and a private school.
However none of the facilities had the capacity to host the necessary mass meetings and the attempted convention ultimately did not achieve its goals.
Draft explanation of Panther RPCC convention – Oct. 1970
A short draft flyer explaining the Revolutionary People’s Constitutional Convention (RPCC) in Washington, D.C. was written circa October 1970 probably by Craig Newman of the Mother Bloor Collective.
The flyer explains the need for a new U.S. constitution and explains the plenary session held in September in Philadelphia and the upcoming RPCC sponsored by the Black Panther Party in November.
Mother Bloor was formed in the main by former University of Maryland student activists as one of many Marxist-Leninist collectives that sprung up around the country in the late 1960s and early 1970s during the height of the anti-Vietnam War and Black power movements.
Maryland’s Mother Bloor Collective and DRUM defend Panther’s RPCC – Oct. 1970
The Democratic Radical Union of Maryland (DRUM) and the Ella Reeve Bloor Collective (Mother Bloor) publish an explanation of the Black Panther Party-sponsored Revolutionary People’s Constitutional Convention plenary session in Philadelphia, Pa. and re-iterate that the full convention scheduled for Washington, D.C. in November 1970 will be held.
Due to political pressure from the federal government and local authorities, suitable venues in the Washington, D.C. area, including Howard University, the University of Maryland and the D.C. Armory all rejected the Panther convention. While several thousand streamed into the city and small activities were held, no plenary session was ever convened.
On the back side of the flyer are hand-written lyrics to a song popularized by the Weather Underground: Red Party Fights to Win.
Panther Defense Committee reprint of a Washington Post editorial on freedom of assembly – Oct. 1970
Panther Defense Committee reprint of a Washington Post editorial on freedom of assembly: Oct. 1970
The Black Panther Defense Committee publishes a flyer reprinting an October 16, 1970 editorial condemning the D.C. Armory for refusing to host the Panther-sponsored Reovlutionary People’s Constitutional Convention scheduled for Washington, D.C. in November.
The flyer declares that the convention will not be stopped and “will be held if it has to be held in the streets.” It also makes an appeal for funds.
Revolutionary People’s Constitutional Convention Plenary workshop reports – Nov. 1970
An unsigned document provides workshop reports and notes from the plenary session of the Revolutionary People’s Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia held Sept. 5-7, 1970 for the upcoming Constitutional Convention scheduled in Washington, D.C. Nov. 27-29, 1970.
The convention was an attempt by the Black Panther Party to unite disparate elements of a larger “movement” and provide a revolutionary blueprint for future struggle.
The Washington convention faltered when a large venue could not be secured due in part to FBI and other federal interference.
The Washington convention concluded without formalizing a revolutionary constitution.
The workshop reports include the following areas:
Women
Gay Men
Lesbian
Control of the means of production
Control and use of the land
Control and use of the military
Internationalism
Self determination for minorities
Self determination for street people
The family and the rights of children
Revolutionary Artist
Religious Oppression/New Humanism
Drugs
Health
Noticeably absent was any discussion of the environment nor a specific workshop on law enforcement, education, housing, guaranteed national income, or social security/pensions.
Revolutionary People’s Constitutional Convention bumper sticker – Nov. 1970
A bumper sticker for the Black Panther Party—sponsored Revolutionary People’s Constitutional Convention in Washington, D.C. to be held November 27-29 1970 at an as yet unidentified location does not have a credit line but was probably the Panthers..
A suitable venue was never found with the D.C. Armory Board, Howard University and the University of Maryland rejecting the group, among others.
The convention was cobbled together at various churches through the city, but was unable to hold a mass gathering of the several thousand who arrived in the city.
As a result of having no venue, there was no vote or amendments or discussion of the results of the Philadelphia plenary session held in September or the workshops held in Washington, D.C.
Black Panthers call for D.C. Revolutionary Convention – Nov. 1970
The Ministry of Information for the Black Panther Party issues a call for a Revolutionary People’s Constitutional Convention in Washington, D.C. to be held November 27-29 1970 at an as yet unidentified location.
This 11 x 17 pamphlet contained a long treatise on the way forward for revolutionaries. Unfortunately several pages are missing from this copy.
However, enough remains that lays out a critique of Marxism in the U.S. that can be identified with the Eldridge Cleaver trend within the party.
The tract posits that the lumpen proletariat (long-term unemployed, petty criminals) are the revolutionary class in the United States and specifically criticizes predominantly white left-wing groups that upheld the working class.
Revolutionary People’s Constitutional Convention handout – Nov. 1970
This 4-page unsigned handout expresses the views of the Black Panther Party and was probably published by that organization.
It was part of the package of materials given to people who registered for the Revolutionary People’s Constitutional Convention in November 1970.
RPCC women’s workshop issues statement of solidarity with Panthers – Nov. 1970
The women’s workshop of the Revolutionary People’s Constitutional Convention issues a statement of solidarity with the Black Panther Party during the Nov. 27-29 convention.
The Jewish Urban Guerrilla and the Revolutionary People’s Constitutional Convention – Nov. 1970
The Jews for Urban Justice put out a flyer In November 1970 for a series of workshops held simultaneously with the Revolutionary People’s Constitutional Convention in Washington, D.C. posing the question, “Is it possible to be a revolutionary, support the Panthers, and still be a Jew?” among other topics.
The group was formed in the summer of 1968 to oppose anti-black racism from white Jewish landlords and business owners.
The JUJ was a key organizer of a Freedom Sedar that drew over 800 diverse people in 1969 and participated in the Poor People’s Campaign, welfare rights and the Delano grape boycott, among other activities. Its most prominent member was Arthur Waskow, a founder of the Institute for Policy Studies and a long-time left-wing activist.
Position paper on workers for Revolutionary People’s Constitutional Convention: 1970
The Democratic Radical Union of Maryland (DRUM), a primarily student group based at UMD College Park, puts out a flyer outlining its position on workers for the Revolutionary Peoples’ Constitutional Convention scheduled for Nov. 27-29 in Washington, D.C
The convention was spearheaded by the Black Panther Party.
It calls for workers control of the means of production, minority guaranteed a proportional share of work and decision-making, guaranteed employment, a national production plan, and guaranteed education and training.
Angela Answers 13 Questions – Circa Nov. 1970
A four-page tabloid-size pamphlet produced by the Baltimore and Washington, D.C. Committees to Free Angela Davis reprints a Joe Walker interview with Davis conducted for Muhammad Speaks—the newspaper of the Nation of Islam.
It was the first wide-ranging interview conducted with the open Communist Party member Davis following her October 13, 1970 arrest for “aggravated kidnapping and first degree murder” for the attempted escape of Jonathan Jackson and two other prisoners in California during which they were killed along with a judge they had kidnapped.
Prosecutors alleged she provided the weapons used by the prisoners in the attempted escape. A nationwide “Free Angela” movement followed.
She was acquitted in a high profile June 1972 trial and continues to be active in social justice causes.
D.C. Patriot Party distributes ‘Free Bobby Seale’ flyer – 1971
A flyer published by the Patriot Party, a white left-wing revolutionary organization aligned with the Black Panther Party, that was distributed in the greater Washington, D.C. area in 1971 and calls for freedom for Bobby Seale, a Panther leader.
The Patriot Party organized in the Washington, D.C. area 1970-71 out of the Panther office and their Community Center focusing are far southeast Washington where working class whites still lived and the inner suburbs of Prince George’s County.
The Patriots struggled in the D.C. as Arthur Turco, one of the leaders of the national organization, was indicted in May 1970 for ordering the killing of Baltimore Black Panther suspected of being an informant. The indictment of Turco and a number of Baltimore Panthers consumed much of the effort by Patriot organizers in the Washington area.
The organization was not related to the later right wing organization of the same name.
Call for an anti-Klan rally in Maryland – 1971
A flyer for an anti-Klan demonstration sponsored by Youth Against War and Fascism (YAWF) in Rising Sun, Maryland June 19, 1971.
About two miles outside of town, a counter-demonstration of about 50 organized by YAWF picketed the Klan picnic held prior to their scheduled night rally and cross burning.
The demonstration was held on a ten foot strip of land between the road and George Boyle farm fence on Sylmar Road. The state had erected “no parking” signs only days before and stationed state troopers nearby. Demonstrators were forced to have several vans drive back and forth along the narrow road in the event of trouble.
The only incident occurred when a young Klansman spit across the fence at demonstrators. The night rally brought Robert Shelton, Imperial Wizard of the United Klans of America, to the farm for hate speeches and their cross burning before a crowd of several hundred.
Fight the Energy Freeze: Jan – 1974
The D.C. branch of the African Liberation Support Committee puts its turn toward Marxism into practice as it issues a flyer January 26, 1974 calling for a meeting at Pride, Inc. to fight the energy crisis.
Annapolis Report, Vol. 2. No. 2 – Feb. – 1974
The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Maryland Public Employees Council 67 reports in its February 12, 1974 legislative newsletter on its efforts to convince the state legislature to declare Rev. Martin Luther King’s birthday a state holiday.
The Maryland House and Senate later passed the bill making Maryland the second state to honor Dr. King’s civil rights legacy in 1974.
Baraka’s vision for Congress of Afrikan People – Mar. 1974
Imamu Amiri Baraka writes a short analysis of the situation facing black revolutionaries that is delivered to the Congress of Afrikan People (CAP) in March 1974 and represents the transformation of the organization from a pan-Africanist, black nationalist organization to a Marxist-Leninist.
Baraka’s gives his analysis of the current situation and lays out a political program and organizational program to further the cause of black liberation.
Specifically he calls for expanding CAP cadre and working within the African Liberation Support Committee and the broader National Black Political Assembly.
CAP would ultimately re-name itself the Revolutionary Communist League (Marxist-Leninist-Mao Tse-tung Thought), later merging into the League of Revolutionary Struggle (Marxist-Leninist) before that group split. Part of the League joined the Freedom Road Socialist Organization.
African liberation activist D.C. newspaper – May 1974
The Washington, D.C. chapter of the African Liberation Support Committee (ALSC) briefly published a tabloid newspaper in 1974 called Finally Got the News named after the film of the same name that depicted the League of Revolutionary Black Workers struggle in Detroit.
The large African Liberation Day rally in 1972 was the driver behind forming the national ALSC composed mainly of pan-Africanists and black nationalists.
By 1973 a split was developing within the ALSC over working with white organizations that supported African liberation as urged by some leaders of the movements in Guinea-Bissau and Mozambique.
Read the local Finally Got the News May 1974 issue to understand the shift in emphasis to the black working class along with supporting African liberation.
Call to march against white supremacy in Boston – Dec. 1974
The Emergency Committee for a National Mobilization Against Racism issues a call to march in Boston Dec. 14, 1974 after white mobs hurled racial epithets and attacked school buses carrying black children at the South Boston High School.
Four buses left Washington, D.C. carrying about 180 people while dozens more made the drive up the east coast to join an estimated 15,000 demonstrators who ranged from pacifists to Marxist poet Amiri Baraka.
Comedian and activist Dick Gregory told the crowd, “Let’s not fool ourselves, the schools in South Boston are just as bad as the schools in Roxbury. What we really want is an end to bad schooling.”
CAP offers critical support for Boston busing march – Dec. 1974
The Congress of Afrikan People (CAP) issues a flyer offering critical support to a march against racism in Boston, Massachusetts at the height of the Boston busing crisis where thousands of white parents and students fought against integration of schools in that city in 1974-75.
CAP called for upholding the right of all students to attend any school, but called the focus misplaced and instead put forth the demand of a decent education for all students, black and white.
CAP was a Black Marxist-Leninist organization headed by renowned poet Amiri Baraka. It eventually became the League of Revolutionary Struggle and later many of its member joined the Freedom Road Socialist Organization.
Wilmington 10 brochure – May 1975
A 1975 brochure issued by the National Alliance Against Racism and Political Repression (NAARPR) calls for a demonstration in Washington, D.C. to support the Wilmington 10—Rev. Ben Chavis, eight Black high school students and one White woman–charged with arson and conspiracy during racial disturbances in Wilmington, N.C. in 1971.
The May 31, 1975 rally drew over 1,000 to Lafayette Park where they heard speeches by Communist Party Black leader Angela Davis and Joan Little, whose 1974 acquittal in North Carolina for killing a jail guard during an attempted rape drew national attention.
The NAARPR’s brochure attempts to link the state of North Carolina’s long battle to attain low-wages in their factories to the repression of the 10 defendants.
I Am We newsletter—Huey Newton and Panther support committee: 1975
The Committee for Justice for Huey P. Newton and the Black Panther Party publishes its third newsletter May-June 1975.
“I Am We,” the national newsletter published in Oakland, Ca,. contains reports of a call for an investigation into CIA “abuses against minority and civil rights organizations” and poetry from Huey Newton, including “Revolutionary Suicide.”
Congress of Afrikan People Unity & Struggle newspaper: 1976
The May 1976 issue of Unity and Struggle—the newspaper of the Congress of Afrikan People (CAP) led by Imamu Amiri Baraka.
CAP was at this point a Marxist-Leninist organization that followed the positions of the People’s Republic of China, including accepting the so-called three-worlds theory where the U.S. and the Soviet Union were equal enemies of people world-wide.
As one of three marches on African Liberation Day in 1976, the African Liberation Support Committee marched from the White House to Malcolm X Park. By this point in time the ALSC had come to be dominated by organizations and individuals learning toward Maoism, including CAP and Baraka.
Call to protest U.S. visit of South African official Pik Botha – May 1981
The Coalition to Stop U.S.-South African Collaboration issues a flyer to protest the state visit of the White-supremacist regime Minister of Foreign Affairs Pik Botha in Washington, D.C. May 14, 1981.
The coalition was composed of D.C. Bank Campaign, Southern Africa Support Project, Trans Africa and the Washington Office on Africa.
Botha was invited to the White House to confer with U.S. President Ronald Reagan after meeting with Secretary of State Alexander Haig earlier in the day.
Martin Luther King Jr. birthday celebration: 1992
A 1992 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. birthday celebration at Howard University’s Crampton Auditorium featuring Mint Condition.
Singer Chris Walker received second bill. Both Mint Condition and Chris Walker had released popular albums at the time and were a big draw for the event.
King’s birthday became a federal holiday in 1986.
Communists
The Communist Party’s Third Period
The Communist Party in the U.S. was the leading activist organization in the country from its formation in 1919 into the 1950s when it fell victim to an anti-communist crusade and internal divisions that decimated the organization.
It was supplanted by activist civil rights organizations like SCLC, CORE and later SNCC and the Students for Democratic Society and other “New Left” organizations in the 1960s. The Third Period was an analysis adopted by the Communist International (Comintern) at its Sixth World Congress, held in Moscow in the summer of 1928. The Comintern’s made an economic and political analysis of world capitalism that divided recent history into three periods.
The “First Period” that followed World War I was defined by a revolutionary upsurge that saw a brief seizure of power by the working class in Germany, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, and Iran and failed revolutionary attempts in Finland, Italy, Netherlands, Bessarabia, Georgia, Estonia and Belgium.
The “Second Period” saw capitalist consolidation for most of the decade of the 1920s.
The “Third Period,” according to the Comintern’s analysis began from 1928 onward and was to be a time of widespread economic collapse and mass working class radicalization. This economic and political discord would again make the time ripe for proletarian revolution if militant policies were rigidly maintained by communist vanguard parties, the Comintern believed.
The analysis initially seemed accurate as the Great Depression swept Western economies.
Communist policies during the Third Period were marked by a denunciation of reformism and political organizations espousing which was seen as an impediment to the movement’s revolutionary objectives. While the analysis was accurate in understanding the coming crisis of capitalism, revolution did not occur in any Western countries.
The errors in understanding conditions led the Comintern to believe that the 1932 Bonus March in the U.S., with thousands of veterans gathering in the nation’s capital, was a revolutionary situation.
The rise of the Nazi Party to power in Germany in 1933 and destruction of the largest organized communist movement in the West there shocked the Comintern into re-assessing the tactics of the Third Period.
From 1934, new alliances began to be formed under the aegis of the so-called “Popular Front” against fascism. The Popular Front policy was formalized as the official policy of the world communist movement by the Seventh World Congress of the Comintern in 1935. Third period documents available:
Stop lynching; demand death penalty – 1931
A flyer advertising a December 29, 1931 Washington, D.C. meeting sponsored by communist aligned groups to protest recent lynchings is shown above.
The flyer demands the death penalty for the murderers of Matthew Williams in Salisbury, Maryland and Sam Jackson and George Banks in Lewisburg, West Virginia.
The League of Struggle for Negro Rights, the International Labor Defense and the Scottsboro Defense Committee were all communist-led organizations.
Toward a Soviet America by William Z Foster – 1932
This book documents the rise of socialism in the Soviet Union, the crisis facing capitalism, the need for revolution, and a vision of what a socialist society would be like in the United States.
The book also attacks social-democrats and liberals calling them “Social Fascists” because they seek to give the masses concessions in order to calm them and prevent communist revolution. It is probably the best-known book published by the Communist Party, USA.
Foster organized the packing house workers along industrial lines during World War I and led the failed steel strike of 1919 that also organized workers along industrial lines. It would be another 20 years before Foster’s industrial strategy was successful.
He served as chair of the Communist Party USA from 1924-34 and from 1945-57.
Highway of Hunger: The Story of America’s Homeless Youth by Dave Doren – 1933
This pamphlet portrays a bleak future for youth whether they are the children of unemployed or college graduates—unless a revolution led by the Communist Party prevails. Doran joined the Young Communist League in 1930 and went to the Deep South to build up membership of the YCL among the unemployed.
In Scottsboro, Alabama, he was beaten up after he became involved in the campaign to free the “Scottsboro Boys.” In 1931 he joined the Communist Party USA and worked as a trade union organizer with agricultural workers in Alabama, textile workers in North Carolina) and coal miners in Pennsylvania).
By 1936 he was the party’s director of trade union activities. He joined the Abraham Lincoln Brigade to fight fascism in Spain. After showing heroism in a number of battles, he was promoted to political commissioner for a battalion.
He was believed to be captured and executed on April 2, 1938 in Gandesa, during the Retreats phase of the Spanish Civil War.
Plenum of the Executive Committee of the Communist International and Draft Resolution of the 8th Convention of the Communist Party, USA – Mar. 1934
These were two documents produced at the end of the third period and reiterate the premises of the 1928 analysis with few changes. In practice, the formation of a united front against fascism began to be implemented in 1934 but these documents had not caught up to the times.
Following the Nazi seizure of power in Germany in 1933 and the subsequent crushing of the Communist Party in Germany—the largest in the West—caused Soviet leader Josef Stain to rethink whether a revolutionary situation, in fact, had developed.
He came to the conclusion that the greatest danger lay in the development of fascism in the advanced capitalist countries and began urging an anti-fascist alliance with sections of the capitalists that were opposed to fascism. It was widely called the “Popular Front.”
Virginia communists denounce Heller bill – 1940
The Virginia Communist Party issues a lengthy statement March 11, 1940 condemning the General Assembly for passing the so-called Heller Bill that would deny public facilities to communists or others.
Specifically, the bill would have instructed “custodians of all public buildings in Virginia” to deny the use of such buildings to anyone who “advocate, advise or teach the doctrine that the government of the United States or the Commonwealth of Virginia, or any political subdivision thereof should be overthrown or overturned by force violence or any unlawful means.”
After it passed the state senate without fanfare, a campaign was launched to defeat the bill in the Virginia House of Delegates.
Delegate Francis Pickins Miller of Fairfax called it “a departure from the policies this state has cherished for three centuries” and declared it would “create a new public officer in Virginia, the custodian of dangerous thoughts.”
Gov. James Price ultimately vetoed the bill in a victory for the communists and civil liberties advocates.
The “Popular Front” briefly dissolved from 1939-41 after the Soviet Union reached a non-aggression pact with Nazi Germany giving more impetus to anti-communist legislation, including the Smith Act which was enacted into law by Congress in 1940.
Liquidation of the U.S. Communist Party
After pursuing the Popular Front strategy for 10 years, CPUSA chair Earl Browder formulated a new analysis after the Teheran conference in 1943 between Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt and Josef Stalin.
The Teheran conference cemented the World War II alliance between England, the United States and the Soviet Union and Browder believed that a permanent truce had been arranged between the anti-fascist capitalists and the communists. He proposed liquidating the U.S. Communist Party and replacing it with a Communist Political Association that would act as a kind of “left wing” of both the Democratic and Republican Parties.
Only a few U.S. communists in leadership positions opposed the change; notably William Z. Foster, the former chair; Anna Damon, executive secretary of the International Labor Defense and Sam Darcy, a communist leader who led the 1930 unemployed march in New York and played a key role in the West Coast Longshore strike of 1934.
A Communist Party convention in 1944 completed the transformation. After World War II ended, it became clear that the United States and the Soviet Union would be in competition although it was not yet clear that a complete break would occur.
A letter was circulated among high party officials in Moscow denouncing Browder’s move to dissolve the party. It was partially based on Foster’s opposition to Browder’s move. French communist leader Jacques Duclos put his name to the letter and released it publicly.
The CPUSA was reconstituted and Browder expelled. However, there was little time for the party to come to terms with the easy acceptance of Browder’s liquidation of the organization before the Cold War and anti-communist hysteria swept the US in the late 1940s.
Many later analysts believe this left the communists unprepared for the onslaught they would face and in the end, leave them marginalized.
Popular Front documents available:
Invitation to Join the Communist Party by Robert Minor – 1943
The pamphlet wraps itself in the American flag and closely hues the Popular Front thesis. There is no real mention of revolution or socialism and the tract puts forward several important, but ultimately reformist demands.
Liquidation of the Communist Party documents available:
Shall the Communist Party Change Its Name? – Essays by Earl Browder, Eugene Dennis, Roy Hudson and John Williamson – Feb. 1944
Party chair Earl Browder and other U.S. communist leaders argue that the Communist Party should turn itself into a communist political association–essentially a left-wing caucus within the Democratic and Republican parties. No longer will candidates run on the Communist Party ballot line and the organization will open itself up to non-communists.
Communist Political Association – Oct. 1944
After the U.S. Communist Party is dissolved and replaced by the Communist Political Association, the new Maryland group unabashedly pushes Franklin Roosevelt for President while putting forward an eight-point political program that it asks congressional candidates from both parties to embrace.
U.S. Communist Party during the 2nd Red Scare
After World War II, the former allies of the U.S. and the Soviet Union quickly became in competition with each other, particularly after the U.S. promulgated the Marshall Plan designed to rebuild Western Europe along a capitalist economy.
The most provocative part of the plan offered the same type of aid to some Eastern European countries that it had earlier agreed would be in the Soviet sphere of influence.
Once the dividing line became clear, both Republican and Democrats took aim at the U.S. Communist Party with a series of laws and propaganda designed to discredit the party.
Where once the party had been a very junior partner in the Roosevelt New Deal, it now had a target on its back. Dozens were jailed, hundreds lost their jobs and countless more who were not communists at all had their reputations besmirched. Eleven unions were forced out of the mainstream labor movement that represented about 3.5 million members.
Many have charged that the execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg was primarily designed to send a message to communists and supporters in the U.S.
Virginia House Bill No. 6 criminalizing beliefs – Jan. 1948
House Bill No. 6, introduced January 15, 1948 in the House of Delegates of the Virginia General Assembly, seeks to criminalize beliefs—particularly the belief in the necessity of overthrowing the existing government of Virginia or the United States.
Further, mere membership in or aiding or abetting a group that believes in replacing the current government is considered felony criminal behavior under the bill.
The bill was introduced by Del. Frank P Moncure of Stafford and Del. Baldwin G Locher of Rockbridge County. Moncure said on the floor of the House, “Mr. Locher and myself have today introduced a bill which has for its purpose the barring of communism from the state off Virginia, and to outlaw the Communist Party…”
Penalties of from 3 to 5 years and fines up to $1,000 are provided for violators of the act.
A version of the bill ultimately passed in 1950 and remains part of the Virginia code.
‘Five Men on a Hunger Strike’ – Mar. 1948
The American Committee for Protection of Foreign Born issues a tri-fold 8 ½ x 11 pamphlet describing the pending deportation cases of five left-wing leaders in the U.S. in 1948 and appeals for support.
The four, Gerhard Eisler a longtime Communist Party member in Austria, Germany and the United States; John Williamson, labor secretary for the Communist Party, Ferdinand C. Smith, Secretary of the National Maritime Union, CIO and Charles A. Doyle, vice president of the United Gas, Coke and Chemical Workers, CIO. A fifth labor leader, Irving Potash, manager of the Furriers Joint Council, was also slated for deportation.
Smith was the highest-ranking African American in the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) at the time.
The hunger strike ended when the four (Potash was released earlier) were granted bail on March 6th. However, all were ultimately forced out of the country at various times in the 1950s.
D.C. May Day Rally flyer – 1948
A May Day rally flyer sponsored by the Communist Party of the District of Columbia around the demands of D.C. suffrage, against Jim Crow, for equal rights, for peace—against the war makers.
The rally was to be held at the National Press Building May 2, 1948.
Daily Worker on U.S. communist leaders’ arrest – Jul. 1948
The Daily Worker, publication of the Communist Party USA, reports on the initial arrest of its leaders July 21, 1948 for advocating overthrow of the U.S. government as defined under the Smith Act.
The issue also contains a statement issued by the Communist Party on the arrest of their leaders.
House Un-American Activities Committee anti-communist guide – Jun. 1948
“100 Things You Should Know About Communism in the USA.” is published by the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) June 17, 1948.
The 32-page guide posed questions on how you can tell if someone is a communist and listed what it said were the principal communist officers, both nationally and locally.
It was the first of a series of handbooks on communism to be published by the congressional committee and was later updated at least once in subsequent years.
Those named for the Maryland and District of Columbia district of the Communist Party located at 210 West Franklin Street, Baltimore, Md., and 527 Ninth Street NW, Washington, D.C. were:
Chairman (district)—Phil Frankfeld
Secretary (district)—Dorothy Blumberg
Chairman (District of Columbia section)—William Taylor
Vice chairman (District of Columbia section)—William S. Johnson
Secretary (District of Columbia section)—Elizabeth Searle
Treasurer (District of Columbia section)—Mary Stalcup
Literary director (District of Columbia section)—Casey Gurewitz
Cumberland organizer—Mel Fiske
Director, membership committee—Constance Jackson
Marie Richardson flyer – Dec. 1951
As the Second Red Scare moved into full swing, authorities brought felony charges against Marie Richardson Harris for lying on a federal job application. The federal government alleged she was a member of the Communist Party. Harris held the Library of Congress job for 2-3 months and handled no classified information.
However, she had been the first black woman to hold a full-time union position in a national union (United Federal Workers) and was executive secretary of the local National Negro Congress.
She served 4 ½ years in prison.
The case of Marie Richardson Harris: The victim of a modern witch-hunt – 1952
The Committee to Defend Marie Richardson Harris publishes an 8-page description of the case and appeals for help defending Ms. Harris who was sentenced to prison for failing to disclose communist affiliations on a government job application.
As the Second Red Scare moved into full swing, authorities brought felony charges against Marie Richardson Harris for lying on a federal job application. The federal government alleged she was a member of the Communist Party. Harris held the Library of Congress job for 2-3 months and handled no classified information.
However, she had been the first black woman to hold a full-time union position in a national union (United Federal Workers) and was executive secretary of the local National Negro Congress. She served 4 ½ years in prison.
Her defense committee had a fundraiser broken up by D.C. police and itself was later designated as a subversive organization by the U.S. government.
Maryland Civil Rights Congress calls for Rosenberg clemency – 1953 ca.
The newly formed affiliate of the Civil Rights Congress issues a press release calling on Maryland Gov. Theodore McKeldin to urge clemency and President Dwight Eisenhower to grant clemency to Julius and Ethel Rosenberg following the U.S. Supreme Court’s refusal to hear their case.
The Rosenbergs were convicted of passing atomic secrets to the Soviet Union during the second Red Scare and executed in 1953 despite a world-wide campaign for clemency..
NLRB non-communist affidavit – circa 1955
The Taft-Harley Act passed in 1948 prohibited members of the Communist Party from holding labor union office if the union were to use provisions of the National Labor Relations Act.
It required officers to sign a “non-communist affidavit” in order for the union to be eligible for National Labor Relations Board services and the use of the law in disputes with employers.
The unions of the American Federation of Labor quickly agreed to this, but the Congress of Industrial Organizations briefly resisted and tried to use non-compliance with signing the affidavit as a direct action way of neutralizing other anti-labor provisions in the Taft-Hartley Act such as prohibition on secondary boycotts, sympathy strikes, authorization for states to enact so-called “right to work” laws, among others.
The refusal to sign quickly collapsed as major unions such as the United Auto Workers signed and anti-communist fervor swept the U.S. It wasn’t long before the CIO expelled or forced out 11 major national unions for alleged communist-domination and all the remaining union leaders signed the affidavits.
Many mark the decline of the labor movement to the Taft Harley Act and the inability of labor to wage effective resistance.
The New Communist Movement
The student upsurge in the mid and late 1960s produced a number of groups that styled themselves as anti-revisionist–those who rejected the Soviet Union’s state as going against Marxist-Leninist principles and headed toward restoration of capitalism in the Soviet Union.
At one time the largest of these groups, the Revolutionary Union that subsequently evolved into the Revolutionary Communist Party sunk roots into the working class, established a student group and other organizations in other strata of society, did work among artists, poets and singers and mimicked in many ways the U.S. Communist Party of the Third Period.
New Communist Movement documents
Mother Jones collective exposes alleged police agent – 1970 ca.
The Mother Jones Collective in Baltimore, a Marxist-Leninist formation that grew out of the student movement, puts out a flyer describing a suspected police agent named John Shaw circa 1970.
The Mother Jones collective along with the Mother Bloor collective in Maryland were typical formations that grew out of the student movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s that laid some of the basis for the new communist movement of the 1970s.
The Mother Jones collective held Marxist-Leninist study sessions, developed communist work at factories, shipyards other places of employment in Baltimore, held rallies and demonstrations and defended the Baltimore Black Panther office among other activities.
Call for an anti-imperialist contingent in national antiwar march – May 1972
A flyer by the Attica Brigade, a youth group associated with the Maoist Revolutionary Union calls on people to join an anti-imperialist contingent in a larger march on Washington, D.C. to oppose the Vietnam War May 21, 1972.
While speeches took place before a crowd of 10-15,000 on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol, several thousand in the anti-imperialist contingent tossed rocks, bottles and other projectiles while police responded with clubs and tear gas.
