University Protest and Activism Collection, 1958-2018, bulk 1968-1972

After clicking 'Submit Request', users will login with their UNI and password (Columbia affiliates) or their special collections account (external users). Appointments are required and will be arranged according to each individual repository's policy.


Series I: Administration, 1965-1972

This series contains correspondence, legal documents, memoranda, news releases, reports, and other public statements documenting the actions of Columbia University's administration prior, and in response, to the campus protests of the mid-1960s through mid-1970s. The files are arranged hierarchically and then alphabetically. Folders for Columbia's Board of Trustees are followed by files for the president and then by other University offices (arranged alphabetically). Within this listing of offices are subject-oriented folders entitled "Chronologies," "Legal Proceedings Involving Students," and "Witnesses to Student Demonstrations," which contain documents used by Columbia administrators but not traceable to any one office.

The documents contained in the files for University trustees pertain primarily to the student strike of 1968. Correspondence from alumni, parents, and the general public indicate attitudes regarding the University's response to the strike, which is documented by public statements found here. The reports of the Special Committee of the Trustees reveal efforts to examine and alter the university's governing structure. Materials for the three University presidents in office during this era cover a wider range of topics including: president's public statements representing the University's response to the strikes and protests, and its position on the underlying issues that prompted this activism.

The materials organized by office and by subject demonstrate various administrative responses to student protests. These include public statements by chief academic officers David B. Truman, Provost, and Vice President for Academic Planning Herbert A. Deane, as well as memoranda, notes, and other administrative records of Harold E. Emerson, a chief presidential aide. News releases issued by the Office of Public Information reveal the university's public voice on the events of the era. Legal pleadings and associated records document the administration's disciplinary actions against student protesters.



Box 1 Folder 1 Organization Descriptions and Membership Lists, 1968


Trustees


Box 1 Folder 2 Correspondence--Alumni and Parents, 1968


Box 1 Folder 3 Correspondence--General Public, 1968


Box 1 Folder 4 Public Statements, News Releases, Memoranda, 1968-1970


Special Committee


Box 1 Folder 5 Interim Reports, 1 through 4--Recommended Changes to the Structure of Columbia University,, 1968-1969


Box 1 Folder 6 Public Statements, 1968


Box 1 Folder 7 Student Representatives, 1968


President Grayson Kirk


Correspondence


Box 1 Folder 8 Administration, Faculty and Staff; Student Arrest Figures,, 1968


Box 1 Folder 9 Alumni and Parents, 1968


Box 1 Folder 10 General Public, 1968


Box 1 Folder 11 Students, 1968


Box 1 Folder 12 Trustees, 1968


Box 1 Folder 13 Faculty Address Lists, 1968


Box 1 Folder 14 Public Statements, Open Letters, News Releases, 1965-1968


Box 1 Folder 15 Report: Committee on Urban and Minority Problems, 1967


President Andrew W. Cordier


Correspondence


Box 1 Folder 16 Administration, Faculty and Staff, 1968-1970


Box 1 Folder 17 Alumni, 1968-1969


Box 1 Folder 18 General Public, 1968


Box 1 Folder 19 Trustees, 1968


Box 1 Folder 20 Public Statements--Open Letters and News Releases, 1968-1970



Box 2 Folder 1 to 2 Public Statements--Open Letters and News Releases, 1968-1970, (2 Folders)


Box 2 Folder 3 McGill, William--Public Statements, Open Letters and News Releases,, 1970-1972


Box 2 Folder 4 de Barry, William Theodore, 1972


Box 2 Folder 5 Deane, Herbert A., 1968


Administration, Unidentified


Box 2 Folder 6 Handwritten Notes, 1965-1968


Box 2 Folder 7 List of April 1968 Demonstrators, April 1968


Box 2 Folder 7 Script of the Order to Vacate Buildings, 1968


Box 2 Folder 8 Gardner, John C.--Damage, Costs and Reports, 1968


Box 2 Folder 9 McGoey, Thomas A, 1968


Box 2 Folder 10 Nye, Joseph P., 1968


Box 2 Folder 11 Chronologies of Student Strike Events, 1968



Box 26 Folder 1 Columbia College, Freshman Welcome Address--Dean Carl Hovde, 1968



Box 2 Folder 12 Controller, Office of the, 1968


Box 2 Folder 13 Emerson, Harold E.--Correspondence, Administration, Faculty, Staff,, 1968


Box 2 Folder 14 Committee on Externally Funded Research and Instruction


Box 2 Folder 14 Committee on Relations with Outside Agencies, 1968-1969


Legal Proceedings Involving Students


Box 2 Folder 15 The City of New York Police Department Interim Report--Arrests made on the Complaint of the Columbia University Administration of Students Trespassing in School Buildings,, 1968 May 4


Box 2 Folder 16 to 18 Pleadings, Documents, Public Statements and Correspondence, 1968-1972, (3 Folders)


Legal Proceedings Involving Students



Box 3 Folder 1 to 2 Pleadings, Documents, Public Statements and Correspondence, 1968-1972, (2 Folders)


Box 3 Folder 3 Logsdon, Richard H., 1968


Box 3 Folder 4 Personnel, Director of, 1968


Box 3 Folder 5 Policies of the University: Faculty Dismissals, Tenure, Conflicts of Interest,, 1964-1968


Public Information, Office of


Public Statements and News Releases


Box 3 Folder 6 Strikes, Black Students, Black Panthers, Discipline, 1968-1972


Box 3 Folder 7 Background Papers on Student Strike and Campus Issues, 1968


Publications


Box 3 Folder 8 Columbia University Newsletter, 1967-1969


Box 3 Folder 9 Partners in the Park, 1968 February Brochure, Somebody's Trying to Hurt Us Both-Columbia and Harlem, Advertisement Reprint, Gymnasium, 1968, 1968 February, 1968


Box 3 Folder 10 Residence, Assistant Dean for, 1968


Box 3 Folder 11 Undergraduate Admissions Office--Includes Commencement Address for the 214th Academic Year,, 1968


Box 3 Folder 12 University Placement and Career Services--Military recruiting, 1968


Box 3 Folder 13 University Relations, Office of--Gymnasium, 1966


Box 3 Folder 14 Truman, David B.--Public Statements, Open Letters, News Releases, Correspondence with Alumni and Administration,, 1967-1969


Box 3 Folder 15 Witnesses to Student Demonstrations--Reports, 1967-1969