South Africa Divestment Records, 1972-1987

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Series I: Central Administration, 1972-1987

The Central Administration Series, which contains the majority of the records in the collection, documents the deliberations over divestment between Presidents McGill and Sovern, the Board of Trustees, the University Senate, students, alumni, and faculty. The series contains the official resolutions and statements by the Trustees and its Finance Committee (led by Anthony Knerr), the Senate, as well as the Ad Hoc Committee on University Investments in Corporations Doing Business in South Africa. Other materials include background research and reports on South Africa and corporate responsibility, meeting notes and memos, and stockholder reports. There is also correspondence with related stakeholders including companies, Columbia students and alumni, and administrators from other universities. Box 3, labeled South Africa I-XI, contains records sent to and from Marion Jemmott, the University Secretary in the early 1980s, who was responsible for supporting the work of the Board of Trustees. The rest of the folders contain materials from the Office of the President.



Box 1 Folder 8-9 Corporate Responsibility 1979, 1972-1979


Box 1 Folder 7 Trustees Statement on South Africa June 5, 1978, 1973-1979


Box 1 Folder 15 President McGill Statement, 1973-1978


Box 1 Folder 5-6 Correspondence, 1977-1978



Box 4 Folder 2-3 Memos and Correspondence, 1977-1979



Box 1 Folder 14 Corporate Responsibility Ethical Guidelines, 1978



Box 2 Folder 1 Statements and Correspondence, 1978



Box 1 Folder 16 Corporate Responsibility Statements I, 1978-1979



Box 2 Folder 2 Morgan Guaranty Information South Africa, 1978-1979


Box 2 Folder 3-4 Corporate Responsibility, 1978-1979


Box 2 Folder 5-6 Corporate Responsibility Columbia University Statements II, 1978-1979



Box 1 Folder 12-13 South Africa: 1980-1981, 1978-1981



Box 2 Folder 9 Sullivan Principles Reports, 1978-1982



Box 4 Folder 4 Memos and Correspondence, 1978-1987



Box 1 Folder 10-11 Corporate Responsibility 1979 II, 1979-1980



Box 4 Folder 16 Time Running Out: The Report of the Study Commission on U.S. Policy Toward Southern Africa, 1981



Box 3 Folder 1-18 South Africa I-XI, 1981-1987

Box 3 contains folders labeled South Africa I-XI, which come from University Secretary Marion Jemmott and contain a variety of materials related to divestment and to the Board of Trustees' role in the process. The original folder order and titles were maintained.



Box 2 Folder 10 South Africa, 1982


Box 2 Folder 7-8 South Africa, 1982-1983



Box 4 Folder 12 Michael Sovern Notes and Resources on Divestment, 1983



Box 2 Folder 15-16 Trustees Statement, 1983-1984



Box 4 Folder 1 Trustees Statements, Meeting Notes and Memos, 1983-1984



Box 2 Folder 11 Columbia University Current Material on South African Investments, 1984


Box 2 Folder 12 Columbia University South Africa Related Investments: Background Material, 1984


Box 2 Folder 13-14 Columbia University Analysis of South Africa Proxy Resolutions, 1984



Box 1 Folder 3-4 Reports, 1984-1985


Box 1 Folder 1 One Step in the Wrong Direction: An Analysis of the Sullivan Principles as a Strategy for Opposing Apartheid, 1985


Box 1 Folder 2 United States Congreess Anti-Apartheid Act, 1985

Series II: Student Protests, 1981-1985

The Student Protests Series documents the response to the Coalition for a Free South Africa's blockade and hunger strike in April 1985. This small series consists of letters and phone call records from Columbia students, alumni, and students from other colleges voicing support for the protesters. There is also one folder related to disciplinary action against the protesters, which includes President Sovern's statement following the protest and an amicus brief filed by Columbia Law professors arguing against disciplinary action. The Series also contains a video "Adapt or Die: The End of White Politics in South Africa," and a digital file created by Danny Armstrong, a student protest leader, which includes flyers, letters, articles, and other materials related to his experience fighting for divestment. In addition to the records in Series II, a number of folders in Series I contain flyers from student protests in and leading up to 1985. These flyers are mixed in with the materials collected by the President and Trustees. See box 1 folder 5, box 2 folder 10, box 3 folder 9 and box 4 folder 1.



Box Laptop The South African Divestment Movement: A Personal Perspective, 1981-1985

A Microsoft Word file containing images and documents put together by the Coalition for a Free South African chairman Danny Armstrong. A PDF of the resulting book is also found here. These files can be viewed on a laptop in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library's reading room.



Box 4 Folder 17 ABC Close-Up Adapt or Die, 1983


Box 4 Folder 7 Phone Calls, 1985


Box 4 Folder 8 Divestment: A Leadership Publication, 1985


Box 4 Folder 9-10 Letters to Michael Sovern, 1985


Box 4 Folder 11 Divestment Protests - Disciplinary Action, 1985


Box 4 Folder 13-14 Petitions - Divestment Protests, form Letters in Support, 1985


Box 4 Folder 15 Letters to Michael Sovern from Brown University Students, 1985