D.C. police chief Jerry Wilson was hit six times with objects including a wooden stick that caused blood to run down his face.
Wilson was quoted, “They usually run when I walk toward them. This time they threw bigger rocks.”
A dozen police officers were injured and 178 protesters were arrested during the confrontation.
Baraka’s vision for Congress of Afrikan People – Mar. 1974
Imamu Amiri Baraka writes a short analysis of the situation facing black revolutionaries that is delivered to the Congress of Afrikan People (CAP) in March 1974 and represents the transformation of the organization from a pan-Africanist, black nationalist organization to a Marxist-Leninist.
Baraka’s gives his analysis of the current situation and lays out a political program and organizational program to further the cause of black liberation.
Specifically he calls for expanding CAP cadre and working within the African Liberation Support Committee and the broader National Black Political Assembly.
CAP would ultimately re-name itself the Revolutionary Communist League (Marxist-Leninist-Mao Tse-tung Thought), later merging into the League of Revolutionary Struggle (Marxist-Leninist) before that group split. Part of the League joined the Freedom Road Socialist Organization.
CAP offers critical support for Boston busing march – Dec. 1974
The Congress of Afrikan People (CAP) issues a flyer offering critical support to a march against racism in Boston, Massachusetts at the height of the Boston busing crisis where thousands of white parents and students fought against integration of schools in that city in 1974-75.
CAP called for upholding the right of all students to attend any school, but called the focus misplaced and instead put forth the demand of a decent education for all students, black and white.
CAP was a Black Marxist-Leninist organization headed by renowned poet Amiri Baraka. It eventually became the League of Revolutionary Struggle and later many of its member joined the Freedom Road Socialist Organization.
Congress of Afrikan People Unity & Struggle newspaper – 1976
The May 1976 issue of Unity and Struggle—the newspaper of the Congress of Afrikan People (CAP) led by Imamu Amiri Baraka.
CAP was at this point a Marxist-Leninist organization that followed the positions of the People’s Republic of China, including accepting the so-called three-worlds theory where the U.S. and the Soviet Union were equal enemies of people world-wide.
As one of three marches on African Liberation Day in 1976, the African Liberation Support Committee marched from the White House to Malcolm X Park. By this point in time the ALSC had come to be dominated by organizations and individuals learning toward Maoism, including CAP and Baraka.
CAP would ultimately re-name itself the Revolutionary Communist League (Marxist-Leninist-Mao Tse-tung Thought), later merging into the League of Revolutionary Struggle (Marxist-Leninist) before that group split. Part of the League joined the Freedom Road Socialist Organization
We’ve Carried the Rich for 200 Years – 1976
As the 200th birthday of the United States approached in 1976, the Revolutionary Communist Party had a different vision of what that meant and organized a protest during the bicentennial celebration in Philadelphia.
About 3,000 marched through the streets of the city chanting revolutionary slogans and carrying banners—many from factories and plants from around the country.
It was the last worker-based demonstration organized by the group, although it carried out a protest against revisionism in the communist movement attended by several hundred during the U.S. visit of Chinese premier Deng Xiaoping in Washington, D.C. in 1979 that resulted in the arrest of dozens and the exile of its leader Bob Avakian for many years.
Other significant demonstrations by the group include May Day events and antiwar demonstrations during both Iraq wars.
D.C. Area Miscellaneous
Washington Committee for Democratic Action conference call — Apr. 1940
The Washington Committee for Democratic Action, the local affiliate of the National Federation for Constitutional Liberties, calls for a conference at the Washington Hotel at 15th and F Streets NW April 20-21, 1940.
Over 300 people attended the conference focused on civil rights, labor rights and gaining the right to vote and civil rights for District of Columbia residents.
Labor speakers included Rep. John Coffee (D-Wa.); John P. Davis, National Negro Congress; Arthur Stein, D.C. council of the United Federal Workers and David Lasser, president of the Workers Alliance; and Cecil Owen, president of the Washington Industrial Council, CIO.
Civil rights speakers included Rep. John Gavagan (D-N.Y.); Charles Hamilton Houston, general counsel of the NAACP; and Elizabeth Gurley Flynn of the Communist Party
The Washington Committee, along with the National Federation, merged with the International Labor Defense and the National Negro Congress to form the Civil Rights Congress in 1946.
YMCA Camp ‘Letts Talk” – Aug 1968
The August 18, 1968 edition of the YMCA Camp Letts newsletter Letts Talk shows the spread activist sentiment among youth at this point in time when a newspaper class at the camp interviewed campers and staff on their one wish—see page 4.
The peace symbol clearly indicates the editors’ point of view. In the interviews one staff member calls for an “End to the war in Indochina” while another staff member calls for “An end to pollution.”
The camp had been founded in 1906 as a relatively low-cost summer camp for white boys. It was nominally integrated in 1961 and began co-ed operations in 1975. Many of the counselors and staff of the camp were drawn from University of Maryland students.
UMD student government initiates “free university” – Oct. 1968
The University of Maryland College Park Student Government Association sponsors a “free university” on the campus with alternative seminars for those “tired of mass produced education” in the fall of 1968.
The 21 topics ranged from “The Urban Transportation Crisis or ‘White Men’s Roads’ through Black Men’s homes,” to “Introduction to the Philosophy of Ayn Rand.”
The free university was part of a “free community” movement in the greater Washington, D.C. area that involved free health clinics, breakfast for children’s programs, books, concerts and educational courses. The movement also included alternative newspapers, food co-ops, record co-ops and other alternative models.
Freedom Seder – April 1969
The first Freedom Seder organized by Arthur Waskow and scheduled for April 4, 1969 at the Lincoln Memorial Temple in Washington, D.C. is advertised in this flyer.
Also advertised in the first Freedom Sedar are readings by Channing Phillips, Phillip Berrigan and Rabbi Balfour Brickner. The three would weave the theme of Black liberation into the story of Passover. Topper Carew also ended up participating along with others.
D.C. Newsreel benefit – 1969
A flyer from the radical Washington Newsreel promotes the organization and a fundraiser scheduled for April 4, 1969 and announces that films will start to be made in the D.C. area within the next two months.
Newsreel were radical filmmakers that joined together in New York in 1968 and a few months later spread to San Francisco. Distribution centers were eventually set up in many cities around the country, including Washington, D.C.
Local filmmakers also began to join the effort.
In the era before Youtube, DVDs and streaming, Newsreel was a way for radical independent film makers to explore subjects and themes not covered by mainstream filmmakers or news outlets and gain audiences.
California Newsreel is the direct successor to this effort and continues to operate today.
DC Free University party and concert flyer: 1969
A flyer/mailer advertises a party July 26th and concert August 16, 1969 sponsored by the Washington Area Free University.
The Free University was part of a broad experiment in creating an alternative network of community based, collective life in the city during the late 1960s/early 1970s that included a free clinic, free universities, free concerts, alternative press, collective living, food cooperatives and other ventures.
Original held in the Bonnie Atwood papers, 1965-2005, Collection, Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA.
University of Maryland Free University: Fall 1969 ca.
The University of Maryland College Park Free University course offerings are outlined in this six-page, 8 ½ x 11 mimeographed guide circa fall 1969. The document is difficult to read due to the faded ink.
The Free University was organized by students and faculty who put forth the philosophy in the guide:
“The primary purpose of the program is to free faculty and students alike. In the rigid classroom structure many instructors find themselves teaching courses outside their fields of interest or competence. Due to college requirements and lack of personnel, many courses of current or even limited interest are bypassed.”
“The student too is encumbered with requirements and often find it difficult to achieve any kind of rapport with his instructor in the presence of 350 other classmates. It is also impossible to get “up tight” with a television.”
“Thus the free university offers a natural outlet for frustrated teachers and student alike.”
Courses covered radical politics, philosophy, self-help and a range of other topics. One of the professors, Peter Goldstone, would become a flashpoint for protest when he was terminated along with another professor in the spring of 1970.
‘Excel with Cassell’ school board flyer – Nov. 1969
School activist and freeway opponent Charles I. Cassell issues a flyer calling on voters to elect him to the District of Columbia school board in November 1969.
Cassell, a close ally of long-time school activist Julius Hobson, initially was ruled defeated by 34 votes when ballots were initially counted.
However, days after the results were announced a batch of uncounted ballots was discovered. This led to a court case over whether to count the ballots.
Ultimately the ballots were tallied and on January 16, 1970, Cassell was ruled to have won the election 12,499 to 12, 497—a whopping margin of two votes.
Underground paper criticism halts ‘love festival’ – 1970
The Emergency club and the Corcoran Gallery put out a leaflet calling for a “Now Love Festival” featuring concerts, a parade, a mass wedding, a costume party and circus acts scheduled for February 13-15 1970.
The festival was cancelled after criticism from the left-wing alternative newspaper Quicksilver Times which pointed out that the 10,000 fliers distributed did not advertise the admission prices for many of the events, leading many youth to believe the events were free of charge. The newspaper also took issue with commercializing “love.”
The newspaper’s criticism caused the Corcoran Gallery to fear that youth would steal or damage some of their artwork. Emergency owner Mike Schrielman defended the cover charges as a means of providing some money for struggling performers and said neither organization would make money off of the festival.
After meeting with Quicksilver Times staff, Schrielman tentatively re-scheduled the event for May 1 where it could be held outside and costs would be lower and the event could be free of charge.
Original held in the Bonnie Atwood papers, 1965-2005, Collection, Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA.
D.C. Newsreel lists available films – circa 1970
A circa 1970 flyer from the radical Washington Newsreel describes the films that are available to rent.
Newsreel were radical filmmakiers that joined together in New York in 1968 and a few months later spread to San Francisco. Distribution centers were eventually set up in many cities around the country, including Washington, D.C.
Local filmmakers also began to join the effort.
In the era before Youtube, DVDs and streaming, Newsreel was a way for radical independent film makers to explore subjects and themes not covered by mainstream filmmakers or news outlets and gain audiences.
Some of the early films included:
Black Panther; Mayday; High School, San Francisco State Strike; Army Film; People’s Park, Yippie; People’s War; Day of Plane Hunting; Isle of Youth; and La Jolie Moi de Mai (My Beautiful May).
The Jewish Urban Underground coffeehouse – Oct. 1970
An 8 ½ x 14, two-sided flyer for the newly opened Jewish Urban Underground Coffeehouse circa October 1970 that featured a speakers’ calendar.
The coffeehouse was sponsored by Jews for Urban Justice which describes itself in the flyer aas “…a group of Washington-area people who are actively involved in a struggle and resistance against a society which it now considers oppressive and unjust. We are involved in attempting to create a community of people who can work, live and struggle together. We are regularly involved in attempting to talk with other Jews, who have been turned-off to their heritage by an assimilationist Amerikan Jewish community…”
The Jewish Urban Guerrilla and the Revolutionary People’s Constitutional Convention – Nov. 1970
The Jews for Urban Justice put out a flyer In November 1970 for a series of workshops held simultaneously with the Revolutionary People’s Constitutional Convention in Washington, D.C. posing the question, “Is it possible to be a revolutionary, support the Panthers, and still be a Jew?” among other topics.
The group was formed in the summer of 1968 to oppose anti-black racism from white Jewish landlords and business owners.
The JUJ was a key organizer of a Freedom Sedar that drew over 800 diverse people in 1969 and participated in the Poor People’s Campaign, welfare rights and the Delano grape boycott, among other activities. Its most prominent member was Arthur Waskow, a founder of the Institute for Policy Studies and a long-time left-wing activist.
Revolutionary holiday card by Insurgent Press – 1970 ca.
An image of a revolutionary holiday card circa 1970 produced by Insurgent Press, a left-wing press that operated in Washington, D.C. in the late 1960s through the mid-1970s. At one point it was operating out of a building at 11th and K Streets NW.
The card’s front reads “Peace on Earth” and when you open it, it reads “By Any Means Necessary” with an image of a Vietnamese holding an automatic rifle in the air. A quote by Mao Zedong on the nature of war is on the inside fold.
Women’s Fest sponsored by Community Bookshop: 1971
A flyer by the Community Bookshop announces a women’s festival in March 1971.
The Community Bookshop sold radical books, pamphlets and newspapers of various left-wing stripes, including communist, socialist, anarchist, environmentalist, feminist, gay and lesbian literature and also hosted community events and speakers during the late 1960s and early 1970s.
The bookshop was located in the Dupont Circle area near the intersection of 20thand P Streets NW.
Feminists and left-wing radicals resurrected International Women’s Day (March 8th) during the late 1960s. It had been suppressed as a “communist” holiday during the Red Scare of the late 1940s and 1950s. In turn, March became women’s history month.
Original held in the Bonnie Atwood papers, 1965-2005, Collection, Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA.
Letter from a Regional Addiction Prevention (RAP) graduate (1) – 1973
Letter from a Regional Addiction Prevention (RAP) graduate (2) – 1973
These two letters from Regional Addiction Prevention (RAP) graduate Marc Sher in 1973 to the Washington Area Spark collective illustrates the radical politics that at least one resident refined going through a nearly year-long residential addiction treatment.
Sher became addicted to the free methadone in order to get high. The methadone was give out by facilities without screening at the time to anyone, including Sher–who was not a heroin addict.
The vintage Montgomery Spark wrote in 1972:
“RAP’s left-wing analysis of the heroin plague has led to attacks on the organization from reactionary elements who seek to capitalize on an addict’s plight through methadone maintenance or other exploitive methods.”
“RAP’s ‘success rate,’ as government authorities call it, has been remarkably higher than other types of treatment. This is probably because RAP’s residents learn that the root of the heroin problem lies in society’s illnesses, and by knowing this, the individual can better realize how to cope with their problems.”
Draft/Selective Service
Flyer calls for protesting Senate draft hearings – May, 1967
A flyer published by the Washington Ad Hoc Vietnam Draft Hearings Committee calls for demonstrations at a Senate hearing on the Selective Service System scheduled for May 7-8, 1967.
The Ad Hoc Committee was composed of Students for a Democratic Society chapters at the University of Chicago, Boston University, Ratcliff-Harvard, Brooklyn College and the University of Maryland; along with ACT, D.C. Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, Prince Georges Women’s Strike for Peace, Maryland Socialist League and Progressive Labor Party.
The group of about 100 demonstrators formed-up at Roosevelt playground in NE on May 8th and marched first down H Street and then 4th Street before entering the Capitol Grounds.
About half the group entered the Senate Rayburn Building only to find that the hearing was rescheduled. They demanded that a hearing be convened and that they be permitted to speak. After back and forth with Capitol police, they were forcibly expelled from the building and the Capitol grounds, but not arrested. The crowd grew to about 200 before dispersing.
D.C. SNCC calls for anti-draft march – May, 1967
The Washington, D.C. Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee calls on black youth to protest the draft May 8, 1967 by joining a march from 14th and H Streets NE to the Rayburn Office Building.
About 100 students from different East Coast colleges marched from the Rosedale playground to the Rayburn Building where they were barred from entering the building or attending a hearing being conducted by U.S. Senator Mendel Rivers (D-S.C.) on the draft.
The crowd grew to about 200 people and about 50 were eventually let into the building where they staged a sit-in in the lobby. They were forcibly ejected by Capitol police, but not arrested.
Flyer targeting draft inductees – 1967 ca.
An unsigned flyer circa 1967 urges men reporting for their induction into the U.S. Armed Forces to walk away and contact peace groups for draft counseling. It finishes by urging the men to “Seize the Time, Resist Illegitimate Authority.”
The flyer lists a. number of peace groups to contact, along with their phone numbers, including The Washington Peace Center, George Washington Draft Counseling, Washington Draft Information, the Washington Free Clinic and Montgomery County Draft Counseling.
The Resistance calls for nationwide antidraft actions – 1967
The national office of The Resistance, an anti-draft group that espoused direct action and non-cooperation with the Selective Service System, publishes a flyer advertising draft-card burning actions beginning October 10, 1967.
The Resistance established chapters across the country and coordinated successful actions of draft card burnings, turn-ins, sit-ins at draft boards, support for those refusing induction and other actions in October and December of 1967, but the national group quickly lapsed while local groups continued anti-draft actions.
Appeal to those facing induction into the military: 1967 ca.
The Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and The Resistance publish a flyer handed out to draftees facing military induction outlining rights and appeals.
SNCC had morphed from a student civil rights organization into a Black liberation organization by 1967. It had always been opposed to the war in Vietnam. The Resistance was formed by four California-based anti-draft activists as a national network for direct action and non-cooperation with the Selective Service System.
The Resistance conscription refusal flyer – Oct. 1967
A flyer from The Resistance calling on draft-eligible people to refuse to cooperate with the U.S. Selective Service System and return their draft cards at a demonstration October 16, 1967.
The call was nationwide with the largest protest in Oakland, Ca. The Washington, D.C. demonstration at the draft board headquarters at 1724 F Street NW drew about 70 people.
Ten draft cards and about 50 anti-draft cards (statements that declared a refusal to cooperate with the draft) were given to Selective Service officials.
Draft Resisters Need Your Support – Nov. 1967
As part of the leadup to draft resisters week Dec. 4-11, 1967, Ethel and Julius Weisser sponsor a support party held on Dec. 1st for Akida Kimani, a black liberation activist facing extradition to California for draft evasion.
Archie Stewart provided music for the event. Kimani made a name for himself as an activist/leader in the Afro American Association, a black self-help group formed in 1962 in California with chapters in a number of cities and a few overseas.
Ethel and Julius Weisser were long-time activists in a wide variety of social and economic causes in the Washington, D.C. area.
Ethel Weisser was once secretary of the Washington Area Committee to Abolish the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1950s and fought a D.C. ballot initiative on mandatory minimum sentencing in the 1980s,
Ethel Weisser also served as a spokesperson for the local chapter of the Grey Panthers for more than 25 years.
Stewart was a local jazz guitarist who was performing with The New Thing group at the time and became a fixture at clubs and coffeehouses in the city during the 1970s.
The Christian Resistance – Nov. 1967 ca.
The Washington Area Christian Resistance and The Resistance publish an appeal to those of draft age of the Christian faith to join with direct action and non-cooperation with the Selective Service System in late 1967.
Stop the Draft Week – Dec. 1967
A flyer advertising a series of demonstrations in Washington, D.C. Dec. 4-9, 1967 for “Stop the Draft Week.”
The protests were part of a nationwide effort that week that resulted in demonstrations and civil disobedience in dozens of cities across the U.S.
Locally demonstrators rallied at St. Stephens Church, marched on the Selective Service headquarters and marched to the State Department. An event at the Ambassador Theater was also held.
The Washington, D.C. demonstrations were sponsored by D.C. chapter of The Resistance, a nationwide draft resistance group; the Washington Mobilization Committee Against the War in Vietnam, the umbrella group for anti-Vietnam War opposition; and the Student Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam, a Socialist Workers Party-influenced student group.
The Washington Area Resistance Freakout – 1967
The Vietnam-era draft resistance group sponsored an event at Washington’s Ambassador Theater (formerly Knickerbocker) before holding a protest on Defense Secretary Robert McNamara’s lawn–1967. The group staged several high profile demonstrations in support of those who refused induction into the armed services in the Washington, D.C. area.
Resistance issues Boston 5 protest flyer – Jan. 1968
The Washington Area Resistance issues a flyer for a January 12, 1968 demonstration at the Justice Department against the indictment of five prominent Vietnam War opponents a week before.
The Boston Five, as they were known, were Rev. William Sloane Coffin, Jr, chaplain of Yale University; Dr. Benjamin Spock, pediatrician, Marcus Raskin, a former White House aide; Michael Ferber, a Harvard University graduate student and Mitchell Goodman, author. They were accused of “conspiracy to counsel aid and abet” selective service resistance.
News accounts put the number of demonstrators at between 100-150 who denounced both war and racism.
The protesters later marched on Western High School where they engaged in draft counseling as students left classes for the day around 2:30 p.m.
What!? me worry about the draft!” – 1968 ca.
The University of Maryland College Park chapter of Washington Area Resistance issues a short pamphlet urging potential draftees into the military to receive counseling on their options circa 1968.
The Resistance led direct action against the draft as well as draft counseling in the greater Washington, D.C. area in 1967-68 during the Vietnam War era.
Call for anti-draft actions – Jan. 1968
An unsigned flyer, probably put out by The Resistance, calls for a demonstration at the U.S. Justice Department in Washington, D.C. in protest of the indictments of Dr. Benjamin Spock, Marcus Raskin, Mitchel Goodman and Michael Ferber for “conspiracy to counsel aid and abet” draft resistance.
The flyer also called for participants to go to Western High School (now Duke Ellington) to counsel high school students on the draft.
Draft Law and Its Choices – Mar. 1968
The Washington Area Resist (formerly Resistance) issues a flyer for a conference to train draft counselors on selective service law in March 1968 at St. Stephens Church at 16th and Newton Streets. NW.
W.A.R. led direct action such as induction refusals and draft card turn-ins in the area 1967-68 during the Vietnam War.
D.C. Draft Resistance Union formed – early 1968
An undated appeal for funds from the recently formed Washington Draft Resistance Union was issued in early 1968.
The group pulled together The Resistance, Students for a Democratic Society, independent campus groups and draft counselors to build resistance to the Selective Service system that was providing the soldiers for the Vietnam War.
It was initially headed by Cathy Wilkerson, the regional SDS coordinator based in Washington, D.C. Wilkerson would go on to play a prominent role in the Weather Underground that carried out a series of symbolic bombings on government, corporate and other symbols of capitalism 1971-75.
What? Me Worry About the Draft? – 1968 ca.
The Washington Draft Resistance, University of Maryland College Park chapter appeals to students to seek draft counseling for alternatives to military service.
Draft Prince Georges draft counselor flyer -1968
A draft of a flyer for draft counselors Robert and Eleana Simpson targeted toward working class youth in Prince George’s County, Md circa 1968..
The two counseled young people on draft law and options from 1968-69 during part of the peak period of the Vietnam War.
Hiroshima Day peace rally – Aug. 1968
A flyer by the Washington Mobilization for Peace, Women’s Strike for Peace, Washington Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy (SANE), and the Washington Peace Center sponsor a Hiroshima Day (the day the first atomic bomb was dropped on Japan in 1945) rally in Lafayette Park August 10, 1968.
The flyer calls for 1) an end to all bombing 2) peace talks with the south Vietnamese National Liberation Front, 3) U.S. troop withdrawal.
A National Call: Free the Catonsville Nine – Oct. 1968
The flyer calls for a national demonstration to be held coinciding with the trial of the Catonsville Nine—Catholic and peace activists who took draft records of about 800 young men outside the selective service office and set them afire with homemade napalm on May 17, 1968.
The nine waited at the scene to be arrested in what was the second “hit and stay” action of non-violent direct action resistance to the draft and the Vietnam War.
Thousands showed up to support the nine, but they were all convicted and sentenced to three years in prison.
Draft counseling letter to Va. military inductees: 1969 ca.
A letter from draft counselors David Lusby and Jim Shea circa 1969 targeted toward selective service inductees in Virginia outlines alternatives to military service.
The letter was likely handed out to inductees at local draft boards where inductees were bussed to Richmond or at the Richmond induction center itself.
Original held in the Bonnie Atwood papers, 1965-2005, Collection, Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA.
Repeal the Draft – 1969 ca.
A poster-style flyer urges a repeal of the Selective Service Act that authorized the draft of men into the military.
The National Council to Repeal the Draft (NCRD), organized in January 1969, with headquarters in Washington, DC, had as its objective the elimination of conscription.
With the official end of the draft on June 30, 1973, NCRD closed down its Washington operation in July of that year, thus bringing to an end their effort to end conscription in the U.S.
Draft registration card – Sep. 1969
A Selective Service draft registration card from September 1969 is the type that all men over 18 were required to carry on their person at all times during the Vietnam War era.
The back side of the card spells out the penalties for failing to carry or mutilating the card as up to five years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine.
The law was only enforced against those who willfully destroyed their cards through draft card burnings, mass turn-ins of draft cards in protest of the war or other willful actions.
A separate card spelled out the classification that the draft card holder was given. The most dreaded was 1-A, which meant a person was subject to be drafted into the armed forces at any time, subject to a physical.
Other codes indicated deferments or exemptions to the draft.
The back side of the card also notes that the local draft board is Silver Spring. That draft board was broken into by three antiwar activists in May 1969 who destroyed draft records and splashed their own blood and black paint onto the walls in protest of the Vietnam War.
The three were Leslie Bayless, 22; Jonathan Bayless, 17; and Michael Bransome, 18.
Les Bayless received three years in addition to a five year sentence for refusing draft induction. Bransome fled to Canada and ultimately Sweden after being threatened with death while in jail before his release on bond. John Bayless, a juvenile at the time, received three years probation.
No Draft – Dec. 1969 ca.
The D.C. Moratorium, the local arm of the Vietnam Moratorium Committee that organized the October and November 1969 Moratoriums that involved millions of Americans in activities against the Vietnam War, publishes a flyer calling for an end to the draft and outlining the reasons for doing so.
Draft counseling centers – 1970 circa
A flyer lists selective service (draft) counseling locations in Washington, D.C., Arlington, Va. and College Park, Md. as well as counseling for military personnel circa 1970.
Fuck the Draft film festival – Jan. 1970
A “Fuck the Draft” film festival is sponsored by the Washington Peace Center in January 1970 as a fundraiser to support draft counseling for young men eligible to be inducted into the U.S. armed services.
The films scheduled were Seasons Change, Army Film, People’s Park, Bobby Seale, The Brig, Up against the Wall Miss America, High School Rising, San Francisco State and October 15th and were scheduled over two days.
Rally and march to national selective service – Mar. 1970
A flyer advertising a rally and march to the national selective service headquarters March 19, 1970 sponsored by various peace groups.
Upwards of five hundred people rallied outside the Selective Service System headquarters at 1724 F Street NW, Washington, DC in opposition to the draft and the Vietnam War.
Several people burned draft cards—a felony—in protest and a coffin filled with draft cards was also delivered to the office.
The groups listed on the flyer are DC Moratorium (local affiliate of the Moratorium Committee), Student Mobe (Student Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam), Wash. Mobe (Washington Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam), WILPF (Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom), WSP (Women’s Strike for Peace), and Conspiracy ( a local group opposing the trial of the Chicago 8/7 for riot at the 1968 Democratic Convention).
Demonstrate to End the Draft – Mar. 1970
The Student Mobilization Committee publishes a flyer as a co-sponsor of anti-draft actions taking place the week of March 15-19, 1970.
Upwards of 500 people rallied March 19th at the Sylvan Theater and at the national draft board of F Street NW. Several people burned draft cards and a coffin filled with draft cards was left at the door.
Other organizations sponsoring the protest included the Vietnam Moratorium Committee in one of their last acts before the group was dissolved, Episcopal Peace Fellowship, New Mobilization Committee, Young Socialist Alliance, D.C. Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy, Washington Peace Center, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom and Women’s Strike for Peace.
The Student Mobilization Committee began as the student arm of the National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam, but became a separate organization where the Socialist Workers Party, the dominate Trotskyist organization at the time, and it’s youth arm the Young Socialist Alliance had considerable influence.
The Washington Area Military and Draft Law Panel – 1970 ca.
The Washington Area Military and Draft Law Panel publishes a brochure describing its mission and services focusing on low-income and/or black potential draftees into the military and current service members serving.
The group of approximately 40 attorneys in the D.C. area provided draft counseling and legal assistance to active duty personnel.
The WAMADLP was initiated by the National Lawyers Guild.
You Don’t Have to Go – Sep. 1970 ca.
A flyer published by the Democratic Radical Union of Maryland (DRUM) and the Mother Bloor Collective calls on students at College Park to seek draft counseling and oppose the war in Vietnam.
DRUM grew out of the May 1970 student strike on the College Park campus while Mother Bloor was a local Marxist-Leninist collective some student activist leaders formed to chart a path forward for those radicalized in the civil rights and Vietnam War struggles.
DRUM lasted about two years while most of the member of Mother Bloor affiliated with the Workers World Party or its youth group Youth Against War and Fascism.
Draft classification card – Nov. 1971
A Selective Service System classification card showing a II-S status dated November 23, 1971.
The classification II-S signified that the recipient’s draft eligibility was deferred while he remained a full time student.
The II-S deferment was ended by Congress in September 1971 for all future draft registrants.
The classification 1-A was dreaded by many in the Vietnam War era because it meant you were likely to be pressed into military service in a war that many disagreed with.
The back side of the card spells out the penalties for failing to carry or mutilating the card as up to five years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine.
The law was only enforced against those who willfully destroyed their cards through draft card burnings, mass turn-ins of draft cards in protest of the war or other willful actions.
A separate “draft registration card” was also required by law to be carried by all those eligible for the draft.
Draft classification card – Nov. 1972
A Selective Service System classification card showing a 1-H status dated November 14, 1972.
The classification I-H signified that the draft registrant was not currently eligible for military or alternative service.
By this time, a draft lottery by birthdate had been conducted and a birth date of August 2, 1951 gained a lottery number of 102 out of 365. For those born in 1951, 125 was the highest number pressed into military service.
However, by that time the Vietnam War was winding down and fewer draft registrants were called than in previous years, resulting in the re-classification to 1-H. The last person drafted for the Vietnam War occurred December 28, 1972. The last person drafted into the military occurred on June 30, 1973.
The classification 1-A was dreaded by many in the Vietnam War era because it meant you were likely to be pressed into military service in a war that many disagreed with.
The back side of the card spells out the penalties for failing to carry or mutilating the card as up to five years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine.
The law was only enforced against those who willfully destroyed their cards through draft card burnings or mass turn-ins of draft cards in protest of the war.
A separate “draft registration card” was also required by law to be carried by all those eligible for the draft.
Attention Faculty – Nov. 1972
A call for a U. of Md. faculty draft counseling committee that would provide alternatives to the selective service to all UMD students. The flyer lists as contacts Aaron Strauss, Jack Goldhaber and Harold Gainer.
Fight Against Fascism
Invitation to Join the Communist Party by Robert Minor – 1943
The pamphlet wraps itself in the American flag and closely hues the Popular Front thesis of the Communist Party. There is no real mention of revolution or socialism and the tract puts forward several important, but ultimately reformist demands.
American Nazi Vietnam War flyer – 1970
A flyer entitled “Smash the no-wing System” and distributed in 1970 by the National Socialist White People’s Party based in Arlington, VA puts forth the Nazi organization’s views on the Vietnam War.
The back side of the flyer lays out its racist, anti-Semitic agenda.
Nazi appeal to join affiliated student group: 1970
An appeal to help “Build a New Order” by joining the National Socialist Liberation Front is distributed by the National Socialist White People’s Party (NSWPP) based in Arlington, Va. in 1970.
The Liberation Front was created by the Nazi group in 1969 as a student organization, mimicking left-wing student organizations such as W.E.B DuBois Clubs, affiliated with the Communist Party, and the Young Socialist Alliance, affiliated with the Socialist Workers Party.
The group was established by NSWPP member Joseph Tommasi who developed personal and ideological differences with NSWPP commander Matt Koehl. Tommasi denounced Koehl and other members of the leadership at a party congress in 1970 and called for waging an immediate revolution.
It was during the early 70s that infamous white supremacist David Duke joined the National Socialist Liberation Front.
Koehl expelled Tommasi in 1973 for allegedly smoking marijuana and entertaining young women at party headquarters, as well as misusing party funds.
Tommasi re-organized the Liberation Front in 1974 with two tiers—an above ground organization and an underground organization that would wage guerrilla war.
Tommasi was killed by an NSWPP member in front of the NSWPP local headquarters in El Monte, CA during a confrontation. No one was charged in Tommasi’s death.
Following Tommasi’s death, the group underwent several leadership changes and changes in tactics. In the mid 1980s, the group’s leader was arrested on a weapons charge and the Liberation Front fell apart.
Nazi ‘Had Enough, Whitey?’ flyer – 1970
An appeal to white supremacists to join the student National Socialist Liberation Front is distributed by the National Socialist White People’s Party (NSWPP) based in Arlington, Va. in 1970.
A platform is printed on the back side. Both sides are chocked full of racial stereotypes and slanders.
‘Why Does the System Hate National Socialism’ – 1970
The National Socialist Liberation Front (the student group of the National Socialist White People’s Party) publishes a tract attempting to explain the merits of national socialism in 1970.
An application to join the group is one the flip side of the flyer.
Early ‘March for Victory’ flyer – 1970
An early version of a flyer for fundamentalist Christian preacher Rev. Carl McIntire’s “March for Victory” that was ultimately held in Washington, D.C. April 4, 1970 protesting President Richard Nixon’s “no win” policy in Indochina.
March organizers claimed 50,000 but news organizations generously estimated 10-15,000 people took part in a protest against President Richard Nixon’s “no win” policy in Vietnam.
The march was sponsored by right-wing Christian preacher Rev. Carl McIntire. Who described himself as a fundamentalist equated Christianity with anti-communism. McIntire favored “peace through victory” in Vietnam and a return of prayer to the schools.
‘White People’s Revolution in America’ – July 1970
A flyer invites the public to a Nazi rally July 5, 1970 at L’Enfant Square (Now National Gallery of Art Sculpture Gallery) at 9th and Constitution NW, Washington, D.C. calling for a “White People’s Revolution in America.”
National Socialist White People’s Party rallies at Lafayette Park on July 3, 1970, the National Mall July 4, 1970 and L’Enfant Square at 9th & Constitution on July 5, 1970 were disrupted by hundreds of people in counter demonstrations.
Many counter demonstrators were also in town for protests against Honor America Day and for the first annual marijuana smoke-in.
At the rally on the 9th and Constitution NW, Nazi speaker Robert A. Lloyd III said, “At the root of our domestic crisis is the racial crisis caused by the presence of two dangerous alien races, blacks and Jews. Unless we resort to drastic social surgery, we will die as a nation and a race.”
Lloyd and other Nazi speakers were shouted down with laughter, jeers, epithets, obscenities and occasionally rhythmic clapping that drowned at the two-dozen Nazis.
American Nazi fundraising pledge – September 1970
A color form mailed in September 1970 invites supporters of the National Socialist White People’s Party based in Arlington, VA to pledge monthly funds to the organization.
The organization was founded by George Lincoln Rockwell in March 1959 and the same year was renamed the American Nazi Party.
Rockwell led the group through his flamboyant actions through the 1960s. In late 1966 or early 1967 Rockwell re-named the group the National Socialist White People’s Party to reflect his belief that the Nazi name and use of the swastika was hurting recruitment. Rockwell was assassinated by a disaffected member in August 1967 and Matt Koehl became the leader.
Koehl led the group through a number of splits and into a semi-religious version of white supremacy and an affiliate participated in the 1979 Greensboro Massacre with local Klan that killed five “Death to the Klan” marchers in Greensboro, NC.
In the 1980s the group was pressured by lawsuits, including the IRS, and Koehl sold off all of its assets in Arlington, VA. Early in the decade he moved the group’s national operation to Wisconsin and Michigan and renamed the group New Order that continues to exist today advocating for white supremacy.
Freedom Rally flyer by March for Victory Committee – 1970
An early call by the March for Victory Committees led by Rev. Carl McIntire for a demonstration in October 1970 following their spring march that featured Georgia Governor Lester Maddox speaking to a crowd of 10-15,000 and calling for victory in Vietnam.
The rally date was later changed to October 3, 1970 where an estimated 15-20,000 staged a march that rejected President Richard Nixon’s phase-down of the war in Vietnam and instead called for outright defeat of the Vietnamese.
South Vietnamese Vice President Nguyễn Cao Kỳ was to speak at the rally but opposition from the Nixon administration and a threatened mass anti-Ky demonstration caused Ky to cancel his appearance and instead gave a statement that was read to the crowd.
Several hundred antiwar counter-protesters occasionally clashed with pro-war marchers at the October protest leading to 49 arrests.
March for Victory in Vietnam flyer – Sep. 1970
The National March for Victory Committee flyer calls for a March for Victory [in Vietnam] led by Rev. Carl McIntire October 3, 1970 in Washington, D.C.
The demands were “Win the Peace Through Military Victory; Defeat the Viet Cong by strength; Free the POW’s First; Bring the Boys Home in Triumph; Prayer, Bible Reading in School; and Freedom of Choice [probably not abortion though].
South Vietnamese Vice President Nguyễn Cao Kỳ was to speak at the rally but opposition from the Nixon administration and a threatened mass anti-Ky demonstration caused Ky to cancel his appearance and instead gave a statement that was read to the crowd.
An estimated 15-20,000 attended the October march and rally—far less than the 500,000 predicted and far fewer than the 100,000-500,000 that national antiwar marches regularly drew.
Several hundred antiwar counter-protesters occasionally clashed with pro-war marchers at the October protest leading to 49 arrests.
American Nazi ‘fall building campaign” – Oct. 1970
A two-sided letter mailed in October 1970 by the self-styled commander of the National Socialist White People’s Party, Matt Koehl, urges members and supporters to increase their donations so that the organization can move to “Phase III—the mass action phase.”
The white supremacist organization was founded by George Lincoln Rockwell in March 1959 and the same year was renamed the American Nazi Party.
Rockwell led the group through his flamboyant actions through the 1960s. In late 1966 or early 1967 Rockwell re-named the group the National Socialist White People’s Party to reflect his belief that the Nazi name and use of the swastika was hurting recruitment. Rockwell was assassinated by a disaffected member in August 1967 and Matt Koehl became the leader.
Koehl led the group through a number of splits and into a semi-religious version of white supremacy. A North Carolina affiliate participated in the 1979 Greensboro Massacre with local Klan that killed five “Death to the Klan” marchers in Greensboro, NC.
In the 1980s the group was pressured by lawsuits, including the IRS, and Koehl sold off all of its assets in Arlington, VA. Early in the decade he moved the group’s national operation to Wisconsin and Michigan and renamed the group New Order that continues to exist today advocating for white supremacy.
Immigrant Rights
‘Five Men on a Hunger Strike’ – Mar. 1948
The American Committee for Protection of Foreign Born issues a tri-fold 8 ½ x 11 pamphlet describing the pending deportation cases of five left-wing leaders in the U.S. in 1948 and appeals for support.
The four, Gerhard Eisler a longtime Communist Party member in Austria, Germany and the United States; John Williamson, labor secretary for the Communist Party, Ferdinand C. Smith, Secretary of the National Maritime Union, CIO and Charles A. Doyle, vice president of the United Gas, Coke and Chemical Workers, CIO. A fifth labor leader, Irving Potash, manager of the Furriers Joint Council, was also slated for deportation.
Smith was the highest-ranking African American in the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) at the time.
The hunger strike ended when the four (Potash was released earlier) were granted bail on March 6th. However, all were ultimately forced out of the country at various times in the 1950s.
LBGT
Gay Revolution Party Manifesto – 1970
An anonymous flyer, probably produced by one or more members of the D.C. Gay Liberation Front, reprints a gay revolution party manifesto that originally appeared in Ecstasy, Issue 2, 1970.
The tract goes beyond calling for an end to discrimination against gay people and for equality and foresees an end to gender roles and the family structure as being a key to ultimately eliminating the caste system in which straight males dominate.
Original held in the Bonnie Atwood papers, 1965-2005, Collection, Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA.
Labor Movement
Illustrated History of the Washington Central Labor Union – 1900
The 439-page book describes itself as a “Commercial history of the city of Washington, photographs and biographies of citizens, photographs and biographies of officers, miscellaneous statistics, etc.”
Of interest to labor historians and local unions and members seeking more knowledge of their history, the book contains brief descriptions of unions affiliated with the American Federation of Labor’s umbrella organization in the city—the Central Labor Union.
It also contains photographs and brief descriptions of the officers of the CLU and delegates from the local unions to the Central Labor Union along with some other local union officers.
There are no women union officers or delegates pictured and apparently only one black man—from the Hod Carriers union (today’s laborer’s union)–Thomas Jackson.
Mules are Mules – 1926 ca.
The International Association of Machinists publishes a 4-page, 3.5 x 5 inch pamphlet using mules to illustrate the benefits of cooperation and thereby of joining a union.
The pamphlet was published sometime from 1926-1939 when A. O. Wharton was president of the IAM.
Records of Bill Marshall Fudge – 1933-54
Virginian Railway Company Pass – 1933 (Machinist Apprentice)
Union Dues Book 1 – 1940-44 (shows initiated July 17, 1940, General Work” (Journeyman))
Union Dues Book 2 – 1944-49 (shows he was 34 years old, 6’ ½”, 200 lbs. and lived at 1326 28th Street SE Washington DC 1945-49 “General Work” (Journeyman))
Union Dues Book 3 – 1950-54 (shows initiated July 17, 1940, “General Work” (Journeyman))
Bill Marshall Fudge was a machinist apprentice and journeyman, 1933-54, Member of International Association of Machinists Columbia Lodge 174 and worker on the Virginian Railway Company.
March on Washington – 1941
A March 1941 letter from A. Phillip Randolph, head of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, to NAACP leader Walter White inviting him to join a march on Washington for fair employment.
The March on Washington Movement led to President Franklin Roosevelt issuing an executive order banning discrimination in defense-related industry and enforcing it through a Fair Employment Practices Commission. The planned march was cancelled after Roosevelt’s order.
Advertisement calls for end to Jim Crow at the Bureau of Engraving – May 1949
A display ad published in the Washington Afro American May 7, 1949 by a number of prominent labor and black organizations in the D.C. area calling on President Harry Truman to end Jim Crow at the Bureau of Engraving.
A broad coalition led by Margaret Gilmore, president of United Public Workers of America Local 3, organized pickets at the Bureau of Engraving and at the White House.
Gilmore led a three-year fight against Jim Crow at the agency that printed U.S. money, winning major victories along the way.
D.C. Telephone Traffic contract with C&P – 1950
The 1948 contract agreement between Washington Traffic Division No. 50 and the Chesapeake & Potomac Telephone Co. was the first Communications Workers of America (CWA) contract used as a pattern for other local unions.
The union, formerly the Washington Telephone Traffic Union (1935-47), became Division 50 of the new Communications Workers of America at a June 1947 convention following a failed six-week strike by the National Federation of Telephone Workers April-May 1947 that had sought a national bargaining agreement.
The 1948 contract was the first three-year agreement signed with an AT&T subsidiary and came at a time when local telephone unions had been weakened by the strike and further by a split between national unions—the independent CWA and the Telephone Workers Organizing Committee of the CIO.
The Washington, D.C. contract was used by the national union as a pattern for 10 local unions across the country in 1948 with its three-year deal that provided no immediate wage increase, but allowed for two wage reopeners—one in the first year and one in the second year of the agreement.
The Washington union was chosen because of its militancy and because C&P was a wholly-owned subsidiary of AT&T. Mary Gannon, the leader of the union from 1940-49 led the union on dozens off work stoppages during her tenure and was a voice for women within the larger national union before leaving the local union early in 1950.
Agreement between C&P Telephone and CWA – 1953
A copy of the 1953 labor agreement between C&P Telephone of the District of Columbia and the Communications Workers of America (CWA).
At this point in time CWA had re-organized and formed District 2 that covered a large geographical area around Washington, D.C., including all the C&P named AT&T subsidiaries, and the D.C. installer’s former union president, Glen Watts, was now District 2 director.
Contracts with C&P in the Washington, D.C. area had been conducted separately by the traffic (operator) local union and the installers local union for about 10 years before joint negotiations were conducted again–resulting in this agreement with C&P Telephone.
The agreement covered C&P workers in the District of Columbia and the inner suburbs of Maryland and Virginia.
Watts would go on to become president of the national union.
NLRB non-communist affidavit – circa 1955
The Taft-Harley Act passed in 1948 prohibited members of the Communist Party from holding labor union office if the union were to use provisions of the National Labor Relations Act.
It required officers to sign a “non-communist affidavit” in order for the union to be eligible for National Labor Relations Board services and the use of the law in disputes with employers.
The unions of the American Federation of Labor quickly agreed to this, but the Congress of Industrial Organizations briefly resisted and tried to use non-compliance with signing the affidavit as a direct action way of neutralizing other anti-labor provisions in the Taft-Hartley Act such as prohibition on secondary boycotts, sympathy strikes, authorization for states to enact so-called “right to work” laws, among others.
The refusal to sign quickly collapsed as major unions such as the United Auto Workers signed and anti-communist fervor swept the U.S. It wasn’t long before the CIO expelled or forced out 11 major national unions for alleged communist-domination and all the remaining union leaders signed the affidavits.
Many mark the decline of the labor movement to the Taft Harley Act and the inability of labor to wage effective resistance.
Parents alerted to student walkout in support of teacher strike – Feb. 1968
Springbrook High School notifies parents of students who participated in a walkout Feb. 2, 1968 in support of a Montgomery County, Maryland teachers strike.
Defying court injunctions and threatened fines, the union held firm until a settlement was reached that tilted largely in favor of the MCEA (National Education Association affiliate) demands and re-affirmed its dominance as the voice for teachers in the county.
Farm Workers ‘Boycott Grapes’ flyer – 1969 ca.
A United Farm Workers Organizing Committee leaflet passed out in the Washington, D.C. are circa 1969 during the years-long boycott of California table grapes in an effort to secure a labor contract for farmworkers.
The United Farm Workers Organizing Committee (UFWOC) union reached a three-year contract with major grape growers in 1970 after years of struggle and a nationwide grape boycott.. They also expanded into the lettuce fields and into the Florida fruit groves and vegetable fields and became the United Farmworkers Union.
Original held in the Bonnie Atwood papers, 1965-2005, Collection, Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA.
Teachers union calls for D.C. home rule: 1969
A 5 ½ x 8, 4-page flyer put out by the Washington Teachers Union Local 6 calls on demonstrators attending the national antiwar demonstration November 15, 1969 to support home rule in the District of Columbia.
The flyer also urges support for increased financial support for D.C. public schools and for funding a teachers’ raise. A third demand issued was a halt to the Three Sisters Bridge project.
William “Bill” Simons was elected president of the local in 1964 and would go on to lead the union for 25 years. Collective bargaining rights were obtained in 1967 when Local 6 bested the National Education Association in an election amongst teachers.
Original held in the Bonnie Atwood papers, 1965-2005, Collection, Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA.
Washington, D.C. Teacher
The Washington, D.C. Teacher was the newsletter of the Washington Teachers Union (American Federation of Teachers (AFT) Local 6).
The issues available include articles on new methods of education, anti-Vietnam War activities, a demonstration against red-baiting surrounding Antioch College, contract talks and other local union business.
The following issues of the Washington Teacher, usually published as a tabloid, are currently available:
Vol. 5 No. 7 – June 1970 –
Special Issue – July 1970
Vol. 6 No. 1 – October 1970
Vol. 6 No. 5 – April 1971
D.C. teacher’s union calls rally over contracts – May 1971
The Washington Teachers Union (American Federation of Teachers Local 6) mails a letter to members May 25, 1971 outlining the status of contract negotiations and calling for a rally at the Leckie Elementary School June 3rd and an emergency meeting June 10th.
The reverse side of the flyer contains a map to Leckie School.
The Washington Post reported 500 union members showed up on the playground outside of Leckie School at Chesapeake Street and Martin Luther King Ave. SW, threatening a strike if an agreement were not reached soon.
D.C. Teachers’ Union school board endorsements – Nov. 1971
The Washington Teachers’ Union writes a letter November 15, 1971 to its members urging them to attend a union meeting and also vote for the union-endorsed school board candidates in an upcoming election.
The school board election held November 23, 1971 marked Marion Barry’s first election, winning an at-large seat by defeating incumbent Anita Allen. Barry-endorsed candidates all won their elections.
The teachers’ union did not endorse in the Barry/Allen race, but all five of their endorsed candidates won.
The election established Barry and the teachers’ union as two dominant forces in city politics.
First issue of University of Maryland AFSCME newsletter – Sep. 1973
The first issue of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 1072’s AFSCME in Action newsletter from September 1973.
The union represented about 1300 University of Maryland College Park campus workers but did not have collective bargaining rights at that time.
The issue covers campus layoffs, racial discrimination, a rival employee association, the union picnic, safety, a call to impeach Nixon and other issues.
The local president was Gladys Jefferson. Saul Schneiderman’s name appears in the newsletter as one of the contacts. He would later take a job at the Library of Congress and go on to become AFSMCE president at that location.
Annapolis Report, Vol. 2. No. 2 – Feb. – 1974
The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Maryland Public Employees Council 67 reports in its February 12, 1974 legislative newsletter on its efforts to convince the state legislature to declare Rev. Martin Luther King’s birthday a state holiday.
The Maryland House and Senate later passed the bill making Maryland the second state to honor Dr. King’s civil rights legacy in 1974.
Transit union working cards – 1974-77
A 1977 yearly card (top) issued by the Amalgamated Transit Union for members in good standing. These were stickers that were usually displayed by union members on operator trap boxes (below) or mechanic tool boxes.
The ATU previously issued monthly cards like this, but began issuing yearly cards because of the expense. Later they began issue permanent plastic cards.
Trap boxes were used to carry transfers, schedules, running time cards, shop cards, refund slips and scrip, and other items used daily by bus operators. Some operators would keep their punch (for punching transfers) in their trap box when not on duty.
The trap box (bottom) displays monthly cards issued in 1974.
WMATA & union letters ordering striking workers back to work – May 1974
Shortly after the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA also known as Metro) took over four privately owned bus companies in addition to the task of building a subway, the contract between Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689 and the new public company expired.
The union called a strike on May 1, 1974 after the contract expired, negotiations stalled and Metro had not specifically agreed to arbitration as provided for in the expiring labor contract and the Interstate Compact that created Metro.
The union argued that the clause in the expiring contract permitted a legal strike when the company refused to arbitrate. A federal judge disagreed and fined the union $50,000 per day (later reduced to $25,000) until workers returned to work.
Attached are back-to-work letters from the union and the company after workers continued the strike after the judge’s order.
Files of the Metro Employees Action Alliance – 1976
The Metro Employees Action Alliance (originally named the Ad Hoc Committee) was a brief-lived caucus with Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689 approximately May-September 1976.
It questioned union leaders at meeting, publicized the management’s contract proposals, made contract proposals of their own, raised money and hired a public relations firm to counter negative press on Metro workers and their union.
It was the first of several organized caucuses that eventually helped produce new leadership of the union that replaced the “business unionism” of the time.
The surviving records:
WMATA management proposals for contract changes – May 1, 1976
Questions to be asked at the union meeting – May 18, 1976
Summary of Metro contract proposals circulated to union membership – circa May 22, 1976
Caucus meeting agenda – May 28, 1976
Draft notice to members of Metro’s contract proposals – circa May 28, 1976
The Trades Unionist – Oct. 1976
The October 15, 1976 issue of the Trades Unionist covers a rally to support the Washington Post pressmen’s strike, a commemoration of long-time Cafeteria Workers Union Local 473 president Oliver Palmer, the fight to increase the minimum wage, political endorsements and covered the meeting of the Central Labor Council delegates meeting where there was a lively fight over endorsing Statehood Party candidate Josephine Butler.
The Trades Unionist was published by the Washington, D.C. Central Labor Council since 1896, but the shrinking of union membership eventually forced it to end publication. It was replaced in the 21st Century with a daily online newsletter by the umbrella labor group for unions in the greater Washington area.
The Central Labor Council is now known as the Washington Metropolitan Council, AFL-CIO.
Arbitration award on Metro strike discipline – 1978
The Washington Metro system had been beset by three wildcat strikes and a work-to-the rule within a four-year period. The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority sought to discipline workers who led and participated in the July 1978 strike over the refusal to pay a cost-of-living increase provided for in the labor agreement.
Workers eventually won the dispute, but over a 100 were disciplined for the strike and eight were fired for their roles in the work stoppage.
An arbitrator ruled on four fired defendants finding that discipline was warranted but that the terminations should be reduced to suspensions, largely because Metro had not disciplined employees for prior strikes or job actions.
The finding also affirmed that strikes are illegal under the Interstate Compact that created Metro that provides for “final and binding arbitration of all disputes.”
Metro memo on strikes – March 5, 1979
A March 5, 1979 memo to employees of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority warns that employees may be terminated for engaging in strikes following a decision by an arbitrator to reduce the penalties for individuals fired for striking to a suspension without pay.
A seven-day wildcat strike in 1978 resulted in WMATA firing eight and disciplining more than 100 others. An arbitration was held on some of the terminations and the neutral arbitrator reduced the terminations to unpaid suspensions because Metro had not taken any disciplinary action during previous strikes and had not advised employees that they may be terminated for engaging in strikes.
Files of the Metro Workers Rank and File Action Caucus – 1978-80
The Metro Workers Rank and File Action Caucus was formed in the wake of the 1978 cost-of-living wildcat strike that paralyzed bus service and the embryonic subway service for a week in July 1978. At least two caucuses arose out of the strike. One was influenced by the Progressive Labor Party and the other was the Action Caucus.
The caucus lasted about two years during which it held a fundraiser for workers fired during the strike, proposed more democratic bylaw changes, investigated the union’s finances and finding some discrepancies and running candidates for union offices in the elections scheduled for December 1979. The election was postponed for a month to January 9th and a runoff was held January 16, 1980 in instances where no candidate received 50 percent plus one of the vote.
Two Action Caucus members won two board seats and Progressive Labor won one board seat out of the 15 seats available. Allies of the Action Caucus on the Unity Slate won two of the top five positions: secretary-treasurer and 2ndvice president and also won two additional board seats. The incumbent president was defeated by an independent candidate.
Action
Vol. 1 No. 1 – Sept. 5, 1978
Vol.1. No. 2 – Oct. 1978
Vol. 1 No. 3 – Nov. 1978
Vol. 1 No. 4 – Jan. 1979
Vol. 1 No. 5 – Jun. 1979
Vol. 1 No. 6 – Aug. 1979
Minutes, flyers and election flyers (material related to the Action Caucus):
Caucus minutes – 7/30/78 – 8/79
Turn out for the arbitration hearings flyer – 8/21/78
Metro memo on strikes – 3/5/79
Report of the Local 689 audit committee – 10/2/79
Draft platform – 10/79 ca.
A vote for Mayo-Waller-Simpson is a vote for change – election flyer 11/79
Elect the Unity Slate platform – 11/79
Letter on the disqualification of Walter Tucker as presidential candidate—11/19/1979
Vote January 9 Mayo-Waller-Simpson—1/9/80
Vote Mayo-Waller-Simpson in the runoff elections—1/16/80
Attend the new officers installation—2/80
Unofficial election results—2/80
Documents of meetings by Action Caucus with transit union caucuses in other cities
February 18, 1979 – Minutes of meeting between caucuses within TWU 234, TWU 100 and ATU Local 689
May 1979 ca. – Minutes of meeting between caucuses with TWU 234, TWU 100, ATU 689, ATU 998 and ATU 241.
Files of the Metro Committee Against Racism (CAR)
The Metro Committee Against Racism was an ongoing caucus within Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689 organized by the Progressive Labor Party from approximately 1978 until approximately 1996.
It criticized union leadership, ran candidates for union office and advocated for social and economic justice and against U.S. imperialism.
We currently have one issue of the newsletter Metro C.A.R.
Metro C.A.R. – August 1978 ca.
Marijuana
No documents at this time
Miscellaneous
Townsend pension plan booklet – 1936 ca.
A pocket-sized 4-page publication by proponents of the Townsend pension plan advocates for this alternative to social security to be adopted circa 1936.
Dr. Francis Townsend and his followers garnered 15 million petition signatures supporting his alternative pension plan.
The main flaw in the plan was that the money generated by the 2% sales tax would not be enough to pay benefits at that level and Congress ultimately adopted the current social security system.
Patriot Party 10-Point Program – Oct. 1969
The 10-point program of the Patriot Party, a white left-wing revolutionary organization aligned with the Black Panther Party, was published in October 1969..
The Patriot Party was initially formed as the Young Patriots Organization in Chicago and later expanded nationwide as the Patriot Party. It was one of the component organizations of Black Panther Fred Hampton’s Rainbow Coalition in Chicago.
They rejected white supremacy but wore a confederate flag patch on their shirts.
They organized in the Washington, D.C. area 1970-71 out of the Panther office and the Panther’s Community Center focusing on far southeast Washington where working class whites still lived and the inner suburbs of Prince George’s County.
The Poor Revolutionist – 1969 ca.
This Christian tract by Chick publications was widely distributed at anti-Vietnam War rallies in the late 1960s and early 1970s in an attempt to turn young people away from activism.
In the booklet, the good Christian dies for his beliefs while the revolutionaries perish in battle or after being betrayed when the revolution succeeds. The revolutionaries go to hell and the good Christian goes to heaven.
The overall theme is that it is useless to struggle for a better life on Earth and that people should instead simply accept their fate and God.
National Liberation and Anti-Imperialism
(for Indochina War, see Vietnam War)
Civil Rights Congress calls on U.S. president to denounce South African apartheid system – 1952
The Civil Rights Congress initiates a petition to President Harry Truman in 1952 calling on him to denounce apartheid in South Africa and uphold the right of all nations to self-determination, among other demands.
Among the signers were Washington, D.C. residents Ms. Adam S. Butcher, Dr. HJ. A. Callis, United Cafeteria Workers Business Manager Oliver T. Palmer and civil rights luminary Mary Church Terrell. Dr. John E. T. Camper, a former Progressive Party candidate for Congress in Maryland also signed.
Among the national luminaries were NAACP founder W. E. B. DuBois; Ewart Guinier, former official in the United Public Workers and father of Lani Guinier, actor Sidney Portier and actor, singer and rights activist Paul Robeson.
‘Save the American Revolution’ – 1967
An undated flyer published most likely in the summer/fall of 1967 by the Washington Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam blasts U.S. foreign policy support for dictatorships while opposing popular revolutionary movements.
The flyer casts the theme that these revolutionary movements that were taking place in countries around the world were akin to our own American revolution and called on people to “Save the American Revolution.”
The Washington Mobilization was an umbrella organization for antiwar groups that grew out of the 1967 Spring Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam.
Committee of Returned Volunteers statement of purpose – Apr. 1969
The Committee of Returned Volunteers, composed of former Peace Corps and other volunteer service members who served overseas, publishes a packet that contains a statement of purpose in a packet distributed circa April 1969.
Also included in the packed is the question of whether the Peace Corps is developing an alternative path of development or an accomplice in exploitation and also contains an analysis of Peru and a critical analysis of the Hickenlooper amendment and its possible application in Peru.
Founded in 1966, the Committee of Returned Volunteers (CRV) was an organization of people who have worked in voluntary service programs in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, and in the United States.
The group‘s thinking evolved into an anti-imperialist perspective and concentrated its efforts on liberation of Third World countries and U.S. policy towards those countries.
DC WITCH celebrates Pan American week: 1969
The Washington, D.C. Women’s International Conspiracy from Hell (WITCH) group issues a flyer calling for a demonstration to hex the United Fruit Company as a representative company that “exploits the people of nations it purports to benefit, and manipulates United States government policy.”
The April 16, 1969 demonstration involved six women in witch costumes briefly invading the offices of United Fruit and “hexing” the company. The company called police and the women continued their protest outside on the sidewalk.
In addition to the United Fruit demonstration the Washington, D.C. WITCH women also protested the Gridiron Club exclusion of women; disrupted a congressional subcommittee hearing conducted by U.S. Rep William Natcher (D-KY), who was holding up Metrorail construction funds; and disrupted a meeting featuring D.C. police chief Jerry Wilson; among other activities.
Original held in the Bonnie Atwood papers, 1965-2005, Collection, Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA.
Formation of Patrick Sheils Irish Republican Club – 1970 ca.
An 8 ½ x 11, two-sided flyer stating the principles of the newly formed D.C. area Patrick Sheils Irish Republican Club is published circa 1970.
The club was loosely affiliated with the “Official IRA” as opposed to the “Provisional IRA,” or Provos, that were formed as a split-off from the original group in 1969.
The club held rallies and demonstrations, passed out flyers to the general public, sold copies of the United Irishman newspaper and raised funds to help pay for medical supplies, housing, doctors, food and other non-combatant services for those displaced or injured during what became known as “The Troubles” in Northern Ireland from 1969-98.
Revolutionary holiday card by Insurgent Press – 1970 ca.
An image of a revolutionary holiday card circa 1970 produced by Insurgent Press, a left-wing press that operated in Washington, D.C. in the late 1960s through the mid-1970s. At one point it was operating out of a building at 11th and K Streets NW.
The card’s front reads “Peace on Earth” and when you open it, it reads “By Any Means Necessary” with an image of a Vietnamese holding an automatic rifle in the air. A quote by Mao Zedong on the nature of war is on the inside fold.
Jose Marti—‘mastermind’ of the assault on the barracks–Moncada — 1970 ca.
A Cuban poster circa 1970 of Jose Marti with the inscription that can be translated as “mastermind of the assault on the barracks” followed by the name Moncada.
Marti was a Cuban poet, philosopher, essayist, journalist, translator, professor, and publisher, who is considered a Cuban national hero because of his role in the liberation of his country, and he was an important figure in Latin American literature.
Following the 1959 Cuban Revolution, Marti’s ideology became a major driving force in Cuban politics. He is also regarded as Cuba’s “martyr” and “patron saint.”
‘Defeat the U.S. Aggressors and all Their Running Dogs’ – May 1970
A May 20, 1970 statement by People’s Republic of China leader Mao Zedong after the U.S. invasion of Cambodia was a popular poster on the left wing of the antiwar movement in the United States and throughout the world.
American-Korean Friendship Center urges Nixon removal – 1972
An anti-Vietnam War flyer produced by the American-Korean Friendship and Information Center in 1972 contains an appeal to subscribe to their publication, Korea Focus, on the reverse side.
Flyer urges action on Chilean detainees – Sep. 1973
An anonymous flyer issued in Washington, D.C. urges Americans to appeal to Secretary of State Henry Kissinger to intervene on behalf of Chileans detained after a September 11, 1973 coup and calls for their immediate release and the issuance of exit visas.
The flyer was published shortly after the Chilean military staged the coup and overthrew the elected government of Salvador Allende. Over 120,000 socialists, communists, revolutionaries and other left wing opponents were jailed, tortured with several thousand “disappeared.”
Fundraiser for the Venceremos Brigade – Mar. 1974
The local branch of the Venceremos Brigade, an organization that promotes education and understanding of communist-led Cuba, calls for a fundraiser in Washington, D.C. March 15, 1974.
The Brigade sent groups of young people to Cuba to work and learn side-by-side with ordinary Cubans beginning in 1969.
Robert Simpson, an original and contemporary Spark contributor, was one of those who traveled to Cuba with the Brigade in 1974j.
Note that the post office box is the same as that of the historical Washington Area Spark and that the flyer was printed by Insurgent Printing—a left-wing printing press at 10th & K Streets NW that published many flyers, leaflets and newsletters in the Washington, D.C. area during the early and mid 1970s.
African liberation activist D.C. newspaper – 1974
The Washington, D.C. chapter of the African Liberation Support Committee (ALSC) briefly published a tabloid newspaper in 1974 called Finally Got the News named after the film of the same name that depicted the League of Revolutionary Black Workers struggle in Detroit.
The large African Liberation Day rally in 1972 was the driver behind forming the national ALSC composed mainly of pan-Africanists and black nationalists.
By 1973 a split was developing within the ALSC over working with white organizations that supported African liberation as urged by some leaders of the movements in Guinea-Bissau and Mozambique.
Read the local Finally Got the News May 1974 issue to understand the shift in emphasis to the black working class along with supporting African liberation.
Celebrate the Anniversary of the Cuban Revolution – 1974
A flyer advertising a New Year’s Eve party to be held Dec. 31, 1974 in Washington, D.C. sponsored by the Venceremos Brigade and the D.C. Chile Coalition.
The Venceremos Brigade is a long-standing U.S. group founded in 1969 supporting the Cuban revolution of 1959. It sponsors Americans, particularly students, on trips to Cuba to promote understanding and solidarity.
The D.C. Chile Coalition was formed after the U.S. backed coup that overthrew the popular government of Salvador Allende on September 11, 1973. The group sponsored a number of demonstrations and events supporting opponents of the coup, particularly 1974-75.
Shah’s U.S. visit; nine murdered under torture – May 1975
The Iranian Students Association in Washington-Baltimore publishes a 64-page account In May 1975 of protests against the state visit of the Shah of Iran and his wife receiving an award from Georgetown University.
The booklet contains a long statement by the student group, copies of letters and responses protesting the award and news articles about the protests, U.S. cooperation with the Shah and torture allegations.
The nine names on the front cover were those that students charged were tortured to death in the Evin prison, 30 miles north of Tehran in April 1975. Iranian authorities claimed they were killed during an escape attempt.
The students staged protests at the White House, Kennedy Center, Georgetown University and the Embassy of Iran, as well as in other areas of town. Most involved 300 or more students who wore paper masks to conceal their identity from SAVAK—the Shah’s secret police.
Call to protest U.S. visit of South African official Pik Botha – May 1981
The Coalition to Stop U.S.-South African Collaboration issues a flyer to protest the state visit of the White-supremacist regime Minister of Foreign Affairs Pik Botha in Washington, D.C. May 14, 1981.
The coalition was composed of D.C. Bank Campaign, Southern Africa Support Project, Trans Africa and the Washington Office on Africa.
Botha was invited to the White House to confer with U.S. President Ronald Reagan after meeting with Secretary of State Alexander Haig earlier in the day.
Solidarity with the People of Palestine – 1982 ca.
A “Solidarity with the People of Palestine” poster (that now has significant damage) was created by the Organization of Solidarity with the People of Asia, Europe, Africa and Latin America (OSPAAAL) illustrates the state of Israel in flames while in the crosshairs of a weapon and was created circa 1982.
The poster designates May 15th as the day of solidarity and was designed by Cuban artist Rafael Morante.
OSPAAAL was a Cuban political movement with the stated purpose of fighting globalization, imperialism, neoliberalism and defending human rights. The OSPAAAL was founded in Havana in January 1966, after the Tricontinental Conference, a meeting of over 500 delegates and 200 observers from over 82 countries. The organization shut down in 2019.
Native Americans
Flyer announcing The Long Walk for Survival – May 1980
The Long Walk for Survival was a cross-country demonstration by Native Americans that ended in Washington, D.C. with a series of demonstrations and prayer meetings over two weeks from Nov. 1-14, 1980 to draw attention to the issues of nuclear power and forced sterilization of Native women.
The walk began on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Gay six months earlier. About 100 demonstrators made the whole trek to Washington, D.C. where they were joined by several hundred more Native Americans and supporters.
They protested the forced sterilization of 60-70,000 Native women in the previous 12 years and the dumping of nuclear waste on Indian reservations as well a more general demand for more self-determination on the reservations.
Prison Rights
No documents at this time
Slave Resistance/Revolts/Military Action
No documents at this time
Socialism
“The Swimmers,” by John Reed – 1910
The Swimmers was published in The Forum. It was Journalist/Socialist John Reed’s first trade-published short story.
The piece was published in The Forum, 1910. John Silas “Jack” Reed (October 22, 1887 – October 17, 1920) was an American journalist, poet, and socialist activist, best remembered for Ten Days That Shook the World, his first-hand account of the Bolshevik Revolution.
Declaration of Economic Independence – 1976
The People’s Bicentennial Commission, formed by democratic socialists Jeremy Rifkin and John Rossen, published a Declaration of Economic Independence in 1976 in conjunction with demonstrations and the July 4, 1976 rallies in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.
The declaration identifies corporations as the cause of economic distress in the United States and calls for a decentralized ownership of the means of production.
Students
Highway of Hunger: The Story of America’s Homeless Youth – 1933
This pamphlet portrays a bleak future for youth whether they are the children of unemployed or college graduates—unless a revolution led by the Communist Party prevails.
Doran joined the Young Communist League in 1930 and went to the Deep South to build up membership of the YCL among the unemployed. In Scottsboro, Alabama, he was beaten up after he became involved in the campaign to free the “Scottsboro Boys.”
In 1931 he joined the Communist Party USA and worked as a trade union organizer with agricultural workers in Alabama, textile workers in North Carolina) and coal miners in Pennsylvania). By 1936 he was the party’s director of trade union activities.
He joined the Abraham Lincoln Brigade to fight fascism in Spain. After showing heroism in a number of battles, he was promoted to political commissioner for a battalion.
He was believed to be captured and executed on April 2, 1938 in Gandesa, during the Retreats phase of the Spanish Civil War.
Town Meeting for Youth – Mar. 1941
The American Youth Congress publicizes its successful February 1941 “Town Meeting of Youth” through a 16-page pamphlet recounting the event with articles and photos.
Several thousand delegates attend the “Town Hall of Youth” at Turner’s Arena in Washington, D.C. February 8, 1941. Locally, 198 delegates attended from the District of Columbia, 274 from Maryland and 35 from Virginia.
The delegates took time out from their three-day conference to picket the War Department demanding de-segregation of the armed services and defense industries.
The delegates took a strong stance against U.S. entry into World War II. Prior to the 1939 peace pact between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, the group had targeted fascism.
The conference also endorsed and lobbied for a “youth bill” that would have provided education and jobs, endorsed retaining the Depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps, called for “Scholarships not Battleships” and denounced the red-baiting “Dies Committee” of the House of Representatives.
Students for a Democratic Society Bulletin – Feb. 1965
This issue of the SDS newsletter contains the flyer for the first mass march on Washington, D.C. against the Vietnam War scheduled for April 17, 1965. It is located on page 13. A surprising 25,000 or more attended the march and rally.
Also of interest to Maryland readers is the article by Bob Moore, then active in the U-JOIN project (Union for Jobs or Income Now). Moore would later go on to lead the organizing effort for hospital workers in the city and become president of the Local 1199 affiliate in the city.
SDS flyer for first mass anti-Viet War march: Mar. 1965
A four-page flyer for the first mass march on Washington, D.C. in protest of the Vietnam War April 17, 1965 is produced by the Students for a Democratic Society.
Exceeding all expectations, 25,000 gathered in the city to picket the White House and rally at the Sylvan Theater before marching to the U.S. Capitol and presenting a petition against the War.
The march was mainly sponsored by the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Other participating organizations included the Committee for Nonviolent Action, Women’s Strike for Peace, Student Peace Union, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, War Resisters League, Local 1199 of the Hospital Workers, District 65 of the Retail Workers and chapters of the Congress of Racial Equality.
SDS calls for march against Viet War – Nov. 1965
The national office of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) issues a call for a march on Washington, D.C. to be held Nov. 27, 1965 in one of the early national demonstrations against the war in Vietnam.
In this flyer, SDS begins to make a break with those calling for negotiations by stating,
“We must not deceive ourselves: a negotiated agreement cannot guarantee democracy. Only the Vietnamese have the right of nationhood to make their government democratic or not, free or not, neutral or not. It is not America’s role to deny them the chance to be what they make of themselves.”
Nearly 50,000 attended this demonstration—double the number that came the previous spring in the first major antiwar march on Washington.
U. of Md. Students for a Democratic Society Vietnam study guide – circa Spring 1967
The University of Maryland College Park Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) publishes a two-sided flyer circa Spring 1967 that provides a study guide for those interested in educating themselves on the war in Vietnam.
This was toward the end of the “teach-in” period of SDS where a lot of effort was put into educating fellow students about why the Vietnam War conducted by the United States was wrong. The “teach-ins” flourished across the country in 1965-66.
D.C. SNCC calls for anti-draft march – May, 1967
The Washington, D.C. Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee calls on black youth to protest the draft May 8, 1967 by joining a march from 14th and H Streets NE to the Rayburn Office Building.
About 100 students from different East Coast colleges marched from the Rosedale playground to the Rayburn Building where they were barred from entering the building or attending a hearing being conducted by U.S. Senator Mendel Rivers (D-S.C.) on the draft.
Call for a black power conference at Howard – 1967
Huey LaBrie, one of the leaders of the student protests at Howard University in 1967 issues a call for a black power student conference to be held in Washington, D.C. May 19-21, 1967.
The informal conference was a run-up to the larger Newark Conference held in the summer ofr1967 that included the NAACP, The Urban League, Afro-American Unity, Harlem Mau and Maus along prominent leaders such as Jessie Jackson, Ron Karenga, Floyd McKissick, Rap Brown, and Charles 27X Kenyatta.
Following up the Newark conference, Stokely Carmichael (later Kwame Ture) pulled together a Black United Front in the District of Columbia in January 1968 that was intended to act as a unified voice for black people in the city.
LaBrie was the brother of Aubrie LaBrie who was a prominent black leader at San Francisco State University. Huey LaBrie was a leader of the 1967 Black Power Committee on the Howard campus along with Dr. Nathan Hare, Robin Gregory and others.
SDS reprints Ramparts article exposing CIA student funding – Aug. 1967
In August 1967, the University of Maryland College Park chapter of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) reprints the Ramparts magazine article in that blew the whistle on Central Intelligence Agency funding of the U.S. National Student Association (USNSA).
The SDS chapter distributed the article to USNSA delegates to the annual convention of the organization held that year at the University of Maryland and urged the group to disband.
The article exposed the long-running CIA relationship with the organization that included essentially running the group’s international operations and provided a building at 2115 S Street NW for the USNSA’s use and some other domestic funding as well.
The USNSA, composed of student governments throughout the country, did not dissolve. It cut its ties with the CIA over the next two years and at their 1969 convention in El Paso, Texas took a sharp turn to the left when Charles Palmer was elected president of the group.
USNSA staff member Larry Rubin’s notes on CIA student funding – 1967
The staff of the alternative newspaper Washington Free Press reprints former United States National Student Association (USNSA) staff member Larry Rubin’s diary of what USNSA officers were telling employees in January and February 1967 about revelations that the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was funding the organization’s international and some of its domestic operations.
The Free Press staff distributed Rubin’s notes to delegates attending the USNSA convention at the University of Maryland College Park campus in August 1967 and along with the campus Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) chapter called on the organization to dissolve.
Rubin’s notes and the Ramparts article revealed the long-running CIA relationship with the organization that included essentially running the group’s international operations and providing a building at 2115 S Street NW for the USNSA’s use and some other domestic funding as well.
The USNSA, composed of student governments throughout the country, did not dissolve. It cut its ties with the CIA over the next two years and at their 1969 convention in El Paso, Texas took a sharp turn to the left when Charles Palmer was elected president of the group.
U. of Md. College Park Students for a Democratic Society constitution – circa 1968
The University of Maryland College Park Students for a Democratic Society constitution circa 1968.
This would have been a necessary document to becoming a recognized student group on campus with access to facilities.
What? Me Worry About the Draft? – 1968 ca.
The Washington Draft Resistance, University of Maryland College Park chapter appeals to students to seek draft counseling for alternatives to military service.
Parents alerted to student walkout in support of teacher strike – Feb. 1968
Springbrook High School notifies parents of students who participated in a walkout Feb. 2, 1968 in support of a Montgomery County, Maryland teachers strike.
Defying court injunctions and threatened fines, the union held firm until a settlement was reached that tilted largely in favor of the MCEA (National Education Association affiliate) demands and re-affirmed its dominance as the voice for teachers in the county.
U. of Md. SDS contemplates the upcoming Democratic Convention – Mar. 1968
The University of Maryland College Park Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) holds a talk on campus by Lee Webb of the Institute for Policy Studies about the upcoming Aug. 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago.
UMD Poor People’s Campaign support contacts – Mar. 1968
The University of Maryland Committee in Support of Dr. Martin Luther King’s Poor People’s Campaign publishes a list of College Park campus contacts in March 1968.
King would be assassinated prior to the campaign that brought several thousand people to Washington, D.C. who lived in plywood huts near the Lincoln Memorial May-June 1968 and conducted demonstrations and token civil disobedience throughout the city.
King had initially envisioned shutting down the city using civil disobedience to demand a minimum guaranteed income, among other demands, but those plans were abandoned after his death.
At its peak, the campaign drew about 75,000 people to a rally.
Bob Simpson, a vintage and current Washington Area Spark contributor is listed as one of the contacts.
UMD Poor People’s Campaign rally – Apr. 1968
An unsigned flyer, probably by the University of Maryland Committee in Support of Dr. Martin Luther King’s Poor People’s Campaign advertises a rally April 9, 1968 and calls on the school administration to open the campus for marchers to stay and to provide food and supplies.
King was assassinated days prior to the issuance of this flyer.
The campaign that brought several thousand people to Washington, D.C. who lived in plywood huts near the Lincoln Memorial May-June 1968 and conducted demonstrations and token civil disobedience throughout the city.
King had initially envisioned shutting down the city using civil disobedience to demand a minimum guaranteed income, among other demands, but those plans were abandoned after his death.
At its peak, the campaign drew upwards of 100,000 people to a rally.
U. of Md. Students for a Democratic Society internal organizing letter – Aug. 1968
Gregory Dunkel, one of the prominent leaders of the U. of Md. College Park SDS who would later be banned from the campus for his activities during the student strike of 1970, writes a letter inviting members to two informal meetings for an exchange of ideas on what steps to take next.
Topics suggested for discussion included the Eugene McCarthy presidential campaign, the 1968 Democratic Convention, racism, campus politics, war-related issues, reports from national meetings, and Cuba.
SDS plans for fall school year – Sep. 1968
The Regional Office of the Students for Democratic Society (SDS) schedules an area-wide discussion group for September 7, 1968 to plan for the school year.
There were active chapters of SDS at George Washington University, American University, the University of Maryland as well as a number of at-large members in the Washington, D.C. area.
UMD SDS hits National Student Association – Fall 1968
The University of Maryland College Park chapter of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) reprints an article from the Guardian in the fall of 1968 outlining the irrelevancy of the National Student Association (NSA) annual convention to the wider antiwar and radical movements.
The article recounts the goings-on at the NSA’s annual congress at the Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas earlier in August.
The SDS flyer also advertises their weekly meetings in the Student Union on campus an includes a membership application to the national office.
Washington Regional SDS recruiting flye – Fall 1968
The Washington Regional SDS office produced this two-sided flyer both as political analysis and a recruiting tool after the Aug. 1968 Democratic Convention that resulted in police violence against the 10,000 demonstrators that had assembled to protest the war and continuing oppression of black people.
The flyer contains an illustration of the city of Chicago as a fortress with Mayor Richard J. Daley, national guardsmen and other figures.
The flyer makes the case that change will not come through peace candidates like Eugene McCarthy and that the repression in Chicago takes the “movement” to a new level.
UMD student government initiates “free university” – Oct. 1968
The University of Maryland College Park Student Government Association sponsors a “free university” on the campus with alternative seminars for those “tired of mass produced education” in the fall of 1968.
The 21 topics ranged from “The Urban Transportation Crisis or ‘White Men’s Roads’ through Black Men’s homes,” to “Introduction to the Philosophy of Ayn Rand.”
The free university was part of a “free community” movement in the greater Washington, D.C. area that involved free health clinics, breakfast for children’s programs, books, concerts and educational courses. The movement also included alternative newspapers, food co-ops, record co-ops and other alternative models.
National SDS recruiting booklet – Fall 1969 ca.
The. Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) national office publishes an undated, but probably the fall of 1968, pull out a membership recruitment booklet that skillfully threads the needle between the arising factions and their viewpoints within the organization.
The booklet describes the evolution of the organization from a liberal-left group to a radical group with a bent toward revolutionary politics.
It describes the SDS positions on Vietnam and foreign policy, The draft and the military, on the black liberation movement, labor and the struggles of working people, and the student revolt.
It concludes with an appeal to subscribe to SDS’s publication, New Left Notes, and to join the organization itself.
SDS rally against 30 percent UMD tuition increase – Oct. 1968
The University of Maryland College Park Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) issues a flyer calling for a rally October 7, 1968 in front of McKelden Library against a 30 percent tuition increase approved by the Board of Regents.
The flyer blasts Gov. Spiro Agnew for raising taxes on working people and freezing the wages of state employees while proposing to cut the taxes of landlords
They also decried the spending of money on a new administration building on the flagship campus while the historically black campuses of the UMD system received no construction funds.
SDS demands:
- No tuition or fee increase
- End the freeze on state employees’ wages
- Admit thousands of black and white working class students with subsidies if necessary
- Hire enough teachers to reduce the student/faculty ratio by 50 percent.
- Upgrade the black campuses in the university system
Eldridge Cleaver speech flyer at American University – Oct. 1968
Black Panther Party Minister of Information Eldridge Cleaver, presidential candidate on the Peace and Freedom Party ticket and author of Soul on Ice is invited to speak on the American University campus in Washington, D.C.
The Panthers would establish a small chapter in the city in 1970 and prominent leaders, including David Hilliard, Huey Newton, Elbert “Big Man” Howard, Donald Cox, Eldridge Cleaver, and Kathleen Cleaver all made public appearances in the city.
Call for a student strike against the election – Nov. 1968
An unsigned flyer probably issued by someone in the Washington, D.C. Regional Office of the Students for Democratic Society (SDS) calls for a student strike and demonstrations coinciding with the national presidential election in 1968.
The strike call was issued to protest the three candidates—Democrat Hubert Humphrey, Republican Richard Nixon and American Independent George Wallace—and to demonstrate firm opposition to continued involvement in Vietnam.
Humphrey and Nixon favored continuing the war until a so-called honorable peace could be attained while Wallace favored continuing the war until outright victory.
The Washington, D.C. actions were part of a nationwide call for a student strike. The strike failed and attendance at the antiwar demonstrations held across the country was poor.
A little over two months later, the antiwar movement was reinvigorated with the counter-inaugural demonstrations held simultaneously with the victorious Nixon-Agnew ticket’s official installation in office.
UMD SDS calls for student strike against Viet War and election – Nov. 1968
The University of Maryland College Park Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) calls for a student strike and demonstrations coinciding with the national presidential election in 1968.
The strike was intended to protest the Vietnam War and the choices of candidates in the election.
Viet students urge end to U.S. involvement Sept. 1969
Two letters from South Vietnamese students dated in 1967 and 1969 encourage U.S. students to continue and intensify their opposition to U.S,. involvement in Vietnam.
The first letter, marked pages 3-4, is dated April 3, 1967 and is sent by the Union of Vietnamese Students in France and signed by three of its officers.
The second letter is dated September 16, 1969 and is from Le Van Nghia, a 24-year-old student at the Faculty of Letters, Saigon University and editor of the school newspaper.
A cover letter dated September 1969 explains the two letters and urges college student newspaper editors to print the two letters that were obtained by the American Friends Service Committee.
University of Maryland Free University: Fall 1969 ca.
The University of Maryland College Park initial Free University course offerings are outlined in this six-page, 8 ½ x 11 mimeographed guide circa fall 1969. The document is difficult to read due to the faded ink.
The Free University was organized by students and faculty who put forth the philosophy in the guide:
“The primary purpose of the program is to free faculty and students alike. In the rigid classroom structure many instructors find themselves teaching courses outside their fields of interest or competence. Due to college requirements and lack of personnel, many courses of current or even limited interest are bypassed.”
“The student too is encumbered with requirements and often find it difficult to achieve any kind of rapport with his instructor in the presence of 350 other classmates. It is also impossible to get “up tight” with a television.”
“Thus the free university offers a natural outlet for frustrated teachers and student alike.”
Courses covered radical politics, philosophy, self-help and a range of other topics. One of the professors, Peter Goldstone, would become a flashpoint for protest when he was terminated along with another professor in the spring of 1970.
A Freedom School at Eastern High School – Sept. 1969
A September 28, 1969 letter from Acting Director of the Washington, D.C. Freedom School Charles Robinson to students in the public school system urging them to join in establishing a Freedom School annex at Eastern High School
It became the first public school curriculum to be designed by students.
The program ran concurrently with D.C. school year, offering elective credit in lieu of elective courses from regular curriculum at Eastern High School.
Two 3-hour sessions daily in Black History, Black Literature, Black Philosophy, Community Organization, Third World Studies, Contemporary Problems, Economics, Black Art and Drama, Black Music, Swahili.
Original held in the Bonnie Atwood papers, 1965-2005, Collection, Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA.
Coolidge student march against the war flyer – Oct. 1969
A flyer advertises a demonstration held during the Vietnam Moratorium by black students at Coolidge High School in Washington, D.C. October 15, 1969.
Over 100 students from Coolidge High School sought to enter the White House grounds with a black pinewood coffin containing letters from students asking President Nixon to end the war.
Refused entry by White House guards, the students pressed forward anyway. Park and metropolitan police bolstered the guards and arrested three students and one passerby. 500 bystanders gathered around the confrontation angrily shouting at police to let the arrested students go.
Smash the 3-Sisters Bridge – Nov. 1969
A poster calling for a rally to “Smash the 3 Sisters Bridge” at Georgetown University followed by a march to the bridge site November 16, 1969 sponsored by the Student Committee on the Transportation Crisis.
The SCTC was set up by students at George Washington, American and Georgetown universities to assist the efforts of the long-standing Emergency Committee on the Transportation Crisis led by Reginald Booker.
The SCTC was influenced by the more radical faction of the recently fractured Students for a Democratic Society and by the Yippies.
The group engaged in a number of confrontations with police at and around the bridge site, resulting in stone throwing, tear gas and arrests.
A court order stopped construction on the bridge in Aug. 1970 and it was never resumed.
Black Panthers seek to recruit D.C. white student allies – Dec. 1969
During the Black Panther recruiting drive in December 1969 led by Jim Williams, the group also sought to set up an affiliated chapter of the National Committee to Combat Fascism (NCCF).
The flyer publicizes a number of events designed to familiarize area students with the Panthers and to recruit members to the NCCF chapter.
The tour came shortly after the Chicago police murder of Fred Hampton on Dec. 4thand this event is addressed on the reverse side of the flyer.
The NCCF only functioned for a short time, but the Panthers established a full-fledged chapter at their announcement of the Revolutionary People’s Constitutional Convention at the Lincoln Memorial in June 1970.
Nazi appeal to join affiliated student group – 1970
An appeal to help “Build a New Order” by joining the National Socialist Liberation Front is distributed by the National Socialist White People’s Party (NSWPP) based in Arlington, Va. in 1970.
The Liberation Front was created by the Nazi group in 1969 as a student organization, mimicking left-wing student organizations such as W.E.B DuBois Clubs, affiliated with the Communist Party, and the Young Socialist Alliance, affiliated with the Socialist Workers Party.
The group was established by NSWPP member Joseph Tommasi who developed personal and ideological differences with NSWPP commander Matt Koehl. Tommasi denounced Koehl and other members of the leadership at a party congress in 1970 and called for waging an immediate revolution.
It was during the early 70s that infamous white supremacist David Duke joined the National Socialist Liberation Front.
Koehl expelled Tommasi in 1973 for allegedly smoking marijuana and entertaining young women at party headquarters, as well as misusing party funds.
Tommasi re-organized the Liberation Front in 1974 with two tiers—an above ground organization and an underground organization that would wage guerrilla war.
Tommasi was killed by an NSWPP member in front of the NSWPP local headquarters in El Monte, CA during a confrontation. No one was charged in Tommasi’s death.
Following Tommasi’s death, the group underwent several leadership changes and changes in tactics. In the mid 1980s, the group’s leader was arrested on a weapons charge and the Liberation Front fell apart.
Nazi ‘Had Enough, Whitey?’ flyer – 1970
An appeal to white supremacists to join the student National Socialist Liberation Front is distributed by the National Socialist White People’s Party (NSWPP) based in Arlington, Va. in 1970.
A platform is printed on the back side. Both sides are chocked full of racial stereotypes and slanders.
‘Why Does the System Hate National Socialism’ – 1970
The National Socialist Liberation Front (the student group of the National Socialist White People’s Party) publishes a tract attempting to explain the merits of Nazi concept of national socialism in 1970.
An application to join the group is one the flip side of the flyer.
Demonstrate to End the Draft – Mar. 1970
The Student Mobilization Committee publishes a flyer as a co-sponsor of anti-draft actions taking place the week of March 15-19, 1970.
Upwards of 500 people rallied March 19th at the Sylvan Theater and at the national draft board of F Street NW. Several people burned draft cards and a coffin filled with draft cards was left at the door.
Other organizations sponsoring the protest included the Vietnam Moratorium Committee in one of their last acts before the group was dissolved, Episcopal Peace Fellowship, New Mobilization Committee, Young Socialist Alliance, D.C. Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy, Washington Peace Center, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom and Women’s Strike for Peace.
The Student Mobilization Committee began as the student arm of the National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam, but became a separate organization where the Socialist Workers Party, the dominate Trotskyist organization at the time, and it’s youth arm the Young Socialist Alliance had considerable influence.
UMD Statement on the arrest of the Skinner 87 – Mar. 1970
The University of Maryland College Park issues a statement on the arrest of 87 students March 24, 1970 who were protesting the dismissal of two popular professors.
Two professors, Peter Goldstone and Richard Roeloff, were denied a renewal of their contracts. Several hundred students seized Skinner Hall March 23 for 13 hours before police were called to arrest the demonstrators
Students briefly occupied three buildings on campus again on April 6th, including Skinner Hall, McKeldin Library and the South Administration Building.
The protest was largely forgotten when the campus erupted May 1, 1970 in protests against President Richard Nixon’s expansion of the Vietnam War into Cambodia and the subsequent shooting deaths of 4 students at Kent State University by the Ohio Guard.
Call for Montgomery County students to protest Kent State killings – May 1970
An unsigned call for Montgomery County, Md. students to rally at Springbrook High School May 8, 1970 to protest the killing of four students at Kent State University during an anti-Vietnam War demonstration.
The flyer also calls upon students to attend a memorial service in New York City and to also participate in a University of Maryland rally along with canvassing, picketing and leafleting.
The Kent State shootings, also known as the May 4 massacre and the Kent State massacre, were the killings of four and wounding of nine other unarmed Kent State University students by the Ohio National Guard on May 4, 1970 in Kent, Ohio, 40 miles south of Cleveland.
University of Md. College Park ‘Commuter Newsletter’ – May 8-10, 1970
A unsigned, undated three-page flyer (issued between May 8 and 10, 1970 and probably issued by members of the student strike committee) dubbed “Commuter’s Newsletter” recounts a faculty assembly vote at the University of Maryland College Park to endorse an immediate end to the war in Vietnam, opposing repression against the Black Panther Party and urging the school administration to keep the school facilities open during the student strike.
Demonstrations against the Vietnam War and a student strike began at the school May 1, 1970 after President Richard Nixon ordered U.S. troops to invade Cambodia-widening the war. A national student strike was called May 4, 1970, the same day that the Ohio National Guard gunned down four students and wounded nine others at Kent State University in Ohio.
The flyer also calls for students to support a liberal grading plan for classes of those engaged in the student strike.
The last page of the flyer reprints the faculty resolutions adopted at an assembly of 1,000 faculty members at Cole Field House May 7, 1970. The assembly was watched by 7,000 students in the stands.
University Record account of UMD administration building fire – May 15, 1970
The University Record dated May 15, 1970b publishes photographs and excerpts from a speech to the University of Maryland College Park board of regents by President Wiison Elkins describing damage to the administration building sustained during a student demonstration against the Vietnam War May 14, 1970.
Over 5,000 students again occupied U.S. Route 1 after the school’s faculty voted by a 2-1 margin to apply relatively strict grading criteria to students involved in the strike against the expansion of the Indochina War by President Richard Nixon and the shooting deaths of four students at Kent State University by Ohio National Guardsmen.
Ed Beall, a left-leaning faculty activist led a group of students to put out the fire. Otherwise the building may have burned to the ground.
Beall, however, was not rewarded for his actions. Instead the board of regents at the school later fired the tenured professor for posting unauthorized signs on campus and other trivial matters.
Martial law order by National Guard at UMD – May 15 1970
A photograph of a May 15, 1970 order by Maryland National Guard commander Major Gen. Edwin Warfield III imposing a curfew at the University of Maryland College Park, banning the sale and possession of gasoline and banning gatherings on campus of more than 100 people.
It marked the second time the National Guard occupied the campus during the 1970 student strike against the U.S. expansion of the Vietnam War into Cambodia and the killings of students at Kent State University.
When the Guard arrived on campus the evening of May 14th, the most bitter and prolonged fighting between students and police and National Guard occurred.
Shortly after this order, 25 students were banned from campus by Warfield at the request of university officials.
Students repeatedly defied the National Guard order and held rallies and marches of several thousand on May 18th, 20thand 22nd.
The National Guard would occupy the campus again during anti-Vietnam War protests in 1971 and 1972.
Remember the Augusta Six – May 1970
A rally is called at the University of Maryland College Park May 20, 1970 to honor the six slain black men in Augusta, Ga. who were shot to death by police—most apparently in the back—while they were protesting the violent death of a 16-year-old that was in police custody.
The campus was under martial law at the time following two weeks of confrontations between students and National Guard and police. Gatherings were prohibited. This is likely why the flyer is unsigned. The first demand of the 1970 student strike was the ending of repression of black people.
Flyer announces formation of DRUM at College Park: 1970
The first flyer issued by the newly constituted Democratic Radical Union of Maryland (DRUM) announces its formation in late May 1970 out of the 1970 student strike coalition at College Park.
The May 1970 student strike was the first mass protest at the College Park campus and included occupation of buildings, the seizure of U.S. Route 1, confrontations with police and National Guard and a student strike that was part of a nationwide student strike against the expansion of the Vietnam War into Cambodia and the shooting deaths of four student protesters at Kent State University in Ohio.
DRUM filled a year-long void caused by the splintering of the Students for Democratic Society (SDS) in the summer of 1969.
DRUM published The Radical Guide to the University of Maryland and the Route One Gazette and held a number of meetings and protests on and off the campus.
The spring 1971 antiwar protests on the campus that resulted in a Maryland National Guard occupation of the campus for the second straight year were largely guided by these activists.
Confront Mandel and the [UMD] Regents – Jun. 1970
President Wilson Elkins scheduled a meeting with the University of Maryland Board of Regents and Maryland Gov. Marvin Mandel June 26, 1970 and students responded by calling a demonstration.
The flyer is unsigned, but likely issued by the Democratic Radical Union of Maryland (DRUM).
DRUM was formed from the student strike committee that attempted to guide the month-long student strike in May 1970 against the Vietnam War following President Richard Nixon’s invasion of Cambodia. The shooting deaths of four students at Kent State University May 4, 1970 by the Ohio National Guard helped fuel the strike and protests.
The War Drags on Rally at the U. of Md. College Park – Aug. 1970
An unsigned flyer calls for a rally against the Vietnam War August 4, 1970 on the Mall at the University of Maryland College Park. The flyer is unsigned but contains the demands of the Democratic Radical Union of Maryland and was likely put out by the group.
USNSA Congress News – August 16, 1970
USNSA Congress News – August 17, 1970
U.S. National Student Association (USNSA) Congress News October 16, 1970 reports on the passage of a resolution the previous night during their convention at Macalester College in Minneapolis, MN that authorizes the umbrella group of college student governments to negotiate a People’s Peace Treaty and organize demonstrations, including civil disobedience, beginning May 1, 1971.
While its politics were always liberal, the top officers of the organization permitted the CIA to use students to gather intelligence and attempt to blunt communist influence in international student gatherings from 1947-67.
Ramparts Magazine published an expose in 1967 blowing the lid of the scheme and the group extricated itself from CIA funding.
Despite its background as a Cold War front group, over the course of three years 1967-70, it turned from a tool of U.S. foreign policy to helping lead the fight against it, including the call for a national student strike against the Vietnam War in May 1970, the negotiations of a People’s Peace Treaty with North and South Vietnamese students in December 1970, and the endorsement and organization of the Mayday civil disobedience in Washington, D.C. in May 1971.
Radical Guide to the University of Maryland – Aug. 1970
The University of Maryland was relatively quiet during the late 1960s when turmoil swept campuses around the country over the Vietnam War and black liberation.
However, the campus exploded in 1970—first with the university’s mass arrests of students protesting the firing of two popular professors and later with massive antiwar demonstrations and resulting confrontations that ended in the campus being occupied by the National Guard.
The Guide was written and published by the Democratic Radical Union of Maryland (DRUM), a short-lived campus successor to the Students for Democratic Society (SDS).
It recounts the demonstrations of during the Spring of 1970 and puts forward the views of the students on important issues of the day.
Student Peace Lobby holds UMD candidate forum – Aug. 1970
The Student Peace Lobby holds a Prince George’s County candidate forum at the University of Maryland College Park August 4-5, 1970 and highlights the student candidates.
The Student Peace Lobby was a brief-lived campus organization that sought to elect anti-Vietnam War candidates, secure voting rights for students and lobby elected officials to oppose the Vietnam War.
Student Government Association president Madison Jones ran for sheriff on a platform of attempting to rein in the duties of the sheriff.
You Don’t Have to Go – Sep. 1970 ca.
A flyer published by the Democratic Radical Union of Maryland (DRUM) and the Mother Bloor Collective calls on students at College Park to seek draft counseling and oppose the war in Vietnam.
DRUM grew out of the May 1970 student strike on the College Park campus while Mother Bloor was a local Marxist-Leninist collective some student activist leaders formed to chart a path forward for those radicalized in the civil rights and Vietnam War struggles.
DRUM lasted about two years while most of the member of Mother Bloor affiliated with the Workers World Party or its youth group Youth Against War and Fascism.
Maryland radicals Mother Bloor Collective and DRUM defend Panther’s RPCC – Oct. 1970
The Democratic Radical Union of Maryland (DRUM) and the Ella Reeve Bloor Collective (Mother Bloor) publish an explanation of the Black Panther Party-sponsored Revolutionary People’s Constitutional Convention plenary session in Philadelphia, Pa. and re-iterate that the full convention scheduled for Washington, D.C. in November 1970 will be held.
Due to political pressure from the federal government and local authorities, suitable venues in the Washington, D.C. area, including Howard University, the University of Maryland and the D.C. Armory all rejected the Panther convention. While several thousand streamed into the city and small activities were held, no plenary session was ever convened.
On the back side of the flyer are hand-written lyrics to a song popularized by the Weather Underground: Red Party Fights to Win.
May Strike at U. of Md. film screening flyer: Nov. 1970
The Democratic Radical Union of Maryland (DRUM) sponsors a film November 9, 1970 on the student strike the previous spring that protested President Richard Nixon’s expansion of the Vietnam War into Cambodia and the shooting deaths of four Kent State University students by the Ohio National Guard.
Anyone who has information on this film, please contact Washington_area_spark@yahoo.com We would love to digitalize it and post it on our site.
Position paper on workers for Revolutionary People’s Constitutional Convention: 1970
The Democratic Radical Union of Maryland (DRUM), a primarily student group based at UMD College Park, puts out a flyer outlining its position on workers for the Revolutionary Peoples’ Constitutional Convention scheduled for Nov. 27-29 in Washington, D.C
The convention was spearheaded by the Black Panther Party.
It calls for workers control of the means of production, minority guaranteed a proportional share of work and decision-making, guaranteed employment, a national production plan, and guaranteed education and training.
Call for action to stop Nixon’s new war escalation – Nov. 1970
A call to action at the University of Maryland College Park on the Vietnam War following an increase in bombing and a failed attempt to rescue American POWs is published by the Democratic Radical Union of Maryland (DRUM) circa November 1970.
This flyer disparages President Richard Nixon’s war escalation and provides facts to support an antiwar position. The flyer is partially damaged.
DRUM was a successor to the campus chapter of the Students for a Democratic Society that was formed out of the steering committee from the May 1970 student strike against the expansion of the Vietnam War into Cambodia and the shooting deaths of four students at Kent State University by the Ohio National Guard.
U. of Md. ‘wanted poster’ of undercover police – 1970 ca.
The first in a series of “wanted” posters put out anonymously on the University of Maryland campus of police agents and informers following the student strike of 1970.
This one features alleged state police officers John Paul Cook and Bob Wacker.
U. of Md. ‘wanted poster’ of undercover police (2) – 1970 ca.
The second in a series of “wanted” posters put out anonymously on the University of Maryland campus of police agents and informers following the student strike of 1970.
This one features alleged state police officer or informer Jim Lair.
U. of Md. ‘wanted poster’ of police/FBI informant (3) – 1970 ca.
The third in a series of “wanted” posters put out anonymously on the University of Maryland College Park campus of police agents and informers following the student strike of 1970.
This one features alleged police/FBI informant Thomas Hyde.
National student antiwar conference at Catholic U. – Feb. 1971
The Student Mobilization Committee advertises a rally and a national anti-Vietnam War conference to be held at Catholic University February 19-21, 1971.
The rally was also sponsored by the National Peace Action Coalition (NPAC), one of two umbrella antiwar coalitions at the time. The other was the People’s Coalition for Peace and Justice (PCPJ). NPAC organized around a single issue of end the war while PCPJ embraced antiwar, social and economic justice issues.
The Student Mobilization Committee began as the student arm of the National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam—the predecessor of PCPJ and NPAC–but became a separate organization where the Socialist Workers Party, the dominate Trotskyist organization at the time, and it’s youth arm the Young Socialist Alliance had considerable influence.
At its high point SMC had chapters on dozens of campuses across the country.
Mother Bloor collective warns U. of Md. students of drug raids – Apr. 1971
Mother Bloor, a Marxist-Leninist study group based at the University of Maryland College Park that briefly formed its own organization, warns of the possibility of a police raid on the campus looking for drugs April 30-May 2, 1971.
No raids apparently took place, though the campus would be wracked by another year of anti-Vietnam War demonstrations that brought the National Guard back to occupy the campus for a second year.
Mother Bloor (1970-71), named after an early U.S. Communist Party labor leader, was formed in large by University of Maryland College Park activists around the same time as Mother Jones, a similar group in Baltimore named after another labor leader.
Both groups acted as communist political groups but ended up taking different directions. Most members of Mother Bloor affiliated with the Workers World Party—a split off from the Trotskyist Socialist Workers Party in the 1959–while most Mother Jones members affiliated with the Revolutionary Union—a Maoist group with roots in San Francisco Bay Area in the late 1960s.
UMD antiwar coalition formulates demands – May 1971
The University of Maryland [College Park] Spring Action Coalition comprised of various campus left-leaning groups formulates its demands during a series of demonstrations in May 1971 on the campus.
The protests broke out at the same time Mayday demonstrations were occurring in nearby Washington, D.C. and resulted in the National Guard occupying the campus for the second year in a row. The Guard would also put down antiwar demonstrations on the campus in 1972.
The demands included kicking ROTC off the campus, implementing the People’s Peace Treaty and an end to disciplinary measures against students and guests.
U. of Md. students produce a guide to Mayday civil disobedience – 1971
The University of Maryland Mayday contingent produced a guide to the Mayday 1971 anti-Vietnam War demonstrations that were intended to shut down the government by using civil disobedience to block traffic in Washington, D.C.
DRUM and Mother Bloor urge on U. of Md. students – Fall, 1971
A flyer published by the Democratic Radical Union of Maryland (DRUM) and the Mother Bloor Collective in the fall of 1971 calls on students at College Park to re-double their opposition to the Vietnam War after President Richard Nixon’s failed raid to rescue POWs and the withdrawal of a small number of troops.
DRUM grew out of the May 1970 student strike on the College Park campus while Mother Bloor was a local Marxist-Leninist collective some student activist leaders formed to chart a path forward for those radicalized in the civil rights and Vietnam War struggles.
DRUM lasted about two years while most of the members of the Mother Bloor collective affiliated with the Workers World Party or its youth group Youth Against War and Fascism.
Call for an anti-imperialist contingent in national antiwar march – May 1972
A flyer by the Attica Brigade, a youth group associated with the Maoist Revolutionary Union calls on people to join an anti-imperialist contingent in a larger march on Washington, D.C. to oppose the Vietnam War May 21, 1972.
While speeches took place before a crowd of 10-15,000 on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol, several thousand in the anti-imperialist contingent tossed rocks, bottles and other projectiles while police responded with clubs and tear gas.
D.C. police chief Jerry Wilson was hit six times with objects including a wooden stick that caused blood to run down his face.
Wilson was quoted, “They usually run when I walk toward them. This time they threw bigger rocks.”
A dozen police officers were injured and 178 protesters were arrested during the confrontation.
Protest arrests of two U. of Md. students – July 1972
An unsigned flyer protests the arrests of two students charged with minor acts of vandalism to the destruction of the Vietnam War. The flyer calls on students to attend the trials of Steve Moore and Bob Ferraro.
U. of Md. students protest arrests – Fall, 1972
A newly formed Md./D.C. Committee to Oppose Political Repression issues a flyer protesting the arrest of three University of Maryland students arrested during a May 10, 1972 antiwar demonstration on the campus where police engaged in well-documented police brutality against one of those arrested.
Freedom Party marches on Rockville, Md. – Nov. 1972
The Montgomery County Freedom Party sponsors an anti-Vietnam War demonstration November 8, 1972 where about 75 people marched to the military recruiting station in downtown Rockville, Md.
The Freedom Party was one of dozens of local groups that sprang up around the country on college campuses to fill the void caused by the collapse of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) in the summer of 1969.
It was one of the few local demonstrations against the Vietnam War in Montgomery County where the focus was usually on Washington, D.C.
The Freedom Party left its mark on the Rockville campus of Montgomery College from the fall semester of 1971 through the spring semester of 1973, publishing Spark newspaper, sponsoring a series of speakers and holding protests. At one point they held a majority of seats in the student government.
Weather Underground FBI Wanted Poster – 1972
While never specifically espousing an anarchist philosophy, the Weather Underground’s political beliefs and actions mirrored some of the characteristics of anarchism. The group formed as a result in a split of the mass student-based organization Students for a Democratic Society in 1969.
The Weathermen, as they were originally known, carried out their first major action later in the year—The Days of Rage in Chicago’s streets October 8-11th. Several hundred hard-core activists battled Chicago police over three days under the slogan “Bring the War Home.”
A major focus of the demonstration was the trial of the Chicago 8—antiwar leaders of various philosophies charged with fomenting a riot at the 1968 Democratic Convention. The clashes with police ended with six Weathermen wounded by police gunfire, 287 arrested and a number of other injured. The police suffered several dozen injuries—none serious.
Many of those charged failed to appear in court resulting in most of the wanted profiles on the linked document.
The Weather Underground went on to conduct a symbolic bombing campaign of government, industrial or other political targets until 1977 when the group essentially disbanded.
A few members went on to participate in the May 19thCommunist Organization joint action with the Black Liberation Army of a 1981 robbery of a Brinks truck in New Jersey that resulted in the death of a guard and two police officers. Suspects were arrested over a five-year period and sentenced to long prison terms.
Transit in the D.C. Area
White Man’s Road Through Black Man’s Home – 1968
This is a poster designed by Sammie Abbott of the Emergency Committee for the Transportation Crisis in 1968 that encapsulated the group’s fight against planned freeways in the District of Columbia.
In January 1967, Abbott used the words “a white man’s road…through black men’s homes,” in testimony before the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) on the North Central Freeway.
Abbott may have used the words first, but Reginald Booker turned them into a slogan that galvanized black opposition to new highways and put the issue in stark racial terms. Abbott, a graphic arts designer, produced the dozens of posters and flyers that featured it.
The group would successfully lead a confrontational fight against new freeways, for public takeover of the private bus company and for construction of the new Metrorail system that resulted in almost complete victory against powerful opponents.
ECTC anti-freeway song sheet – 1969 ca.
The Emergency Committee on the Transportation Crisis (ECTC) publishes an 8 ½ x 11, 2-page protest song lyric sheet circa 1969 for use at demonstrations and meetings against building planned freeways and bridges in and around the District of Columbia
The ECTC spearheaded pubic protests against freeway construction in the city, advocating to divert highway funds to build Metro.
The protests and parallel legal action eventually ended most freeway construction in the city. As a result of the campaign Metro took over four private bus companies in the region to run a public bus system and completed the Metrorail system.
Rally to rehabilitate Brookland homes – Jun. 1969
A rally is planned June 28, 1969 to make a second attempt at rehabilitation of homes condemned by the District government for the North Central Freeway in the Brookland area of the city.
The homes had been vacant for more than a year and had been vandalized. A court injunction had placed the planned freeway on hold.
On June 21st six people were arrested for entering one of the homes and attempting to begin rehabilitation. Following the publicity, Mayor Walter Washington announced that the city would rehabilitate the homes and place them up for sale.
Emergency Committee on the Transportation Crisis appeal – Aug. 1969 ca.
The Emergency Committee on the Transportation Crisis (ECTC) issues an appeal to the public to take action following a vote by the D.C. City Council in August 1969 to approve the construction of the Three Sisters Bridge.
The flyer appeals for financing a legal fight against proposed freeways, defense funds for those arrested during actions opposing freeways, help getting the freeway issue on the ballot as a referendum and help in the communities opposing the construction of new freeways.
The Emergency Committee on the Transportation Crisis (ECTC) spearheaded pubic protests against freeway construction in the city, advocating to divert highway funds to build Metrorail.
Original held in the Bonnie Atwood papers, 1965-2005, Collection, Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA.
Student Committee on the Transportation Crisis meeting flyer – Oct. 1969
The George Washington University chapter of the Student Committee on the Transportation Crisis (SCTC) publishes an 8 ½ x 11 two-sided flyer advertising a meeting on campus October 19, 1969 following the arrest of 141 people protesting construction of the Three Sister Bridge to “Stop the Bridge, Free D.C.”
The SCTC and the larger Emergency Committee on the Transportation Crisis (ECTC) spearheaded pubic protests against freeway construction in the city, advocating to divert highway funds to build Metro.
The protests and parallel legal action eventually ended most freeway construction in the city. As a result of the campaign Metro took over four private bus companies in the region to run a public bus system and completed the Metrorail system.
Smash the 3-Sisters Bridge – Nov. 1969
A poster calling for a rally to “Smash the 3 Sisters Bridge” at Georgetown University followed by a march to the bridge site November 16, 1969 sponsored by the Student Committee on the Transportation Crisis.
The SCTC was set up by students at George Washington, American and Georgetown universities to assist the efforts of the long-standing Emergency Committee on the Transportation Crisis led by Reginald Booker.
Opposition to the bridge was seen as the key to stopping a planned series of freeways that would destroy thousands of primarily black homes and crisscross the city.
A court order stopped construction on the bridge located several hundred yards north of the existing Key Bridge in Aug. 1970 and it was never resumed.
Later on legislation passed Congress allowing localities to utilize unused freeway construction funds for subway building and D.C. then took freeway and bridge funds and used them to accelerate the building of the Metrorail system.
Call for 3-Sisters Bridge celebration – 1971
A flyer calling for a celebration October 30, 1971 of a U.S. Court of Appeals decision that effectively indefinitely delayed construction of the Three Sisters Bridge.
The court ruled that the government must start all over with the planning and review process.
Opposition to the bridge was seen as the key to stopping a planned series of freeways that would destroy thousands of primarily black homes and crisscross the city. A court order stopped construction on the bridge in Aug. 1970 and it was never resumed.
Later on legislation passed Congress allowing localities to utilize unused freeway construction funds for subway building and D.C. then took freeway and bridge funds and used them to accelerate the building of the Metrorail system.
Transit union working cards – 1974-77
A 1977 yearly card (top) issued by the Amalgamated Transit Union for members in good standing. These were stickers that were usually displayed by union members on operator trap boxes (below) or mechanic tool boxes.
The ATU previously issued monthly cards like this, but began issuing yearly cards because of the expense. Later they began issue permanent plastic cards.
Trap boxes were used to carry transfers, schedules, running time cards, shop cards, refund slips and scrip, and other items used daily by bus operators. Some operators would keep their punch (for punching transfers) in their trap box when not on duty.
The trap box (bottom) displays monthly cards issued in 1974.
WMATA & union letters ordering striking workers back to work – May 1974
Shortly after the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA also known as Metro) took over four privately owned bus companies in addition to the task of building a subway, the contract between Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689 and the new public company expired.
The union called a strike on May 1, 1974 after the contract expired, negotiations stalled and Metro had not specifically agreed to arbitration as provided for in the expiring labor contract and the Interstate Compact that created Metro.
The union argued that the clause in the expiring contract permitted a legal strike when the company refused to arbitrate. A federal judge disagreed and fined the union $50,000 per day (later reduced to $25,000) until workers returned to work.
Attached are back-to-work letters from the union and the company after workers continued the strike after the judge’s order.
Files of the Metro Employees Action Alliance – 1976
The Metro Employees Action Alliance (originally named the Ad Hoc Committee) was a brief-lived caucus with Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689 approximately May-September 1976.
It questioned union leaders at meeting, publicized the management’s contract proposals, made contract proposals of their own, raised money and hired a public relations firm to counter negative press on Metro workers and their union.
It was the first of several organized caucuses that eventually helped produce new leadership of the union that replaced the “business unionism” of the time.
The surviving records:
WMATA management proposals for contract changes – May 1, 1976
Questions to be asked at the union meeting – May 18, 1976
Summary of Metro contract proposals circulated to union membership – circa May 22, 1976
Caucus meeting agenda – May 28, 1976
Draft notice to members of Metro’s contract proposals – circa May 28, 1976
Arbitration award on Metro strike discipline – 1978
The Washington Metro system had been beset by three wildcat strikes and a work-to-the rule within a four-year period.
The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority sought to discipline workers who led and participated in the July 1978 strike over the refusal to pay a cost-of-living increase provided for in the labor agreement.
Workers eventually won the dispute, but over a 100 were disciplined for the strike and eight were fired for their roles in the work stoppage.
An arbitrator ruled on four fired defendants finding that discipline was warranted but that the terminations should be reduced to suspensions, largely because Metro had not disciplined employees for prior strikes or job actions.
The finding also affirmed that strikes are illegal under the Interstate Compact that created Metro that provides for “final and binding arbitration of all disputes.”
Files of the Metro Workers Rank and File Action Caucus
The Metro Workers Rank and File Action Caucus was formed in the wake of the 1978 cost-of-living wildcat strike that paralyzed bus service and the embryonic subway service for a week in July 1978. At least two caucuses arose out of the strike. One was influenced by the Progressive Labor Party and the other was the Action Caucus.
The caucus lasted about two years during which it held a fundraiser for workers fired during the strike, proposed more democratic bylaw changes, investigated the union’s finances and finding some discrepancies and running candidates for union offices in the elections scheduled for December 1979. The election was postponed for a month to January 9th and a runoff was held January 16, 1980 in instances where no candidate received 50 percent plus one of the vote.
Two Action Caucus members won two board seats and Progressive Labor won one board seat out of the 15 seats available. Allies of the Action Caucus on the Unity Slate won two of the top five positions: secretary-treasurer and 2ndvice president and also won two additional board seats. The incumbent president was defeated by an independent candidate.
Action
Vol. 1 No. 1 – Sept. 5, 1978
Vol.1. No. 2 – Oct. 1978
Vol. 1 No. 3 – Nov. 1978
Vol. 1 No. 4 – Jan. 1979
Vol. 1 No. 5 – Jun. 1979
Vol. 1 No. 6 – Aug. 1979
Action Caucus Minutes, flyers and election flyers
Caucus minutes – 7/30/78 – 10/1/78
Turn out for the arbitration hearings flyer – 8/21/78
Report of the Local 689 audit committee – 10/2/79
A vote for Mayo-Waller-Simpson is a vote for change – election flyer 11/79
Elect the Unity Slate platform – 11/79
Letter on the disqualification of Walter Tucker as presidential candidate—11/19/1979
Vote January 9 Mayo-Waller-Simpson—1/9/80
Vote Mayo-Waller-Simpson in the runoff elections—1/16/80
Attend the new officers installation—2/80
Unofficial election results—2/80
Files of the Metro Committee Against Racism (CAR)
The Metro Committee Against Racism was an ongoing caucus within Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689 organized by the Progressive Labor Party from approximately 1978 until approximately 1996.
It criticized union leadership, ran candidates for union office and advocated for social and economic justice and against U.S. imperialism.
We currently have one issue of the newsletter Metro C.A.R.
Metro C.A.R. – August 1978 ca.
U.S. National Domestic Politics and Issues
American Independent Party candidate for President George Wallace handbill – Nov. 1968
A handbill passed out at polling places in Maryland November 5, 1968 for white supremacist candidate for president George Wallace who was running as a third-party candidate on the American Independent Party ticket.
Wallace hoped to garner enough electoral votes to throw the election into the House of Representatives where he could be a kingmaker and bargain to preserve white supremacy in the south. He won five southern states, but Richard M. Nixon won enough electoral votes to win the presidency.
Wallace ran behind both Nixon and Humbert Humphrey in Maryland in 1968, gaining about 170,000 votes to the other two nominees who each received about 470,000.
Declaration of Economic Independence – 1976
The People’s Bicentennial Commission, formed by democratic socialists Jeremy Rifkin and John Rossen, published a Declaration of Economic Independence in 1976 in conjunction with demonstrations and the July 4, 1976 rallies in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.
The declaration identifies corporations as the cause of economic distress in the United States and calls for a decentralized ownership of the means of production.
Unemployed
Photos of Coxey’s Army – 1894
Coxey’s Army of the unemployed, who marched on Washington in the Spring of 1894, marked the first well publicized protest demonstration in the nation’s capital.
The photos show “Miss Coxey” riding a horse with Jacob Coxey’s second-in-command “Bill Browne” leading the march on 14th Street NW; “Bill Browne declaring that Coxey will speak at the U.S. Capitol; “Coxey’s Army” leaving Brightwood camp near Georgia and Missouri Avenues; “Coxey’s Army” marching on Pennsylvania Ave. NW; the U.S. Capitol police chief; and “Lieutenant Kelly,” who arrested Coxey, leading a group of police officers.
Spurred by the deprivation caused by the panic of 1893 (the country’s worst depression up to that point in time), Ohio businessman Jacob Coxey organized the march to demand a public works program that would provide jobs and built the country’s infrastructure to stimulate economic growth.
When the protesters finally reached the U.S. Capitol on May 1, 1894, the demonstration was broken up by police using clubs and horses. Coxey and several other leaders were jailed before Coxey could finish his speech.
However, the vast publicity would spur many others to march on Washington again, including Coxey who staged a second march in 1914.
Highway of Hunger: The Story of America’s Homeless Youth – 1933
This pamphlet portrays a bleak future for youth whether they are the children of unemployed or college graduates—unless a revolution led by the Communist Party prevails.
Doran joined the Young Communist League in 1930 and went to the Deep South to build up membership of the YCL among the unemployed. In Scottsboro, Alabama, he was beaten up after he became involved in the campaign to free the “Scottsboro Boys.”
In 1931 he joined the Communist Party USA and worked as a trade union organizer with agricultural workers in Alabama, textile workers in North Carolina) and coal miners in Pennsylvania).
By 1936 he was the party’s director of trade union activities. He joined the Abraham Lincoln Brigade to fight fascism in Spain. After showing heroism in a number of battles, he was promoted to political commissioner for a battalion.
He was believed to be captured and executed on April 2, 1938 in Gandesa, during the Retreats phase of the Spanish Civil War.
Students for a Democratic Society Bulletin – Feb. 1965
This issue of the national SDS newsletter contains the flyer for the first mass march on Washington, D.C. against the Vietnam War scheduled for April 17, 1965. It is located on page 13.
Also of interest to Maryland readers is the article by Bob Moore, then active in the U-JOIN project (Union for Jobs or Income Now). Moore would later go on to lead the organizing effort for hospital workers in the city and become president of the Local 1199 affiliate in the city (page 7).
Poor Peoples Benefit Concert – Aug. 1970
A flyer advertises a benefit concert for the National Welfare Rights Organization to be held August 23, 1970 at RFK Stadium.
The concert scheduled artists Miles Davis, Junior Walker and the All Stars, Mother Earth, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Sha-na-na, Ramsey Lewis, Peaches and Herb and the Staples Singers among others.
However about half the artists failed to show; only about 3,000 of the expected 30,000 attendees actually bought the $6 tickets; and the event only broke even—producing no money for the NWRO.
Call for jobless march on Washington: 1977
A flyer from the New York/New Jersey United Workers Organization lays out the case against cutting unemployment benefits and calls for a march on Washington.
The demonstration sponsored by the Unemployed Workers Organizing Committee attracted 1,000 unemployed to march from All Souls Church at 16th & Harvard Streets NW, down 18th St to the White House on March 5, 1977 to demand “no cuts in unemployment benefits.”
Flyer recaps D.C. unemployed demonstration – 1977
A flyer from the New York/New Jersey United Workers Organization lays out the case against cutting unemployment benefits and recounts a recent march on Washington.
The demonstration sponsored by the Unemployed Workers Organizing Committee attracted 1,000 unemployed to march from All Souls Church at 16th & Harvard Streets NW, down 18th St to the White House on March 5, 1977 to demand “no cuts in unemployment benefits.”
Veterans
The B.E.F. News (newspaper of the Bonus Army) – Jun. 1932
The B.E.F. News (newspaper of the Bonus Army) – Jul. 1932
Two of the first issues of the B.E.F. News published June 25, 1932 and July 9, 1932 by the Bonus Expeditionary Force-BEF–or Bonus Army—are published for the estimated 50,000 people that made up their encampments around the Washington, D.C.
The World War I era veterans and their families began arriving in the city in May to press demands for an accelerated wartime bonus that had been promised them in the future.
After nearly two months of demonstrations and lobbying Congress, they were routed from the camps by the U.S. Army on orders of President Herbert Hoover who feared a communist uprising. Two veterans were killed and dozens injured in the eviction.
Smaller groups would return the city in the coming years until the. Bonus was finally paid out in 1936. Congress, with Democrats holding majorities in both houses, passed the Adjusted Compensation Payment Act authorizing the immediate payment of the $2 billion in WWI bonuses, and then overrode Roosevelt’s veto of the measure.
South Vietnamese 20 Dong note: 1964
A 20 Dong note circulated in the Republic (South) of Vietnam that was widely familiar to American GIs who served in-country.
Officially: Ngan-Hang Quoc-Gia Viet-Nam, (National Bank of Vietnam) circa 1964, 20 Dong – Banknote.
Front: Book (symbol for Wisdom and Sciences), scrolls (symbol for Knowledge and Scholarliness). Back: Dragon fish.
The currency was phased out after the 1975 military victory by forces of the (South) Provisional Revolution Government and the Democratic Republic (North) of Vietnam.
Vets for Peace in Vietnam flyer – 1967 ca.
Veterans for Peace in Vietnam issues a flyer quoting former military leaders on the folly of the Vietnam War circa 1967.
The name was first used when 500 veterans signed a letter opposing the Vietnam War that published November 24 1965 in New York Times.
Chapters were set up across the country and the organization’s members often marched at the head of antiwar demonstrations across the country.
Mainly composed of World War II and Korean War veterans, they stood out in any march with their paper hats that read Vets for Peace in Vietnam.
The group disappeared with the end of the Vietnam war, but the name was resurrected in 1985 and the new group subsequently protested U.S. aid to the Contras in Nicaragua and later the war against Iraq, among other activities. This second group continues to exist today.
Fact sheet on antiwar seaman Roger Priest – Jul. 1969 ca.
A 1969 fact sheet on the case of Roger Priest, a Navy seaman who worked at the Pentagon charged with a variety of offenses for his publication of an anti-Vietnam War newsletter called OM. The flyer is uncredited.
OM had a print run of 1000 and featured anti-Vietnam War articles and information as well as acting as a “gripe” forum for armed service members.
The court martial at the Washington Navy Yard included charges of soliciting fellow soldiers to desert, urging insubordination and making statements disloyal to the United States.
He was convicted of minor charges and received a reprimand, reduction in rank and a bad conduct discharge for promoting disloyalty. Upon appeal the charges were voided and he was given an honorable discharge.
Link News timeline of Roger Priest disloyalty case – Jan. 1971 ca.
The Servicemen’s Link to Peace Link News provides a biographical sketch and timeline of D.C. area Seaman Apprentice Roger Priest in early 1971. Priest’s charges including soliciting fellow soldiers to desert, urging insubordination and making statements disloyal to the United States following the publication of several issues his antiwar alternative GI newspaper OM.
The Link provided publicity, organizing material and coordinated legal assistance to active duty GIs around the country from 1969-71.
The group, headquartered in Washington, D.C., also played a role in the defense of the Presidio 27, prisoners who broke ranks and sat in the grass, singing “We Shall Overcome” in protest of conditions at the military prison and the Vietnam War in October 1968.
GI Office to document military abuse of GI rights – Jan. 1971
The GI Office, a national clearinghouse and drop-in center for active duty servicemembers headquartered in the Washington, D.C. area, calls on current and former servicemembers in January 1971 to contact them to document cases of military injustice and repression for preparation for upcoming Congressional hearings.
The hearings held in February and March 1971 were mainly devoted to clandestine military surveillance of active duty GIs.
The GI Office was opened In July 1970 on funds raised by actress and antiwar activist Jane Fonda and staffed by former Green Beret Donald Duncan. It’s initial focus was attempting to marshal congressional support for active duty GIs who were denied their rights under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
Fonda said at the time the office first opened that it would collect, investigate and document “deprivation of the, rights of our service personnel.” Complaints can originate directly from soldiers, in dependent agencies or the offices of Senators or Representatives, Fonda said.
The group quickly organized training conferences for those interested in assisting GIs around the country. The training included instructions in Army regulations, the court martial process, types of methods for securing discharges and other GI counseling topics.
The group also sought to guarantee legal counsel to any GI who was charged by the military after exercising their legal rights.
GI Office seeks to add field offices – Mar. 1972
The GI Office, a clearinghouse and drop-in center for active duty servicemembers in the Washington, D.C. area summarizes its functions and outlines it’s planned expansion in a March 1972 background piece as part of a funding proposal.
The GI Office was opened In July 1970 on funds raised by actress and antiwar activist Jane Fonda and staffed by former Green Beret Donald Duncan. It’s initial focus was attempting to marshal congressional support for active duty GIs who were denied their rights under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
Fonda said at the time the office first opened that it would collect, investigate and document “deprivation of the, rights of our service personnel.” Complaints can originate directly from soldiers, in dependent agencies or the offices of Senators or Representatives, Fonda said.
The group quickly organized training conferences for those interested in assisting GIs around the country. The training included instructions in Army regulations, the court martial process, types of methods for securing discharges and other GI counseling topics.
The group also sought to guarantee legal counsel to any GI who was charged by the military after exercising their legal rights.
VVAW comes to Washington July 1-4 1974 – June 1974
Vietnam Veterans Against the War was formed in 1967 and grew quickly to thousands of members nationwide. It carried out a number of high-profile demonstrations and actions including the April 1971 protests where veterans threw their combat medals, ribbons and other related items onto the U.S. Capitol grounds in protest of the Vietnam War.
The 1974 demonstration in Washington, D.C. was the last major protest organized by the group before it fractured in an internal struggle over the future of the organization. It still continues to operate today, carrying out awareness of veterans’ issues and focusing on medical treatment of veterans.
Vietnam War
South Vietnamese 20 Dong note: 1964
A 20 Dong note circulated in the Republic (South) of Vietnam that was widely familiar to American GIs who served in-country.
Officially: Ngan-Hang Quoc-Gia Viet-Nam, (National Bank of Vietnam) circa 1964, 20 Dong – Banknote.
Front: Book (symbol for Wisdom and Sciences), scrolls (symbol for Knowledge and Scholarliness). Back: Dragon fish.
The currency was phased out after the 1975 military victory by forces of the (South) Provisional Revolution Government and the Democratic Republic (North) of Vietnam.
Students for a Democratic Society Bulletin – Feb. 1965
This issue of the SDS national newsletter contains the flyer for the first mass march on Washington, D.C. against the Vietnam War scheduled for April 17, 1965. It is located on page 13.
Also of interest to Maryland readers is the article by Bob Moore, then active in the U-JOIN project (Union for Jobs or Income Now). Moore would later go on to lead the organizing effort for hospital workers in the city and become president of the Local 1199 affiliate in the city.
SDS flyer for first mass anti-Viet War march: Mar. 1965
A four-page flyer for the first mass march on Washington, D.C. in protest of the Vietnam War April 17, 1965 is produced by the Students for a Democratic Society.
Exceeding all expectations, 25,000 gathered in the city to picket the White House and rally at the Sylvan Theater before marching to the U.S. Capitol and presenting a petition against the War.
The march was mainly sponsored by the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Other participating organizations included the Committee for Nonviolent Action, Women’s Strike for Peace, Student Peace Union, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, War Resisters League, Local 1199 of the Hospital Workers, District 65 of the Retail Workers and chapters of the Congress of Racial Equality.
Flyer advertising first major D.C. anti-Viet War protest — Mar.1965
The Detroit Committee to End the War in Vietnam was formed in February 1965 and its first action was to issue this call to attend the first major national antiwar protest in Washington, D.C. to be held April 17, 1965.
The Detroit Committee continued to exist until 1972, but was beset by ideological infighting before the Socialist Workers Party became the predominant tendency in its latter years.
The DCEWV was supplanted by the Detroit Coalition to End the War Now, which was a broader organization.
The April 17th demonstration was called by the Students for a Democratic Society and the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee and drew upwards of 25,000 people in the first of a number of national anti-Vietnam War demonstrations in the nation’s capital.
SDS calls for march against Viet War – Nov. 1965
The national office of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) issues a call for a march on Washington, D.C. to be held Nov. 27, 1965 in one of the early national demonstrations against the war in Vietnam.
In this flyer, SDS begins to make a break with those calling for negotiations by stating,
“We must not deceive ourselves: a negotiated agreement cannot guarantee democracy. Only the Vietnamese have the right of nationhood to make their government democratic or not, free or not, neutral or not. It is not America’s role to deny them the chance to be what they make of themselves.”
Nearly 50,000 attended this demonstration—double the number that came the previous spring in the first major antiwar march on Washington.
Hey, Hey, LBJ; How many kids did you kill today? – circa 1967
The National Liberation Front of South Vietnam (Viet Cong) produced this small (approximately 3” x 4.5”) flyer for U.S. troops serving in Vietnam circa 1967 (The Manilla conference referred to was in Sept. 1966).
The flyer tells the truth about the chant that greeted President Lyndon Johnson and Vice-President Hubert Humphrey whenever they visited a U.S. city.
In Washington, D.C., about two-dozen members mobilized by SDS and other groups based at 3 Thomas Circle gathered on a Sunday morning early in 1968.
As the Presidential limousine and accompanying secret service cars pulled up to the National City Christian Church located across the Circle, the demonstrators began chanting, “Hey, hey LBJ, how many kids did you kill today?” while moving toward the church.
The secret service quickly hustled President Lyndon Johnson and his wife inside the church and protest ended shortly afterward.
Those who woke up early and gathered at the SDS offices in Washington that morning probably wondered what the point of it all was when the small protest was over within two minutes.
But George Reedy, Johnson’s press secretary at the time, recalled in a 1997 interview with the Los Angeles Times, “It bothered the hell out of him to see the students chanting, ‘Hey, hey LBJ, how many kids did you kill today?'”
Vets for Peace in Vietnam flyer – 1967 ca.
Veterans for Peace in Vietnam issues a flyer quoting former military leaders on the folly of the Vietnam War circa 1967.
The name was first used when 500 veterans signed a letter opposing the Vietnam War that published November 24 1965 in New York Times.
Chapters were set up across the country and the organization’s members often marched at the head of antiwar demonstrations across the country.
Mainly composed of World War II and Korean War veterans, they stood out in any march with their paper hats that read Vets for Peace in Vietnam.
The group disappeared with the end of the Vietnam war, but the name was resurrected in 1985 and the new group subsequently protested U.S. aid to the Contras in Nicaragua and later the war against Iraq, among other activities. This second group continues to exist today.
Flyer targeting draft inductees – 1967 ca.
An unsigned flyer circa 1967 urges men reporting for their induction into the U.S. Armed Forces to walk away and contact peace groups for draft counseling. It finishes by urging the men to “Seize the Time, Resist Illegitimate Authority.”
The flyer lists a. number of peace groups to contact, along with their phone numbers, including The Washington Peace Center, George Washington Draft Counseling, Washington Draft Information, the Washington Free Clinic and Montgomery County Draft Counseling.
Spring Mobilization rally at Lincoln Temple – Mar. 1967
A flyer from the Spring Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam calling for an anti-Vietnam War rally at the Lincoln Temple church March 31, 1967.
The church rally was intended to spur participation in the planned mass march in New York City on April 15th.
Several hundred thousand marched from Central Park to the United Nations on April 15thled by Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. They were joined by another 100,000 led by Coretta Scott King in San Francisco.
The mass marches April 15thwere the first large-scale demonstrations against the war.
D.C. SNCC calls for anti-draft march – May, 1967
The Washington, D.C. Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee calls on black youth to protest the draft May 8, 1967 by joining a march from 14th and H Streets NE to the Rayburn Office Building.
About 100 students from different East Coast colleges marched from the Rosedale playground to the Rayburn Building where they were barred from entering the building or attending a hearing being conducted by U.S. Senator Mendel Rivers (D-S.C.) on the draft.
The crowd grew to about 200 people and about 50 were eventually let into the building where they staged a sit-in in the lobby. They were forcibly ejected by Capitol police, but not arrested.
Flyer calls for protesting Senate draft hearings – May, 1967
A flyer published by the Washington Ad Hoc Vietnam Draft Hearings Committee calls for demonstrations at a Senate hearing on the Selective Service System scheduled for May 7-8, 1967.
The Ad Hoc Committee was composed of Students for a Democratic Society chapters at the University of Chicago, Boston University, Ratcliff-Harvard, Brooklyn College and the University of Maryland; along with ACT, D.C. Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, Prince Georges Women’s Strike for Peace, Maryland Socialist League and Progressive Labor Party.
The group of about 100 demonstrators formed-up at Roosevelt playground in NE on May 8th and marched first down H Street and then 4th Street before entering the Capitol Grounds.
About half the group entered the Senate Rayburn Building only to find that the hearing was rescheduled. They demanded that a hearing be convened and that they be permitted to speak. After back and forth with Capitol police, they were forcibly expelled from the building and the Capitol grounds, but not arrested. The crowd grew to about 200 before dispersing.
Antiwar walk with Stokely Carmichael flyer – May 1967
The Spring Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam sponsors a rally and a march to the White House to be led by former Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) chair Stokely Carmichael May 16-17, 1967.
Carmichael spoke at Lincoln Memorial Temple on May 16thwhere he told the half black, half white crowd that he was going to “build a war resistance movement or die trying.”
He urged the crowd to make “heroes” of war resisters “and we are going to start with Mr. Muhammad Ali.”
Mobe agenda for D.C. rally – May 1967
The National Spring Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam printed this meeting agenda passed out during a rally at the Lincoln Memorial Temple in Washington, D.C. May 16, 1967.
Speakers at the meeting included Rev. James Bevel, Dagmar Wilson, Julius Hobson, Stokely Carmichael, Cherry Grant, Oscar Harvey, Rev. William Wendt, Stan Melton, and Howard Zinn.
Vietnam Summer application – circa May 1967
An application to participate in Vietnam Summer, a temporary coalition of a number of groups in 1967, but primarily backed by the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) to convince non-student Americans to oppose the war in Vietnam.
The project expanded to 48 states and was modeled after the 1964 civil rights Freedom Summer.
Two staff members paid by AFSC coordinated the national office while 26,000 volunteers worked in 700 local projects across the country. The group published a newsletter called Vietnam Summer News that reached a circulation of 65,000 during its six issue run.
The effort involved door-to-door canvassing, teach-ins, counseling on draft resistance, local antiwar demonstrations, working to get antiwar referenda on the ballot, and the dissemination of antiwar literature.
The group after the summer of 1967, although many local efforts continued.
Anti-napalm poster – circa 1967
An 8 ½ x 14 poster depiction of a Vietnamese women and her child holding what appears to be a dead child and weeping over her dead husband with the word “Napalm” emblazed across the page circa 1967.
Produced by the “Committee for the right to vote in Selma, Saigon, Santo Domingo and Washington — Revolutionary Arts Cooperative.”
No further information available on the group or the specific circumstances behind the production of the poster.
Individuals Against the Crime of Silence – circa 1967
Individuals Against the Crime of Silence was an ongoing petition to the United Nations by U.S. citizens in opposition to the Vietnam War and invoking the Nuremberg Trials, the U.S. Constitution and the Geneva Accords as a basis for their opposition.
The petition had its origins in September 1965 when 80 leading U.S. attorneys signed a statement that the U.S. was prosecuting an illegal war in Vietnam that was read into the Congressional Record.
Subsequently, a petition drive was organized that carried the names of prominent Americans including writers James Baldwin, Ray Bradbury and Norman Mailer; Catholic Activists Phillip and Daniel Berrigan; actors Ben Gazzara, Dick Van Dyke, Robert Vaughn; pediatrician Dr. Benjamin Spock; biochemist Dr. Linus Pauling: and civil rights leader James Farmer, among others.
The petitions were widely circulated among peace groups and at antiwar demonstrations.
The petitions with prominent names were published in newspapers and magazines and signed petitions by tens of thousands of Americans were sent to the United Nations. The campaign lasted from 1966 approximately 1968.
The Americans are Coming – circa 1967
An 8 ½ x 11 version of poster art by Tomi Ungerer created circa 1967 depicting a Vietnamese version of Paul Revere’s ride that underscores the role the U.S. played in Vietnam.
The poster was widely circulated throughout the United States and became a popular symbol that America was on the wrong side in Vietnam.
Hiroshima Day anti-Vietnam War demonstration – Aug. 1967
The Washington Mobilization to End the War in Vietnam issues a flyer calling for two simultaneous marches to be held August 6, 1967 to protest the war in Vietnam and to commemorate the victims of the U.S. atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan.
One to leave 10th and U Streets NW from the black community and the other to leave Dupont Circle to march to a rally at Lafayette Park in front of the White House.
Peace March Marathon – Aug. – Oct., 1967
A 4-page. 8 ½ x 14 inch pamphlet describes a coast-to-coast “Peace Torch Marathon” where a flame originally lit in the Japanese City of Hiroshima was flown to San Francisco on August 17, 1967 where runners began carrying the torch across the country, arriving in Washington, D.C. on October 21st at a massive anti-Vietnam War rally.
The torch casing was made of U.S. munitions that had been dropped on North Vietnam. Hiroshima was one of only two cities attacked with nuclear weapons. Nagasaki was the other and both were bombed by the U.S. at the end of the second World War.
The pamphlet contains a schedule of cities that the torch will pass through. In urban areas volunteers walked one mile each before handing off the torch while in rural areas runners covered 10 miles before passing it on.
The Resistance conscription refusal flyer – Oct. 1967
A flyer from The Resistance calling on draft-eligible people to refuse to cooperate with the U.S. Selective Service System and return their draft cards at a demonstration October 16, 1967.
The call was nationwide with the largest protest in Oakland, Ca. The Washington, D.C. demonstration at the draft board headquarters at 1724 F Street NW drew about 70 people.
Ten draft cards and about 50 anti-draft cards (statements that declared a refusal to cooperate with the draft) were given to Selective Service officials.
Support the Ft. Hood 3 who refused orders to Vietnam – 1967
The Fort Hood 3 Defense Committee holds a rally at St. Stephens Church October 16, 1967 and a subsequent picket at the White House to support three soldiers who refused orders to go to Vietnam in 1966.
The three—David Samas, 20, a Lithuanian/Italian from Chicago; James Johnson, 20 black from East Harlem, N.Y.; and Dennis Mora, 25, a Puerto Rican from Spanish Harlem, N.Y.—were given a month leave from Ft. Hood, Tx. and told to report to Vietnam.
Instead they held a press conference announcing their refusal to report to Vietnam. The antiwar movement rallied to their defense, but they were sentenced to long prison terms and dishonorably discharged. Mora received a three year prison term while Samas and Johnson received five years.
The U.S. Supreme Court ultimately refused to hear their case which rested on the argument the the Vietnam War was illegal.
The Resistance calls for nationwide antidraft actions – 1967
The national office of The Resistance, an anti-draft group that espoused direct action and non-cooperation with the Selective Service System, publishes a flyer advertising draft-card burning actions beginning October 10, 1967.
The Resistance established chapters across the country and coordinated successful actions of draft card burnings, turn-ins, sit-ins at draft boards, support for those refusing induction and other actions in October and December of 1967, but the national group quickly lapsed while local groups continued anti-draft actions.
Appeal to those facing induction into the military: 1967 ca.
The Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and The Resistance publish a flyer handed out to draftees facing military induction outlining rights and appeals.
SNCC had morphed from a student civil rights organization into a Black liberation organization by 1967. It had always been opposed to the war in Vietnam. The Resistance was formed by four California-based anti-draft activists as a national network for direct action and non-cooperation with the Selective Service System.
Come and Look at the Peaceniks – Aug. 1967
The Washington Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam issues a flyer for a fundraiser at the Vogelsang home in the Takoma section of Washington, D.C. to be held August 26, 1967.
The Washington mobilization committee was the local affiliate of a national group of the same name. These were broad coalitions that included liberal, pacifist, libertarian, church groups, civil rights groups, Old Left, New Left and anarchists, among others.
It was the successor to the Spring Mobilization Committee that held meetings and demonstrations against the Vietnam War and the draft earlier in the year. The Washington Mobilization would go on to play a key role in the October 1967 March on the Pentagon and spring 1968 antidraft protests.
The Vogelsangs were an activist couple. Fred Vogelsang’s day job was director of publications for the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials while Johanna Vogelsang was an artist who often painted civil rights figures.
Washington Mobilization Committee March on Pentagon flyer – Sep. 1967 ca.
An earlier flyer for the October 21, 1967 March on the Pentagon that lists the Washington Monument grounds as the rally point (ultimately held at the Lincoln Memorial) is issued by the Washington Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam, the local affiliate of the national group of the same name that sponsored the demonstration.
The mobilization committees were broad coalitions that included liberal, pacifist, libertarian, church groups, civil rights groups, Old Left, New Left and anarchists, among others.
More than 100,000 attended the demonstration that marked a turning point in opposition to the war in Vietnam as public opinion polls showed majorities disagreeing with continued prosecution of the conflict.
Appeal for funds for the March on the Pentagon – Sep. 1967
The Washington Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam makes an appeal for funds in order to stage the October 21, 1967 March on the Pentagon.
Appeal for housing for the March on the Pentagon – Oct. 1967
The Washington Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam issues an appeal for the housing of demonstrators coming into the city for the October 21, 1967 march on the Pentagon.
The demonstration, in which 100,000 or more marched from the Lincoln Memorial to the Pentagon in the largest D.C. antiwar protest to date, came at a turning point in the war.
Appeal for funds for the March on the Pentagon – Oct. 1967
The Washington Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam makes a last minute appeal for funds in order to stage the March on the Pentagon scheduled nine days later.
March on the Pentagon – Oct. 1967
The Washington Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam publishes this two-sided mailer/flyer promoting the national march on the Pentagon to be held October 21, 1967.
It was the largest anti-Vietnam War demonstration in Washington, D.C. up until that point in time, drawing about 100,000 people, including liberals, Poet Allen Ginsburg leading an attempted levitation of the Pentagon, Progressive Labor Party charging the doors and briefly breaching them, pacifists conducting a sit-in, Yippies and others conducting a “piss-in,” along with dozens of other stripes of the peace movement.
It came during the time when Gen. William Westmoreland, who already commanded over 500,000 troops in Vietnam, requested 200,000 more. The rising antiwar movement and the stubbornness of the North Vietnamese and National Liberation Front resistance convinced President t Lyndon Johnson to refuse the request and ultimately decide not to seek re-election.
Student Mobilization flyer for March on Pentagon – Oct. 1967
A flyer put out by the Washington DC chapter of the Student Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam designed to build support for a march on the Pentagon October 21, 1967.
More than 100,000 attended the demonstration that marked a turning point in opposition to the war in Vietnam as public opinion polls showed majorities disagreeing with continued prosecution of the conflict.
Fact sheet for March on the Pentagon – Oct. 1967
The National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam publishes this two-sided fact sheet for the national march on the Pentagon to be held October 21, 1967 that includes a list of speakers and contingents.
The march was the largest anti-Vietnam War demonstration in Washington, D.C. up until that point in time, drawing about 100,000 people, including liberals, Poet Allen Ginsburg leading an attempted levitation of the Pentagon, Progressive Labor Party charging the doors and briefly breaching them, pacifists conducting a sit-in, Yippies and others conducting a “piss-in,” along with dozens of other stripes of the peace movement.
It came during the time when Gen. William Westmoreland, who already commanded over 500,000 troops in Vietnam, requested 200,000 more. The rising antiwar movement and the stubbornness of the North Vietnamese and National Liberation Front resistance convinced President t Lyndon Johnson to refuse the request and ultimately decide not to seek re-election.
Instructions for March on Pentagon fund collectors – Oct. 1967
The National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam publishes a two-sided instruction sheet for those volunteers collecting funds at the October 21, 1967 March on the Pentagon.
The mobilization committee was a broad coalitions that included liberal, pacifist, libertarian, church groups, civil rights groups, Old Left, New Left and anarchists, among others.
More than 100,000 attended the demonstration that marked a turning point in opposition to the war in Vietnam as public opinion polls showed majorities disagreeing with continued prosecution of the conflict.
Commemorating the Pentagon protest – Nov. 1967
A flyer advertising a poster commemorating the confrontation between antiwar protesters and the military and federal marshals at the Pentagon in October 1967 entitled “A different drummer” is produced by Image America.
The 100,000 who gathered in Washington, D.C. October 21, 1967 represented the largest anti-Vietnam War demonstration in the city up to that point in time.
Federal marshals acted with brutality against a non-violent sit-in at the Pentagon plaza while a multi-faceted crowd that included Alan Ginsburg, the Progressive Labor Party, Quakers, Students for a Democratic Society, Women’s Strike for Peace and a host of other widely-ranging groups united against the war.
Call for women to oppose Viet War – Nov. 1967
87-year-old Jeanette Rankin issues a call for women to come to Washington, D.C. January 15, 1968 at the opening session of Congress to oppose the Vietnam War.
Rankin was a former congressional representative from Montana who was the first woman elected to Congress and voted against U.S. entry into both World War I and World War II.
More than 5,000 women heeded the call and marched from Union Station and rallied on a cold, snowy day in front of the U.S. Capitol building.
Rankin served two terms in Congress, being elected in 1916 and again in 1940. The protest marked the beginning of an antiwar organization of women that named itself the Jeanette Rankin Brigade.
The Christian Resistance – Nov. 1967 ca.
The Washington Area Christian Resistance and The Resistance publish an appeal to those of draft age of the Christian faith to join with direct action and non-cooperation with the Selective Service System in late 1967.
Draft Resisters Need Your Support – Nov. 1967
As part of the leadup to draft resisters week Dec. 4-11, 1967, Ethel and Julius Weisser sponsor a support party held on Dec. 1st for Akida Kimani, a black liberation activist facing extradition to California for draft evasion.
Archie Stewart provided music for the event. Kimani made a name for himself as an activist/leader in the Afro American Association, a black self-help group formed in 1962 in California with chapters in a number of cities and a few overseas.
Ethel and Julius Weisser were long-time activists in a wide variety of social and economic causes in the Washington, D.C. area.
Ethel Weisser was once secretary of the Washington Area Committee to Abolish the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1950s and fought a D.C. ballot initiative on mandatory minimum sentencing in the 1980s,
Ethel Weisser also served as a spokesperson for the local chapter of the Grey Panthers for more than 25 years.
Stewart was a local jazz guitarist who was performing with The New Thing group at the time and became a fixture at clubs and coffeehouses in the city during the 1970s.
The Christian Resistance – Nov. 1967 ca.
The Washington Area Christian Resistance and The Resistance publish an appeal to those of draft age of the Christian faith to join with direct action and non-cooperation with the Selective Service System in late 1967.
Stop the Draft Week – Dec. 1967
A flyer advertising a series of demonstrations in Washington, D.C. Dec. 4-9, 1967 for “Stop the Draft Week.”
The protests were part of a nationwide effort that week that resulted in demonstrations and civil disobedience in dozens of cities across the U.S.
Locally demonstrators rallied at St. Stephens Church, marched on the Selective Service headquarters and marched to the State Department. An event at the Ambassador Theater was also held.
The Washington, D.C. demonstrations were sponsored by D.C. chapter of The Resistance, a nationwide draft resistance group; the Washington Mobilization Committee Against the War in Vietnam, the umbrella group for anti-Vietnam War opposition; and the Student Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam, a Socialist Workers Party-influenced student group.
The Washington Area Resistance Freakout – Dec. 1967
The Vietnam-era draft resistance group sponsored an event at Washington’s Ambassador Theater (formerly Knickerbocker) before holding a protest on Defense Secretary Robert McNamara’s lawn–1967.
The group staged several high profile demonstrations in support of those who refused induction into the armed services in the Washington, D.C. area.
12 Days of Vietnam – Dec. 1967
This takeoff on the 12 Days of Christmas carol turns it into an anti-Vietnam War song. Written by Ronald J. Willis and published by Liberation News Service December 15, 1967.
What? Me Worry About the Draft? – 1968 ca.
The Washington Draft Resistance, University of Maryland College Park chapter appeals to students to seek draft counseling for alternatives to military service.
Unorthodox flyer protests Dow’s napalm – 1968 ca.
An unsigned, unorthodox flyer advertising “one share” in a napalm-making company (Dow Chemical) during an ongoing demonstration outside the company’s offices at 15th and L Streets NW circa 1968.
The protest was designed to pressure Dow to cease providing napalm to the U.S. military and others.
The Dow demonstrations reached a dramatic peak when nine activists invaded the company’s District of Columbia offices March 22, 1969 and hurled files out of a fourth floor window, poured blood on remaining files and smashed furniture.
The nine (mostly religious activists) waited in the offices for arrest. They were convicted and sentenced to between three months and six years in prison. Their attorney, Phillip Hirschkop was cited for contempt.
Seven of the nine defendants appealed and had their convictions reversed based on the judge’s refusal to allow them to represent themselves. Hirschkop was cleared of contempt charges in a separate appeal.
Don Luce to speak at Montgomery Blair H.S. – Jan. 1968
A flyer for a January 7, 1968 talk by Donald S. Luce, a former International Volunteer Service worker in Vietnam, at Montgomery Blair High School.
Luce turned against the war while serving in Vietnam and worked afterward to educate the American public that the U.S. could not win the Vietnam War.
Graham Martin, the ambassador during those final days before Saigon fell in 1975, testified on Jan. 27, 1976. He assured Congress that the collapse of the South Vietnamese government had nothing to do with the policies of Saigon or Washington but was caused “by one of the best propaganda and pressure organizations the world has ever seen,” largely organized by the Indochina Resource Center and “the multi-faceted activities of Mr. Don Luce.”
Resistance issues Boston 5 protest flyer – Jan. 1968
The Washington Area Resistance issues a flyer for a January 12, 1968 demonstration at the Justice Department against the indictment of five prominent Vietnam War opponents a week before.
The Boston Five, as they were known, were Rev. William Sloane Coffin, Jr, chaplain of Yale University; Dr. Benjamin Spock, pediatrician, Marcus Raskin, a former White House aide; Michael Ferber, a Harvard University graduate student and Mitchell Goodman, author. They were accused of “conspiracy to counsel aid and abet” selective service resistance.
News accounts put the number of demonstrators at between 100-150 who denounced both war and racism.
The protesters later marched on Western High School where they engaged in draft counseling as students left classes for the day around 2:30 p.m.
Call for anti-draft actions – Jan. 1968
An unsigned flyer, probably put out by The Resistance, calls for a demonstration at the U.S. Justice Department in Washington, D.C. in protest of the indictments of Dr. Benjamin Spock, Marcus Raskin, Mitchel Goodman and Michael Ferber for “conspiracy to counsel aid and abet” draft resistance.
The flyer also called for participants to go to Western High School (now Duke Ellington) to counsel high school students on the draft.
D.C. Draft Resistance Union formed – early 1968
An undated appeal for funds from the recently formed Washington Draft Resistance Union was issued in early 1968.
The group pulled together The Resistance, Students for a Democratic Society, independent campus groups and draft counselors to build resistance to the Selective Service system that was providing the soldiers for the Vietnam War.
It was initially headed by Cathy Wilkerson, the regional SDS coordinator based in Washington, D.C. Wilkerson would go on to play a prominent role in the Weather Underground that carried out a series of symbolic bombings on government, corporate and other symbols of capitalism 1971-75.
Draft Law and Its Choices – Mar. 1968
The Washington Area Resist (formerly Resistance) issues a flyer for a conference to train draft counselors on selective service law in March 1968 at St. Stephens Church at 16th and Newton Streets. NW.
W.A.R. led direct action such as induction refusals and draft card turn-ins in the area 1967-68 during the Vietnam War.
Draft Prince Georges draft counselor flyer -1968
A draft of a flyer for draft counselors Robert and Eleana Simpson targeted toward working class youth in Prince George’s County, Md circa 1968..
The two counseled young people on draft law and options from 1968-69 during part of the peak period of the Vietnam War.
Hang up on War flyer – 1968
The War Resisters League publishes a two-sided 8 ½ x 11 flyer urging Vietnam War opponents to deduct the federal tax when paying their phone bill and only pay the amount owed the phone company.
The 1966 tax was passed to help finance the Vietnam War and remained a target of resisters throughout the war years.
U.S. Committee to Aid the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam flyer – 1968
The U.S. Committee to Aid the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam publishes an appeal in 1968 upholding the “just struggle” of the Vietnamese people and denouncing U.S. “imperialist foreign policy.”
The Committee was formed in April 1965 and became probably the first group to carry the NLF (often called Viet Cong) flag in antiwar demonstrations beginning in November 1965.
The flyer ends with an appeal:
“We would like to help you and your organization learn more about the Vietnamese and their struggle. Once you understand, we hope you will express your solidarity by urging others to do the same. Help us dispel the false notion of the Vietnamese as our ‘enemy’ and show that the true enemy of the Vietnamese is our enemy too.”
Mobe outlines anti-election activities – Oct. 1968
The Washington Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam publishes a calendar of events for the fall of 1968 and stated, “It’s purpose is to illegitamize the presidential election which offers no opportunity to vote for peace.”
The handout also contained the personal accounts from three people who attended the August 1968 demonstrations at the Chicago Democratic Convention and subsequent police riot.
Early call for Vietnam Moratorium – May, 1969 ca.
The Vietnam Moratorium Committee, formed by liberal Democratic Party activists, issues an early explanation and call circa May 1969 for fall work stoppages and demonstrations against the war in Vietnam.
The circular also provides an outline for local groups to organize and carry out actions as part of the nationwide strategy of conducting protests in towns and cities across the U.S.
This version also contains a reprint of a September 1969 New Republic article, indicating that this particular document was passed out in the fall of 1969 shortly prior to the first Moratorium on October 15, 1969.
The October 1969 Moratorium was largest and most widespread demonstration against the war involving upwards of two million people at large and small demonstrations across the country in October. A November Moratorium drew upwards of 500,000 to a Washington, D.C. march. The latter Vietnam War protest was rivaled in size during that era only by an April 1971 march on Washington against the War.
Call for U.S. withdrawal after Viet commander reassigned – Jun. 1968
The Washington Peace Mobilization Committee publishes a flyer continuing criticism of the Vietnam War and urging an immediate withdrawal of troops following President Lyndon Johnson’s reassignment of U.S. commander General William Westmoreland in June 1968.
The Mobilization Committee was the local umbrella committee for groups opposed to the Vietnam War and also called for people to join their efforts.
On the back side of the flyer is a re-print of a letter from a GI to his father recounting the atrocities committed by U.S. troops and calling into question whether the U.S. is fighting on the right “side” in the war.
Hiroshima Day peace rally – Aug. 1968
A flyer by the Washington Mobilization for Peace, Women’s Strike for Peace, Washington Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy (SANE), and the Washington Peace Center sponsor a Hiroshima Day (the day the first atomic bomb was dropped on Japan in 1945) rally in Lafayette Park August 10, 1968.
The flyer calls for 1) an end to all bombing 2) peace talks with the south Vietnamese National Liberation Front, 3) U.S. troop withdrawal.
D.C. call to demonstrate at the Democratic Convention – 1968
The Washington Mobilization for Peace calls on opponents of the Vietnam War to travel to Chicago for the August 1968 Democratic Convention saying,
“Our purpose is not to disrupt the convention but to demonstrate on behalf of central issues:
*Immediate withdrawal of American troops from Vietnam
*An end to the oppression of black and poor people at home”
The demonstrators were denied permits by Chicago Mayor Richard Daley and the 10,000 protesters often clashed with the 23,000 police and National Guardsmen in front of television cameras.
Prince George’s McCarthy chair writes support letter for candidate – Sep. 1968
Elbert Byrd, chair of Citizens for McCarthy of Prince George’s County writes a last minute letter in late August or early September to support the congressional campaign of Melvyn Meer in Maryland’s 5th District.
Eugene McCarthy’s campaign for president in the 1968 Democratic primaries on an anti-Vietnam War platform was a factor in President Lyndon Johnson’s decision to decline to seek re-election. McCarthy inspired grass-roots antiwar activists around the country to campaign on his behalf.
Meer was an assistant professor of economics at the University of Maryland and a founder of McCarthy’s campaign effort in the Prince Georges. He was a one-time co-chair of the McCarthy group in the county and running as an antiwar candidate.
Incumbent Rep. Harry G. Machen faced a competitive race in the 5th District from former Rep. Carlton Sickles and Maryland state senator Fred Wineland.
However Meer could crack the top tier and ended up finishing last in the six-way race.
A flyer protesting HUAC hearings in D.C. – 1968
A September 1968 flyer advertising protests at the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) hearings in Washington, D.C. into the clashes at the 1968 Democratic Convention.
The flyer is unsigned, but lists the alternative newspaper Washington Free Press as a contact on the reverse side. At the hearing, prominent Yippie Abbie Hoffman was arrested for wearing an American flag shirt while his compatriot Jerry Rubin was hustled out of the hearing when he showed up bare-chested with an ammunition bandolier and a toy M-16 rifle [see Rubin and Hoffman]. Rubin and other Yippies tried to stand in silent protest of the “unfair treatment” they received at the hands of the committee.
A National Call: Free the Catonsville Nine – Oct. 1968
The flyer calls for a national demonstration to be held coincidi9ng with the trial of the Catonsville Nine—Catholic and peace activists who took draft records of about 800 young men outside the selective service office and set them afire with homemade napalm on May 17, 1968.
The nine waited at the scene to be arrested in what was the second “hit and stay” action of non-violent direct action resistance to the draft and the Vietnam War.
Thousands showed up to support the nine, but they were all convicted and sentenced to three years in prison.
Call for a student strike against the election – Nov. 1968
An unsigned flyer probably issued by someone in the Washington, D.C. Regional Office of the Students for Democratic Society (SDS) calls for a student strike and demonstrations coinciding with the national presidential election in 1968.
The strike call was issued to protest the three candidates—Democrat Hubert Humphrey, Republican Richard Nixon and American Independent George Wallace—and to demonstrate firm opposition to continued involvement in Vietnam.
Humphrey and Nixon favored continuing the war until a so-called honorable peace could be attained while Wallace favored continuing the war until outright victory.
The Washington, D.C. actions were part of a nationwide call for a student strike. The strike failed and attendance at the antiwar demonstrations held across the country was poor.
A little over two months later, the antiwar movement was reinvigorated with the counter-inaugural demonstrations held simultaneously with the victorious Nixon-Agnew ticket’s official installation in office.
UMD SDS calls for student strike against Viet War and election – Nov. 1968
The University of Maryland College Park Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) calls for a student strike and demonstrations coinciding with the national presidential election in 1968.
The strike was intended to protest the Vietnam War and the choices of candidates in the election.
The Maryland SDS action was part of a nationwide call for a student strike. The strike failed and attendance at the antiwar demonstrations held across the country was poor. However, a year-and-a-half later, students at 500 campuses across the country including the University of Maryland went on strike after President Richard Nixon announced the invasion of Cambodia and the shooting deaths of four students at Kent State University.
Flyer calls for demonstration at Nixon Inaugural – Dec. 1968
In December 1968, the Washington Mobilization for Peace issues a call for demonstrations against the war in Vietnam the weekend of President Richard Nixon’s first inauguration in January 1969.
The call for protest at the Inauguration represented an attempt to re-group the antiwar movement and a move toward more widespread confrontation politics.
Call to demonstrate at Nixon’s Inauguration – Jan. 1969
The National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam issues a call to demonstrate at the Inauguration of Richard Nixon as President in January 1969.
The 15,000 that assembled held a counter-inaugural march that went the reverse of the official route the day before Nixon’s festivities. Protesters threw horse manure at Vice President-elect Spiro Agnew’s guests dressed in their evening finery. A pig named Ms. Pigasus, who was to be In-Hog-Urated, escaped on the Monument grounds.
A counter-inaugural ball was held in a circus tent near the Washington Monument grounds and thousands lined Nixon’s official parade route greeting him with boos, some of whom threw rocks, bottles, tomatoes and other debris at his limousine as it passed.
Afterwards hundreds battled police into the night and what had been a despondent antiwar movement with Nixon’s election was reinvigorated.
Agnew reception protest flyer – Jan. 1969
An unsigned flyer advertises a protest against vice-president elect Spiro Agnew January 19, 1969.
The protesters staged a counter-inaugural parade and were headed toward a counter inaugural ball to be held in a large tent near the Washington Monument when they stopped to gather on the Mall side of the Smithsonian to protest the Agnew reception. As Agnew’s guests arrived in their finery, protesters picked up horse manure from U.S. Park Police horses and hurled it at the reception guests as they made their way down a long red carpet toward the Museum.
Police responded with a furious attempt to drive back the protesters, who in turn fought back against the police. This unscheduled protest was over within 30 minutes.
The following day protesters lined President Richard Nixon’s Inaugural parade route and threw rocks, vegetables, several smoke bombs and wads of paper at his limousine as it passed, later clashing with police.
Call to attend the ‘Inhoguration’ – Jan. 1969
This poster urges people to attend President Richard M. Nixon’s first inauguration January 20, 1969.
The poster portrays Nixon as a king wearing an ITT (International Telephone & Telegraph) crown and is sponsored by the Yippies, Americong, People’s Pot Party, the Weather Underground, among other groups.
Monday’s the Day, Will You be There? – Jan. 1969
A flyer issued by the Coalition for an Anti-Imperialist Movement calls on people to protest Richard Nixon’s Inauguration as U.S. president on Monday, January 20, 1969.
It also calls for solidarity with the Federation of All Japanese Students (probably the Federation of All Japan Students Self Governing Societies—an umbrella group for student governments in Japan) protest against emissaries from Japan attending the Inauguration.
Several points along Nixon’s Inaugural parade route were jammed with protesters—most being along Pennsylvania Avenue between 12th and 15th Streets NW. When the Nixon motorcade proceeded past this point, he was greeted with a barrage of rocks, vegetables and catcalls by anti-Vietnam War demonstrators.
The Coalition for an Anti-Imperialist Movement was composed of Walter Teague’s U.S. Committee to Aid the National Liberation Front (the first group to openly carry NLF flags (Viet Cong) in antiwar demonstrations and Youth Against War and Fascism (the youth group of Workers World Party, a split off of the Trotskyist Socialist Workers Party and known for its banners and street confrontations).
Original held in the Bonnie Atwood papers, 1965-2005, Collection, Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA.
Support the D.C. Nine – May 1969
An unsigned flyer advertises and teach-in and rally May 27, 1969 at Georgetown University to support the D.C. Nine who were charged with breaking in and destroying records in the Dow Chemical office in Washington, D.C. March 22, 1969.
The nine protesters smashed glass, hurled files out a fourth floor window and poured blood on the remaining files and furniture at the Dow Chemical offices at 15th & L Streets NW Washington, DC and awaited police to arrive for their arrest.
In a prepared statement, the nine noted that Dow seeks “profit in the production of napalm, defoliants and nerve gas.”
On May 7, 1970, the nine were sentenced to terms ranging from three months to six years in jail. Their lawyer, Phillip J. Hirschkop was censured and sentenced to 30 days in jail for his trial conduct.
Seven of the nine appealed and won a reversal of their convictions at the U.S Court of Appeals in June 1972 that ruled that Judge John H. Pratt had erred when he denied the defendants the right to represent themselves. Hirschkop was cleared of contempt in a separate ruling in July 1972.
Original held in the Bonnie Atwood papers, 1965-2005, Collection, Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA.
Nixon Inauguration handout explains anti-Viet protest – Jan. 1969
An unsigned handout to people attending President Richard Nixon’s first inauguration January 20, 1969.
The handout critiques Nixon’s slogan of “forward together” as only for the wealthy and the sentiment “Give Nixon a chance” as “give Nixon a chance to kill more young men senselessly.”
Fact sheet on antiwar seaman Roger Priest – Jul. 1969 ca.
A 1969 fact sheet on the case of Roger Priest, a Navy seaman who worked at the Pentagon charged with a variety of offenses for his publication of an anti-Vietnam War newsletter called OM. The flyer is uncredited.
OM had a print run of 1000 and featured anti-Vietnam War articles and information as well as acting as a “gripe” forum for armed service members.
The court martial at the Washington Navy Yard included charges of soliciting fellow soldiers to desert, urging insubordination and making statements disloyal to the United States.
He was convicted of minor charges and received a reprimand, reduction in rank and a bad conduct discharge for promoting disloyalty. Upon appeal the charges were voided and he was given an honorable discharge.
‘Who says the war is ENDING?’ – Aug. 1969
A one-sided flyer printed to be used as a mailer calls for non-violent protest at the U.S. Capitol and Pentagon August 13-14, 1969. The protest was sponsored by the Quaker Action Group and the Catholic Peace Fellowship.
The flyer is headlined “Who says the war s ENDING? MURDERED each week: Americans – 250 Vietnamese – 20000.”
Several hundred people participated in the demonstrations and 36 were arrested while conducting a Roman Catholic mass for Vietnam War dead inside the Pentagon in the shopping area.
Two draft cards were also left at the office of Defense Secretary Melvin Laird. The protests were part of a series of antiwar actions in the District of Columbia sponsored by the Quacker Action group over the summer of 1969.
Viet students urge end to U.S. involvement Sept. 1969
Two letters from South Vietnamese students dated in 1967 and 1969 encourage U.S. students to continue and intensify their opposition to U.S,. involvement in Vietnam.
The first letter, marked pages 3-4, is dated April 3, 1967 and is sent by the Union of Vietnamese Students in France and signed by three of its officers.
The second letter is dated September 16, 1969 and is from Le Van Nghia, a 24-year-old student at the Faculty of Letters, Saigon University and editor of the school newspaper.
A cover letter dated September 1969 explains the two letters and urges college student newspaper editors to print the two letters that were obtained by the American Friends Service Committee.
Vietnam Moratorium Committee call & strategy: 1969
An anti-Vietnam War call to action and a description of strategy is issued by the national Vietnam Moratorium Committee in September 1969.
The call to action had been endorsed by upwards of 300 college newspaper editors and student body presidents at that point.
The Moratorium was a national, locally-based strike of work and school-based activities on October 15, 1969 with accompanying local demonstrations and a two day strike November 14-15, 1969 with national demonstrations in Washington, D.C. and San Francisco, Calif.
The strategy described an intense effort of community organizing following local October 15th activities to build for massive protests in November.
The goal was to spur U.S. President Richard Nixon to commit to full withdrawal of all U.S. troops from Vietnam.
Viet War cause of U.S. misery – 1969 ca.
A flyer geared toward the general public published by the Vietnam Moratorium Committee, probably in late 1969 or early 1970, makes the case that the Vietnam War is the cause of hardships in the United States.
The Moratorium Committee sponsored some of the largest antiwar demonstrations of the Vietnam era.
The moratorium held October 15, 1969 was a soft approach to a nationwide strike against the war in Vietnam and involved upwards of two million people across the U.S. The Vietnam Moratorium Committee was led by liberal Democratic Party activists and pacifists opposed to the war.
Locally, events were held at campuses and churches across the greater Washington, D.C. area during the day and were capped by the march led by Coretta Scott King. A crowd estimated at 15-20,000 participated in the Washington, D.C. demonstration.
A second moratorium was held the following month where upwards of 500,000 staged a massive march on Washington, D.C. while another 250,000 marched in San Francisco demanding an end to the war in Vietnam.
The Moratorium Committee continued to function until April 1968 when it made an untimely decision to disband shortly before President Richard Nixon announced an expansion of the war into Cambodia—sparking a nationwide student strike and some of the most violent protests against the war.
Coretta Scott King to lead D.C. Vietnam Moratorium – Oct. 1969
The D.C. actions of the first Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam October 15, 1969, featuring Coretta Scott King, are advertised in this leaflet. King held a candle and led a night march from the Washington Monument grounds to the White House. A crowd estimated at 15-20,000 participated in the Washington, D.C. demonstration.
The moratorium was a soft approach to a nationwide strike against the war in Vietnam and involved upwards of two million people across the U.S. A second moratorium was held a month later.
Coolidge student march against the war flyer – Oct. 1969
A flyer advertises a demonstration held during the Vietnam Moratorium by black students at Coolidge High School in Washington, D.C. October 15, 1969.
Over 100 students from Coolidge High School sought to enter the White House grounds with a black pinewood coffin containing letters from students asking President Nixon to end the war.
Refused entry by White House guards, the students pressed forward anyway. Park and metropolitan police bolstered the guards and arrested three students and one passerby. 500 bystanders gathered around the confrontation angrily shouting at police to let the arrested students go.
Professionals for Peace Moratorium flyer – Oct. 1969
A flyer for a rally during the October 15, 1969 Vietnam Moratorium sponsored by Professionals for Peace and endorsed by Business Executives Move for Vietnam Peace.
The rally drew upwards of 2,000 professionals and office workers in business attire to Farragut Square in Washington, D.C. to hear former Alaska Sen. Ernest Gruening tell the crowd that, “There is no reason whatever for Congress to vote to continue this madness.”
A New Chance for Christians to Act on Oct. 15 – 1969
An unsigned flyer urges Washington, D.C. area Christians to participate in the October 15, 1969 Moratorium against the Vietnam War.
The D.C. actions of the first Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam featured Coretta Scott King, are advertised in this leaflet.
King held a candle and led a night march from the Washington Monument grounds to the White House. A crowd estimated at 15-20,000 participated in the Washington, D.C. demonstration.
New Mobilization Committee Moratorium flyer – Nov. 1969
A flyer from the New Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam, a nationwide broad coalition of anti-Viet War groups, calling for immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops and a mass demonstration to be held in the nation’s capital November 15, 1969.
Demands were also made under three broad categories of “Stop the War,” “Stop the War Machine,” and “Stop the Death Machine and included self-determination for black America, an end to racism and poverty, free speech for GIs, self-government for the District of Columbia, the freeing of political prisoners and an end to the draft.
A feature of the demonstration was a two-day procession preceding the main march where individuals paraded single-file from Arlington National Cemetery, past the White House where each individual stopped and called out the name of a slain U.S. soldier, and then continued on to the U.S. Capitol.
A two-day nationwide work stoppage was called for Nov. 14-15 by the Vietnam Moratorium Committee. A previous Moratorium in October had an estimated two million people participate across the country.
Upwards of 500,000 attended the Nov. 15th march—the largest of the Vietnam War era up to that point in time.
Call for immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops – Nov. 1969
A flyer from the Washington, D.C. chapter of the New Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam calling for immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops and a mass demonstration to be held in the nation’s capital November 15, 1969.
A host of other demands were also made, including self-determination for black America, an end to racism and poverty, free speech for GIs, self-government for the District of Columbia, the freeing of political prisoners and an end to the draft.
A feature of the demonstration was a two-day procession preceding the main march where individuals paraded single-file from Arlington National Cemetery, past the White House where each individual stopped and called out the name of a slain U.S. soldier, and then continued on to the U.S. Capitol.
A two-day nationwide work stoppage was called for Nov. 14-15 by the Vietnam Moratorium Committee. A previous Moratorium in October had an estimated two million people participate across the country.
Upwards of 500,000 attended the Nov. 15th march—the largest of the Vietnam War era up to that point in time.
Student strike Nov. 14; March on Washington Nov. 15 – 1969
The Student Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam issues a call for a student strike on November 14, 1969, coinciding with the Second Moratorium, and to attend the November 15th demonstration in Washington, D.C.
The call for a student strike in 1969 largely fizzled as it had in 1968, but the following year 500 campuses went on strike following President Richard Nixon’s expansion of the war into Cambodia.
Upwards of 500,000 attended the November 15th march on Washington.
Viet protesters call for D.C. self-government – Nov. 1969
The Fifth Avenue Vietnam Peace Parade Committee issues a call to support the second Moratorium Nov. 13-15 1969 and a march on Washington in protest of the Vietnam War.
The Peace Parade Committee had earlier sponsored some of the largest demonstrations against the war in New York City.
The flyer contains the specific demands of the march that included “self-government for Washington, D.C.”
The Nov. 15 march in Washington was perhaps the largest of the Vietnam War rivalled only by an April 24, 1971 march also in D.C.
Workshop for marshals at Vietnam Moratorium – Nov. 1969
The Vietnam Moratorium Committee gave this document to volunteer parade marshals at a training session for the Moratorium November 13-15, 1969.
It contains general guidelines for marshals, legal rights and medical information.
This was the second moratorium in 1969. The first in October involved upwards of two million people in a nationwide strike with local rallies.
The second also called for a nationwide strike, but held a solemn march from Arlington Cemetery to the U.S. Capitol Nov. 13-14 where each marcher carried a single candle representing those killed in Vietnam. On November 15th, a mass march was held from the Capitol to the Washington Monument grounds involving upwards of a half million people.
March on the South Vietnamese embassy – Nov. 1969
The front side of an anonymous flyer calling for a march on the South Vietnamese Embassy November 14, 1969.
The event occurred the day before the massive 2nd moratorium march on Washington and was called to support the rebels in South Vietnam that the US government was fighting.
An epic clash between 15-20,000 protesters and police broke out when the unauthorized march was attempted and police moved to halt it.
Residents, hotel guests and workers in the area were all swept up into the battle that featured rocks and bottles by the protesters and clubs, tear gas and guns by the police.
Stop the Trial – Nov. 1969
A flyer from the Youth International Party (Yippies) advertises a “Stop the Trial” demonstration at the U.S. “Injustice Department” in Washington, D.C. against the trial of the Chicago 8 after the main Moratorium anti-Vietnam War mass march November 15, 1969.
The flyer specifically notes Bobby Seale, Black Panther leader and one of the Chicago 8 defendants—those charged with conspiracy to foment violence at the Democratic Convention in Chicago the previous August.
The rally following the march advertised by the Yippies erupted into street fighting with police by the 10,000 or more people who attended after a barrage of rocks broke windows at the Justice Department and struck police officers.
Original held in the Bonnie Atwood papers, 1965-2005, Collection, Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA.
No Draft – Dec. 1969 ca.
The D.C. Moratorium, the local arm of the Vietnam Moratorium Committee that organized the October and November 1969 Moratoriums that involved millions of Americans in activities against the Vietnam War, publishes a flyer calling for an end to the draft and outlining the reasons for doing so.
The Washington Area Military and Draft Law Panel – 1970 ca.
The Washington Area Military and Draft Law Panel publishes a brochure describing its mission and services focusing on low-income and/or black potential draftees into the military and current service members serving.
The group of approximately 40 attorneys in the D.C. area provided draft counseling and legal assistance to active duty personnel.
The WAMADLP was initiated by the National Lawyers Guild.
Moratorium benefit concert – Jan. 1970
The National-International Arts and Letters Committee for the Moratorium sponsors a Moratorium Concert on Peace and Reconciliation at Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. January 4, 1970.
The event featured actors Bill Cosby and Robert Culp as masters of ceremony and featured Dave Brubeck, McHenry Boatwright, Ossie Davis & Ruby Dee, The Cross-Over-Group, Lorin Hollander, Silvia Delvilar and Odetta.
The concert was one of a number held in different cities following the anti-Vietnam War Moratoriums of October and November 1969.
Fuck the Draft film festival – Jan. 1970
A “Fuck the Draft” film festival is sponsored by the Washington Peace Center in January 1970 as a fundraiser to support draft counseling for young men eligible to be inducted into the U.S. armed services.
The films scheduled were Seasons Change, Army Film, People’s Park, Bobby Seale, The Brig, Up against the Wall Miss America, High School Rising, San Francisco State and October 15th and were scheduled over two days.
Come to the trial of the D.C. Nine – Feb. 1970
An 11 x 17 inch poster published by the D.C. Nine Defense Committee calls on people to attend the 1970 trial of the largely Catholic “hit and stay” activists who destroyed files of the Dow Chemical Company in Washington, D.C in 1969 in protest of the company’s manufacture of napalm and the Vietnam War.
The poem on the poster, written by David Darst, reads, “I’ll steal the whole world, pump it full of sunshine and send it sailing.”
The nine protesters smashed glass, hurled files out a fourth floor window and poured blood on the remaining files and furniture were led out of the Dow Chemical offices at 15th & L Streets NW Washington, DC by police March 22, 1969.
On May 7, 1970, the nine were sentenced to terms ranging from three months to six years in jail. Their lawyer, Phillip J. Hirschkop was censured and sentenced to 30 days in jail for his trial conduct.
Seven of the nine appealed and won a reversal of their convictions at the U.S Court of Appeals in June 1972 that ruled that Judge John H. Pratt had erred when he denied the defendants the right to represent themselves. Hirschkop was cleared of contempt in a separate ruling in July 1972.
Original held in the Bonnie Atwood papers, 1965-2005, Collection, Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA.
Lenten-Passover Fast Action Project – Feb. 1970
A 75-day vigil in front of the White House against the War in Vietnam is sponsored by the Lenten-Passover Fast Action Project Feb. 11 – April 27, 1970.
The Project came about when the organization Clergy and Laity Concerned about Vietnam and the group the Fellowship of Reconciliation joined to sponsor a seventy-five day “Lenten Passover Fast Action Project” to maintain public focus on the Vietnam War protest movement.
The Project organized daily fasts in homes and cities and also in front of the White House from Ash Wednesday through Passover in 1970.
D.C. Moratorium calls for antiwar petition rally – 1970
The D.C. Vietnam Moratorium Committee, the local branch of the national organization of the same name, publishes a 4-page letter calling for a February 15, 1970 demonstration in front of the White House to turn over to President Richard Nixon one million petition signatures and post cards calling for an end to the Vietnam War.
The Washington Post estimated 400 people attended the protest where they heard former Sen Ernest Gruening (D.-Alaska), David Hawk of the national Vietnam Moratorium Committee and Dick Davis, brother of Chicago 8/7 conspiracy defendant Rennie Davis call for an immediate end to the Vietnam War and an end to political repression.
The protesters left 37 cartons at the White House west gate containing an estimated 420,000 signatures calling for an end to the war.
The Vietnam Moratorium Committee was the organization that sponsored perhaps the largest anti-Vietnam War demonstrations in the October and November 1969 Moratoriums (or strike) against the war that involved upwards of two million people.
The Day After (TDA) Watergate protest flyer – 1970
A flyer advertises for a The Day After demonstration to protest the pending verdicts of the Chicago 8—defendants charged with fomenting disturbances at the 1968 Democratic Convention by their speech.
The 600-1000 demonstrators who gathered would later march on the Watergate home of Attorney General John Mitchell (People’s Tour of the Watergate) where they clashed with police in some of the bitterest street fighting in D.C. of the anti-Vietnam War period.
Fighting broke out between police who used batons and tear gas and protesters who used rocks, bottles and sticks. 145 people were arrested during the hours-long confrontation that followed the initial halt of the march. The 145 were later awarded damages after a lawsuit.
The demonstration was organized weeks in advance with leaflets advertising “The Day After (TDA)” the verdict with a time and place to gather. The TDA was used multiple times over the next few years as a way to spread the word about an action in the pre-internet era.
This flyer should be viewed in conjunction with a related flyer below.
A flyer containing a map called a “Tour Guide” for the Watergate The Day After demonstration – Feb. 1970
A “tour guide” map of a planned demonstration to follow the verdict in the Chicago 7 (formerly Chicago 8) trial produced in February 1970. The creators are not known.
The defendants were charged with fomenting disturbances at the 1968 Democratic Convention.
The 600-1000 demonstrators who gathered would later march on the Watergate home of Attorney General John Mitchell (People’s Tour of the Watergate) where they clashed with police in some of the bitterest street fighting in D.C. of the anti-Vietnam War period.
Fighting broke out between police who used batons and tear gas and protesters who used rocks, bottles and sticks. 145 people were arrested during the hours-long confrontation that followed the initial halt of the march. The 145 were later awarded damages after a lawsuit. The demonstration was organized weeks in advance with leaflets advertising “The Day After (TDA)” the verdict with a time and place to gather. The TDA was used multiple times over the next few years as a way to spread the word about an action in the pre-internet era.
This flyer should be viewed in conjunction with a related flyer above.
‘All We are Saying’ film showing – Feb. 1970
A flyer advertises the showing of a film of the November 13-15, 1969 Moratorium anti-Vietnam War demonstrations in Washington, D.C. along with a film of the first Freedom Seder held in April 1969.
The event was sponsored by the Lenten-Passover Fast Action Project at the Friends Meeting House at 2111 Florida Ave. NW February 21, 1970.
The Project came about when the organization Clergy and Layity Concerned about Vietnam and the group the Fellowship of Reconciliation joined to sponsor a seventy-five day “Lenten Passover Fast Action Project” to maintain public focus on the Vietnam War protest movement. The Project organized daily fasts in homes and cities and also in front of the White House from Ash Wednesday through Passover in 1970.
Rally and march to national selective service – Mar. 1970
A flyer advertising a rally and march to the national selective service headquarters March 19, 1970 sponsored by various peace groups.
Upwards of five hundred people rallied outside the Selective Service System headquarters at 1724 F Street NW, Washington, DC in opposition to the draft and the Vietnam War.
Several people burned draft cards—a felony—in protest and a coffin filled with draft cards was also delivered to the office.
The groups listed on the flyer are DC Moratorium (local affiliate of the Moratorium Committee), Student Mobe (Student Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam), Wash. Mobe (Washington Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam), WILPF (Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom), WSP (Women’s Strike for Peace), and Conspiracy ( a local group opposing the trial of the Chicago 8/7 for riot at the 1968 Democratic Convention).
Demonstrate to End the Draft – Mar. 1970
The Student Mobilization Committee publishes a flyer as a co-sponsor of anti-draft actions taking place the week of March 15-19, 1970.
Upwards of 500 people rallied March 19th at the Sylvan Theater and at the national draft board of F Street NW. Several people burned draft cards and a coffin filled with draft cards was left at the door.
Other organizations sponsoring the protest included the Vietnam Moratorium Committee in one of their last acts before the group was dissolved, Episcopal Peace Fellowship, New Mobilization Committee, Young Socialist Alliance, D.C. Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy, Washington Peace Center, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom and Women’s Strike for Peace.
The Student Mobilization Committee began as the student arm of the National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam, but became a separate organization where the Socialist Workers Party, the dominate Trotskyist organization at the time, and it’s youth arm the Young Socialist Alliance had considerable influence.
Early ‘March for Victory’ flyer – 1970
An early version of a flyer for fundamentalist Christian preacher Rev. Carl McIntire’s “March for Victory” that was ultimately held in Washington, D.C. April 4, 1970 protesting President Richard Nixon’s “no win” policy in Indochina.
March organizers claimed 50,000 but news organizations generously estimated 10-15,000 people took part in a protest against President Richard Nixon’s “no win” policy in Vietnam.
The march was sponsored by right-wing Christian preacher Rev. Carl McIntire. Who described himself as a fundamentalist equated Christianity with anti-communism. McIntire favored “peace through victory” in Vietnam and a return of prayer to the schools.
U.S. Committee to Aid the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam – Support People’s War in South East Asia!
The U.S. Committee to Aid the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam publishes an appeal in 1970 to “stop the pig war machine anyway you know how,” and urging “direct support to our sisters and brothers in South Viet Nam.”
The Committee was formed in April 1965 and became probably the first group to carry the NLF (often called Viet Cong) flag in antiwar demonstrations beginning in November 1965.
By the time of the signing of the Paris Peace Accords in January 1973, the flag was commonplace at demonstrations. It was probably the only time since the Civil War that the flag of an opponent that the U.S. was engaging in armed conflict with was carried openly and supported by a significant minority of the U.S.
The flyer calls on people to “Support people’s war in Southeast Asia” and ends with an appeal for groups to send messages of solidarity or actions in support of the National Liberation Front to the NLF office in Paris or the Democratic Republic of (North) Vietnam. It ends with a call for “any direct action, from word to deed, that will help stop the U.S. military killing and suppressing in South East Asia.”
The words used in the flyer mark a change to a more militant stance from the group’s flyers in earlier years, coinciding with a more militant antiwar movement that increasing employs direct action against the Vietnam War.
Call for Montgomery County students to protest Kent State killings – May 1970
An unsigned call for Montgomery County, Md. students to rally at Springbrook High School May 8, 1970 to protest the killing of four students at Kent State University during an anti-Vietnam War demonstration.
The flyer also calls upon students to attend a memorial service in New York City and to also participate in a University of Maryland rally along with canvassing, picketing and leafleting.
The Kent State shootings, also known as the May 4 massacre and the Kent State massacre, were the killings of four and wounding of nine other unarmed Kent State University students by the Ohio National Guard on May 4, 1970 in Kent, Ohio, 40 miles south of Cleveland.
New Mobe seeks parade marshals – May 1970
The New Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam (New Mobe) issues a hasty call for marshals for a demonstration scheduled for May 9, 1970 that they only had a week to plan.
After President Richard Nixon announced on national television April 30, 1970 that he had expanded the Vietnam War into Cambodia, students responded with a nationwide student strike and the Ohio National Guard shot to death four students at Kent State University on May 4th.
The recruitment flyer empathizes with those who favor direct action, but urge a peaceful march to keep all elements of the coalition on one page. The march went off without incident although a confrontation occurred later with protesters who sought to cool off in the Reflecting Pool and still later at a Joe Cocker concert at George Washington University.
Martial law order by National Guard at UMD – May 1970
A photograph of a May 15, 1970 order by Maryland National Guard commander Major Gen. Edwin Warfield III imposing a curfew at the University of Maryland College Park, banning the sale and possession of gasoline and banning gatherings on campus of more than 100 people.
It marked the second time the National Guard occupied the campus during the 1970 student strike against the U.S. expansion of the Vietnam War into Cambodia and the killings of students at Kent State University.
When the Guard arrived on campus the evening of May 14th, the most bitter and prolonged fighting between students and police and National Guard occurred.
Shortly after this order, 25 students were banned from campus by Warfield at the request of university officials.
Students repeatedly defied the National Guard order and held rallies and marches of several thousand on May 18th, 20thand 22nd.
The National Guard would occupy the campus again during anti-Vietnam War protests in 1971 and 1972.
Quaker Action Group seeks to spread the strike – May 1970
The Quaker Action Group calls upon Washington, D.C. area anti-Vietnam War activists to spread the student strike that began May 1, 1970 after President Richard Nixon’s invasion of Cambodia.
The flyer sets forth a series of protests and demonstrations beginning May 30th and continuing into July 1970.
The Quaker Action Group espoused non-violent protest and civil disobedience against the war and partnered with the War Resisters League for the announced demonstrations.
The War Drags on Rally at the U. of Md. College Park – Aug. 1970
An unsigned flyer calls for a rally against the Vietnam War August 4, 1970 on the Mall at the University of Maryland College Park. The flyer is unsigned but contains the demands of the Democratic Radical Union of Maryland and was likely put out by the group.
You Don’t Have to Go – Sep. 1970 ca.
A flyer published by the Democratic Radical Union of Maryland (DRUM) and the Mother Bloor Collective calls on students at College Park to seek draft counseling and oppose the war in Vietnam.
DRUM grew out of the May 1970 student strike on the College Park campus while Mother Bloor was a local Marxist-Leninist collective some student activist leaders formed to chart a path forward for those radicalized in the civil rights and Vietnam War struggles.
DRUM lasted about two years while most of the member of Mother Bloor affiliated with the Workers World Party or its youth group Youth Against War and Fascism.
Freedom Rally flyer by March for Victory Committee – 1970
An early call by the March for Victory Committees led by Rev. Carl McIntire for a demonstration in October 1970 following their spring march that featured Georgia Governor Lester Maddox speaking to a crowd of 10-15,000 and calling for victory in Vietnam.
The rally date was later changed to October 3, 1970 where an estimated 15-20,000 staged a march that rejected President Richard Nixon’s phase-down of the war in Vietnam and instead called for outright defeat of the Vietnamese.
South Vietnamese Vice President Nguyễn Cao Kỳ was to speak at the rally but opposition from the Nixon administration and a threatened mass anti-Ky demonstration caused Ky to cancel his appearance and instead gave a statement that was read to the crowd.
Several hundred antiwar counter-protesters occasionally clashed with pro-war marchers at the October protest leading to 49 arrests.
March for Victory in Vietnam flyer – Sep. 1970
The National March for Victory Committee flyer calls for a March for Victory [in Vietnam] led by Rev. Carl McIntire October 3, 1970 in Washington, D.C.
The demands were “Win the Peace Through Military Victory; Defeat the Viet Cong by strength; Free the POW’s First; Bring the Boys Home in Triumph; Prayer, Bible Reading in School; and Freedom of Choice [probably not abortion though].
South Vietnamese Vice President Nguyễn Cao Kỳ was to speak at the rally but opposition from the Nixon administration and a threatened mass anti-Ky demonstration caused Ky to cancel his appearance and instead gave a statement that was read to the crowd.
An estimated 15-20,000 attended the October march and rally—far less than the 500,000 predicted and far fewer than the 100,000-500,000 that national antiwar marches regularly drew.
Several hundred antiwar counter-protesters occasionally clashed with pro-war marchers at the October protest leading to 49 arrests.
The people have stopped Ky – Oct 1970
An October 1970 flyer calling for a celebration of the decision by South Vietnamese Vice President Nguyen Can Ky to cancel his appearance at a March for Victory scheduled by right-wing Rev. Carl McIntyre.
The celebration on the streets of Georgetown turned into a confrontation between those who occupied Wisconsin Ave. and M Street in that section of town and D.C. police. More than 300 were arrested during the disturbances.
The next day McIntyre led a crowd of about 5,000 in a pro-Vietnam War demonstration that heard Ky address them via telephone. About 500 counter-demonstrators waved Viet Cong flags.
We stopped him [Ky] once and we’ll do it again – Nov. 1970
After cancelling an October appearance in the United States, South Vietnamese Vice President Nguyen Can Ky embarked on a two-week tour of the U.S. in November and one of his stops brought him to Washington, D.C. on November 25th, 1970.
The flyer advertises for Nov. 25th, but this was later updated. It was put out by the local Youth International Party (YIP) or Yippies. The Student Mobilization Committeee, a group influenced by the Trotskist Socialist Workers Party, put out a separate leaflet (unavailable).
About 100 people picketed the National Press Building while Ky spoke inside. Two were arrested on minor charges.
Ky was greeted by demonstrations at nearly every city he visited, some much larger than the Washington, D.C. protest.
Call for action to stop Nixon’s new war escalation – Nov. 1970
A call to action at the University of Maryland College Park on the Vietnam War following an increase in bombing and a failed attempt to rescue American POWs is published by the Democratic Radical Union of Maryland (DRUM) circa November 1970.
This flyer disparages President Richard Nixon’s war escalation and provides facts to support an antiwar position. The flyer is partially damaged.
DRUM was a successor to the campus chapter of the Students for a Democratic Society that was formed out of the steering committee from the May 1970 student strike against the expansion of the Vietnam War into Cambodia and the shooting deaths of four students at Kent State University by the Ohio National Guard.
Link News timeline of Roger Priest disloyalty case – Jan. 1971 ca.
The Servicemen’s Link to Peace Link News provides a biographical sketch and timeline of D.C. area Seaman Apprentice Roger Priest in early 1971. Priest’s charges including soliciting fellow soldiers to desert, urging insubordination and making statements disloyal to the United States following the publication of several issues his antiwar alternative GI newspaper OM.
The Link provided publicity, organizing material and coordinated legal assistance to active duty GIs around the country from 1969-71.
The group, headquartered in Washington, D.C., also played a role in the defense of the Presidio 27, prisoners who broke ranks and sat in the grass, singing “We Shall Overcome” in protest of conditions at the military prison and the Vietnam War in October 1968.
GI Office to document military abuse of GI rights – Jan. 1971
The GI Office, a national clearinghouse and drop-in center for active duty servicemembers headquartered in the Washington, D.C. area, calls on current and former servicemembers in January 1971 to contact them to document cases of military injustice and repression for preparation for upcoming Congressional hearings.
The hearings held in February and March 1971 were mainly devoted to clandestine military surveillance of active duty GIs.
The GI Office was opened In July 1970 on funds raised by actress and antiwar activist Jane Fonda and staffed by former Green Beret Donald Duncan. It’s initial focus was attempting to marshal congressional support for active duty GIs who were denied their rights under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
Fonda said at the time the office first opened that it would collect, investigate and document “deprivation of the, rights of our service personnel.” Complaints can originate directly from soldiers, in dependent agencies or the offices of Senators or Representatives, Fonda said.
The group quickly organized training conferences for those interested in assisting GIs around the country. The training included instructions in Army regulations, the court martial process, types of methods for securing discharges and other GI counseling topics.
The group also sought to guarantee legal counsel to any GI who was charged by the military after exercising their legal rights.
National student antiwar conference at Catholic U. – Feb. 1971
The Student Mobilization Committee advertises a rally and a national anti-Vietnam War conference to be held at Catholic University February 19-21, 1971.
The rally was also sponsored by the National Peace Action Coalition (NPAC), one of two umbrella antiwar coalitions at the time. The other was the People’s Coalition for Peace and Justice (PCPJ). NPAC organized around a single issue of end the war while PCPJ embraced antiwar, social and economic justice issues.
The Student Mobilization Committee began as the student arm of the National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam—the predecessor of PCPJ and NPAC–but became a separate organization where the Socialist Workers Party, the dominate Trotskyist organization at the time, and it’s youth arm the Young Socialist Alliance had considerable influence.
At its high point SMC had chapters on dozens of campuses across the country.
Students and Youth for a People’s Peace Mayday guide – Apr. 1971
A guide to the Mayday demonstrations intended to shut down the government in protest of the Vietnam War through the use of civil disobedience is published by Students and Youth for. A People’s Peace circa April 1971.
The layout makes the guide virtually unreadable, but contains a list of scheduled Mayday actions May 1-5, 1971 a schedule of fall antiwar activities and an appeal for marshals for the April 24, 1971 mass march against the Vietnam War.
Students and Youth for a Peoples Peace was a short lived group formed at a conference in Ann Arbor, Michigan in February 1971 to promote the People’s Peace Treaty negotiated between American Students and students from North and South Vietnam. The conference also voted to organize the Mayday civil disobedience.
Mayday Tactical Manual – 1971
The Mayday 1971 tactical manual provided guidance to individuals and collectives seeking to join in the effort to non-violently shut down the federal government in Washington, D.C. in protest of the ongoing Vietnam War May 3rd through 5th.
For about 5 hours on Monday, May 3, 1971 demonstrators used non-violent civil disobedience attempting to shut down the U.S. government in protest of the Vietnam War by blocking intersections and bridges throughout Washington, D.C.
Frustrated by the slow progress in clearing demonstrators, police suspended civil liberties sometime around 5:30 a.m. and locked up anyone who vaguely resembled a protestor. Around 7,000 were arrested.
On May 4th and 5th, police employed mass arrests outside the Justice Department and at the U.S. Capitol.
In all, more than 12,000 people were arrested in the largest mass arrest in U.S. history. The total surpassed the previous record of over 7,000 arrested during the disturbances in Washington, D.C. after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King. Charges were later dropped against nearly everyone involved and thousands later received compensation from the government for their arrest.
U. of Md. students produce a guide to Mayday civil disobedience – 1971
The University of Maryland Mayday contingent produced a guide to the Mayday 1971 anti-Vietnam War demonstrations that were intended to shut down the government by using civil disobedience to block traffic in Washington, D.C.
People’s Coalition poster urges civil disobedience to end Viet War: 1971
The People’s Coalition for Peace and Justice produces a poster urging people to come to Washington, D.C. for a mass anti-Vietnam War rally April 24, 1971 and then stay for another 10 days of non-violent civil disobedience, including the Mayday demonstrations that would attempt to shut down the government.
The poster used a Mark Morris design based on the Ben Shahn drawing of the Indian nationalist leader Mahatma Gandhi, who was a leading practitioner of non-violent civil disobedience.
The People’s Coalition for Peace and Justice (PCPJ) and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) sponsored a week of civil disobedience against the war in Vietnam and for social justice in 1971 after a massive April 24th march against the war and prior to the Mayday Tribe’s attempt to shut down the city by using mass civil disobedience.
PCPJ was the product of a split in the anti-Vietnam War movement that produced the single-issue end-the-war National Peace Action Coalition and PCPJ, which raised social justice issues as well as advocating an end to the Viet War.
Original held in the Bonnie Atwood papers, 1965-2005, Collection, Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA.
UMD antiwar coalition formulates demands – 1971
The University of Maryland [College Park] Spring Action Coalition comprised of various campus left-leaning groups formulates its demands during a series of demonstrations in May 1971 on the campus.
The protests broke out at the same time Mayday demonstrations were occurring in nearby Washington, D.C. and resulted in the National Guard occupying the campus for the second year in a row. The Guard would also put down antiwar demonstrations on the campus in 1972.
The demands included kicking ROTC off the campus, implementing the People’s Peace Treaty and an end to disciplinary measures against students and guests.
DRUM and Mother Bloor urge on U. of Md. students – Fall, 1971
A flyer published by the Democratic Radical Union of Maryland (DRUM) and the Mother Bloor Collective in the fall of 1971 calls on students at College Park to re-double their opposition to the Vietnam War after President Richard Nixon’s failed raid to rescue POWs and the withdrawal of a small number of troops.
DRUM grew out of the May 1970 student strike on the College Park campus while Mother Bloor was a local Marxist-Leninist collective some student activist leaders formed to chart a path forward for those radicalized in the civil rights and Vietnam War struggles.
DRUM lasted about two years while most of the members of the Mother Bloor collective affiliated with the Workers World Party or its youth group Youth Against War and Fascism.
National Liberation Front headband – 1971-72
A homemade headband with a representation of the flag of the National Liberation Front (NLF) of South Vietnam (commonly called Viet Cong) that was worn by members of the Washington Area Spark newspaper staff 1971-72.
The headband was intended to express solidarity with the NLF in the struggle for independence of South Vietnam from U.S. domination.
NLF flags and buttons were common at antiwar demonstrations from 1967-73. It was an unusual period where a significant minority of people—particularly young people–in the U.S. openly expressed solidarity with the forces that the U.S. was engaged in armed conflict with.
GI Office seeks to add field offices – Mar. 1972
The GI Office, a clearinghouse and drop-in center for active duty servicemembers in the Washington, D.C. area summarizes its functions and outlines it’s planned expansion in a March 1972 background piece as part of a funding proposal.
The GI Office was opened In July 1970 on funds raised by actress and antiwar activist Jane Fonda and staffed by former Green Beret Donald Duncan. It’s initial focus was attempting to marshal congressional support for active duty GIs who were denied their rights under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
Fonda said at the time the office first opened that it would collect, investigate and document “deprivation of the, rights of our service personnel.” Complaints can originate directly from soldiers, in dependent agencies or the offices of Senators or Representatives, Fonda said.
The group quickly organized training conferences for those interested in assisting GIs around the country. The training included instructions in Army regulations, the court martial process, types of methods for securing discharges and other GI counseling topics.
The group also sought to guarantee legal counsel to any GI who was charged by the military after exercising their legal rights.
American-Korean Friendship Center urges Nixon removal – 1972
An anti-Vietnam War flyer produced by the American-Korean Friendship and Information Center in 1972 contains an appeal to subscribe to their publication, Korea Focus, on the reverse side.
‘People’s Offensive’ pamphlet lists spring antiwar activities – Spring 1972
An unsigned, short pamphlet lists a calendar of planned anti-Vietnam War events in the greater Washington, D.C. area for a spring 1972 “People’s Offensive.”
Given the list of non-violent civil disobedience activities and the recognition of Ho Chi Minh’s birthday, it was probably published by the People’s Coalition for Peace and Justice (PCPJ) or one of its affiliates.
Spark “bomb” headband – 1972
A homemade headband with the Spark logo worn by members of the newspaper staff during anti-Vietnam War demonstrations in 1972.
The “bomb” displayed was the second version of the Washington Area Spark newspaper’s logo. The smaller “bomb” was adopted in the masthead in March 1973. The original had the word “Spark” on the interior of the “bomb.”
The “bomb” was later phased out in May 1973 in favor of an interracial group of men and women with raised fists.
Youth Against War and Fascism calls for anti-imperialist contingent in national antiwar march – 1972
A flyer by Youth Against War and Fascism (YAWF), a youth group affiliated with the Workers World Party, calls on people to join an anti-imperialist contingent in a larger march on Washington, D.C. to oppose the Vietnam War May 21, 1972.
While speeches took place at the U.S. Capitol to an assembled crowd of about 15,000, another 3-4,000 battled police at the foot of the U.S. Capitol. YAWF, along with the Attica Brigade, were the primary sponsors of the confrontation.
D.C. police chief Jerry Wilson was hit six times with rocks and a large stick and had blood running down his head from a number of cuts in one of the more intense clashes in Washington of the Vietnam War era.
Wilson was quoted, “They usually run when I walk toward them. This time they threw bigger rocks.”
A dozen police officers were injured and 178 protesters were arrested during the confrontation.
The Attica Brigade issues a call for an anti-imperialist contingent in national antiwar march – 1972
A flyer by the Attica Brigade, a youth group associated with the Maoist Revolutionary Union calls on people to join an anti-imperialist contingent in a larger march on Washington, D.C. to oppose the Vietnam War May 21, 1972.
While speeches took place before a crowd of 10-15,000 on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol, several thousand in the anti-imperialist contingent tossed rocks, bottles and other projectiles while police responded with clubs and tear gas.
D.C. police chief Jerry Wilson was hit six times with objects including a wooden stick that caused blood to run down his face.
Wilson was quoted, “They usually run when I walk toward them. This time they threw bigger rocks.”
A dozen police officers were injured and 178 protesters were arrested during the confrontation.
Hiroshima Day commemoration – Aug. 1972
The Washington Area Peace Action Coalition flyer advertising Hiroshima Day events and calling for a planning meeting of interested groups. The flyer compares the Vietnam War to Hiroshima. Hiroshima Day annually marks the 1945 bombing of both Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the U.S. using atomic bombs. The U.S. remains the only country that has used atomic weapons against an enemy–killing an estimated 200,000 Japanese, most of whom were civilians.
Confront Nixon at Miami Beach – Aug. 1972
An unattributed flyer calls for protests at the 1972 Republican Convention in Miami Beach where Richard Nixon would be nominated for a second term as president.
Similar to the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago, the Miami police were undisciplined and engaged in wanton violence against largely peaceful protesters.
The 5,000 protesters, led by a large Vietnam Veterans Against the War contingent, were largely peaceful, although the automobiles of some convention delegates had their windows smashed.
This was end of the Vietnam War protests and only one other large-scale demonstration took place after this event. Nixon’s January 1973 Inauguration drew 100,000 protesters to Washington to demonstrate against the president’s renewed bombing campaign against North Vietnam.
Original held in the Bonnie Atwood papers, 1965-2005, Collection, Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA.
South Vietnam in Struggle – Oct. 1973
The 220th issue of the English-language South Vietnam in Struggle published October 29, 1973 takes place after the signing of the Paris Peace Accords in January 1973 but before the liberation of South Vietnam in 1975. It is the 7th year of publication as the Central Organ of the South Viet Nam National Front for Liberation (NLF, commonly called Viet Cong).
The issue contains reports of violations of the Paris Peace Accords by both the U.S. and the Thieu regime in South Vietnam, reports of conditions under the Thieu regime, the Provisional Revolutionary Government, and from North Vietnam..
The paper also reports on former U.S. Vice President Spiro Agnew’s legal troubles, evidence of the U.S. backing the coup against Chilean president Salvadore Allende, a report from Senegal, a report on Thailand, and a critique of U.S. policy in the Middle East.
Women’s Rights
D.C. Telephone Traffic contract with C&P – 1950
The 1948 contract agreement between Washington Traffic Division No. 50 and the Chesapeake & Potomac Telephone Co. was the first Communications Workers of America (CWA) contract used as a pattern for other local unions.
The union, formerly the Washington Telephone Traffic Union (1935-47), became Division 50 of the new Communications Workers of America at a June 1947 convention following a failed six-week strike by the National Federation of Telephone Workers April-May 1947 that had sought a national bargaining agreement.
The 1948 contract was the first three-year agreement signed with an AT&T subsidiary and came at a time when local telephone unions had been weakened by the strike and further by a split between national unions—the independent CWA and the Telephone Workers Organizing Committee of the CIO.
The Washington, D.C. contract was used by the national union as a pattern for 10 local unions across the country in 1948 with its three-year deal that provided no immediate wage increase, but allowed for two wage reopeners—one in the first year and one in the second year of the agreement.
The Washington union was chosen because of its militancy and because C&P was a wholly-owned subsidiary of AT&T. Mary Gannon, the leader of the union from 1940-49 led the union on dozens off work stoppages during her tenure and was a voice for women within the larger national union before leaving the local union early in 1950.
Call for women to oppose Viet War – Nov. 1967
87-year-old Jeanette Rankin issues a call for women to come to Washington, D.C. January 15, 1968 at the opening session of Congress to oppose the Vietnam War.
Rankin was a former congressional representative from Montana who was the first woman elected to Congress and voted against U.S. entry into both World War I and World War II.
More than 5,000 women heeded the call and marched from Union Station and rallied on a cold, snowy day in front of the U.S. Capitol building.
Rankin served two terms in Congress, being elected in 1916 and again in 1940. The protest marked the beginning of an antiwar organization of women that named itself the Jeanette Rankin Brigade.
Washington, D.C. women protest Miss America Pageant – Sep. 1968
A flyer by Washington Women’s Liberation decries the objectification and subjugation of women represented by the Miss America Pageant in Atlantic City September 7, 1968.
The protest at the pageant brought nationwide attention to the nascent women’s liberation movement as several hundred women marched, carried banners and rallied near the pageant.
The demonstration was mainly organized by New York Women’s Liberation, but women from all along the East Coast participated.
The mainstream press twisted the event into a protest that burned bras. The reality is that nothing was burned, much less brassieres.
The original image is housed in the Duke University Libraries Repository Collections and Archives, Rubenstein Library. The creator of this work has granted the Rubenstein Library permission to make this publication available online, and authorized a Creative Commons attribution, non-commercial, non-derivative works license to the materials.
DC WITCH celebrates Pan American week – Apr. 1969
The Washington, D.C. Women’s International Conspiracy from Hell (WITCH) group issues a flyer calling for a demonstration to hex the United Fruit Company as a representative company that “exploits the people of nations it purports to benefit, and manipulates United States government policy.”
The April 16, 1969 demonstration involved six women in witch costumes briefly invading the offices of United Fruit and “hexing” the company. The company called police and the women continued their protest outside on the sidewalk.
In addition to the United Fruit demonstration the Washington, D.C. WITCH women also protested the Gridiron Club exclusion of women; disrupted a congressional subcommittee hearing conducted by U.S. Rep William Natcher (D-KY), who was holding up Metrorail construction funds; and disrupted a meeting featuring D.C. police chief Jerry Wilson; among other activities.
Original held in the Bonnie Atwood papers, 1965-2005, Collection, Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA.
D.C. WITCH urges participation in Panther defense – 1969
The Washington, D.C. Women’s International Conspiracy from Hell (WITCH) group issues a flyer calling on women to participate in a November 22, 1969 protest in New Haven, Conn. Against treatment of six Black Panther Party women that were imprisoned.
The reverse side of the flyer is a joint call by the New England Women’s Liberation Group and the Black Panther Party to join in the demonstration.
Women’s Liberation festival – Nov. 1969
The D.C. Women’s Liberation Movement Center issues a flyer for a women’s festival coinciding with the national anti-Vietnam War Moratorium March on Washington November 14-15, 1969.
The festival included women’s liberation skits, media shows, singers, films, poetry and theatre.
Women’s Liberation Movement Center festival – Nov. 1969
The D.C. Women’s Liberation Movement Center issues a flyer for a women’s festival coinciding with the national anti-Vietnam War Moratorium March on Washington November 14-15, 1969.
The festival included women’s liberation skits, media shows, singers, films, poetry and theatre.
The festival was held at the Women’s Liberation Movement Center located within Gonzaga College High School near North Capitol and I Streets NW.
Women’s ‘triple threat meeting’ – 1970
A tongue-in-cheek flyer advertises a forum in March 1970 by Washington, D.C. Women’s Liberation, Women’s Strike for Peace and the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom.
Original held in the Bonnie Atwood papers, 1965-2005, Collection, Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA.
Women’s Fest sponsored by Community Bookshop – Mar. 1971
A flyer by the Community Bookshop announces a women’s festival in March 1971.
The Community Bookshop sold radical books, pamphlets and newspapers of various left-wing stripes, including communist, socialist, anarchist, environmentalist, feminist, gay and lesbian literature and also hosted community events and speakers during the late 1960s and early 1970s.
The bookshop was located in the Dupont Circle area near the intersection of 20thand P Streets NW.
Feminists and left-wing radicals resurrected International Women’s Day (March 8th) during the late 1960s. It had been suppressed as a “communist” holiday during the Red Scare of the late 1940s and 1950s. In turn, March became women’s history month.
Original held in the Bonnie Atwood papers, 1965-2005, Collection, Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA.
D.C. Women for Abortion Action flyer: 1971
The Washington, D.C.-based group Women for Abortion Action issues a flyer calling for picketing the White House in support of Shirley Wheeler, convicted in Florida of manslaughter for having an abortion. The flyer also called for attending a national women’s march November 20, 1971.
Women’s for Abortion Action was a broad coalition of women’s advocacy groups in the greater Washington, D.C. area.
The national march was sponsored by the Women’s National Abortion Action Coalition and drew more than 2,500 people to march from the Ellipse down Pennsylvania Avenue to the U.S. Capitol where they heard from Shirley Weaver, among others.
In a case that pre-dated Roe v. Wade, Wheeler was convicted of manslaughter after medical staff at a Florida hospital reported her illegal abortion to authorities.
Media attention brought the issue of abortion to the fore in public debate, and Wheeler’s conviction was overturned by the Florida Supreme Court.
Women motorcyclists get together – 1973 ca.
Women motorcyclists issue a call to get together at the Washington, D.C. Women’s Center circa 1973.
Description of the Women’s Center from the George Washington University Library’s collection:
“During its time from 1972 through the late 1980s, the Washington Area Women’s Center served both as a space where women could explore aspects of feminism and work on projects dedicated to furthering feminist theory and also practical work to serve as a clearinghouse of advisors and information to help women in the Metropolitan Area explore all options related to changing their lives and asserting their rights.”
Originals held in the Bonnie Atwood papers, 1965-2005, Collection, Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA.
Socialism/Feminism course at the Women’s Center – Mar. 1973
The New American Movement (NAM) offers a socialism/feminism course in March 1973 at the Washington, D.C. Women’s Center.
The first session to be held on March 1st involves the film Salt of the Earth.
NAM was established at a conference held in Davenport, Iowa in December 1971 by radical political activists seeking to create a successor organization to Students for a Democratic Society (SDS).
Original held in the Bonnie Atwood papers, 1965-2005, Collection, Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA.
Suffrage Day celebrated with a week of activities: 1975
An unsigned flyer unveils a calendar of events surrounding a week of celebrating women’s suffrage August 22-29, 1975.
Advertised events include a National Organization for Women fair; dinner with Andrea Dworkin; a concert with Cassie Culver, Willie Tyson and Barbara Cobb; a dance; a film festival; live and taped music produced by Womansound; the theatre production Approaching Simone; and a performance by the National Symphony.
Original held in the Bonnie Atwood papers, 1965-2005, Collection, Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA.
Sophie’s Parlor 24-hour recognition of Suffrage Day – Aug. 1975
Sophie’s Parlor, a feminist radio program, advertises 24-hours of women’s programming on WGTB 90.1 FM in recognition of Suffrage Day August 25-26, 1975.
Sophie’s Parlor was a regular show on WGTB, at one point airing three times per week.
Sophie’s Parlor was the also the coffeehouse at the Washington, D.C. Women’s Center and later developed a sound production crew.
Original held in the Bonnie Atwood papers, 1965-2005, Collection, Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA.
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