Student Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam Records, 1966-1973


Summary Information
Title: Student Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam Records
Inclusive Dates: 1966-1973

Creator:
  • Student Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam
Call Number: Mss 339; PH Mss 339

Quantity: 6.5 c.f. (17 archives boxes), 15 photographs, and 22 negatives

Repository:
Archival Locations:
Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

Abstract:
Records of the Student Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam (SMC), a national coalition (1966-1973) formed to coordinate opposition to U.S. involvement in the war in Vietnam among college and high school students. Best represented is the early period (1966-1968) when the national office was headquartered in New York City. Most complete are the files on anti-war groups in California (some correspondence from Bettina Aptheker is included here), Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, and New York. Most extensive international contacts involved Australia, Canada, France, and Vietnam. Other files concern the G.I. Press Service, an arm of SMC which organized anti-war sentiment in the military.

Note:

The collection, except for the photographs, was microfilmed by Primary Source Media (an imprint of Gale and a part of Cengage Learning) in 2008 as part of the series America in Protest: Records of Anti-Vietnam War Organizations. The company also prepared a name and subject index to the collection that is keyed to new microfilm folder numbers it assigned. A copy of this guide can be found in the State Historical Society of Wisconsin Library (Pam 09-1362).



Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00339
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Biography/History

During the late 1960s and early 1970s a number of national organizations were formed to mobilize and coordinate mass actions in protest against U.S. involvement in the war in Vietnam; the Student Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam, sometimes known as Student Mobe or SMC, was one of these. Although originally formed only with the immediate goal of marshalling campus opposition for the spring 1967 offensive, SMC grew to become one of the largest, longest-lived, and in some ways the most successful of the peace organizations. This success in mustering support for various mass actions arose from the committee's strict avoidance of civil disobedience and adherence to the policy of non-exclusion. The second principle, by which SMS welcomed all activists opposed to the war regardless of ideology or political philosophy, meant that it was able to avoid much of the internal factionalism which destroyed the other national anti-war coalitions.

Although leadership in the planning and staging of numerous mass actions was its primary purpose, the SMC also strongly supported the rights of anti-war soldiers and high school students, and it introduced the concept of the “anti-war university” to draw attention to the degree to which major universities were supporting the war through their research activities.

A history of the Student Mobilization Committee is contained in Fred Halstead's Out Now: A Participant's Account of the American Movement Against the Vietnam War (1978). Although somewhat biased, Halstead's account details SMC's relationship with other national mobilizations and with the Socialist Workers Party and the Young Socialist Alliance, for which it has been alleged the SMC was a front.

Scope and Content Note

The 1976 register which described the records of the Student Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam then in archival custody suggested that the collection represented the committee's complete files. That is not the case; even with the inclusions of subsequent additions, the collection still contains many significant gaps and omissions. As a result, the collection is generally more useful as a record of committee activities than a source for examining internal operations and policy decisions.

While it is difficult to characterize the collection as a whole, primary documentation (as opposed to mimeographed, photocopied, and other widely distributed material in the collection) chiefly dates from the early years of SMC's existence when its headquarters were located in New York City (1966-1968). Included are national steering committee records, correspondence, activity files, publications, financial records, and photographs. These are not completely exclusive, and the researcher should be prepared to examine files in more than one location for information on a particular topic. For example, files on Student Mobe's participation in Vietnam Week are located in the April 8-15, 1967, Activity Files, while material on participation on local campuses in the same event may be found in the State Correspondence Files.

The collection, except for the photographs, was microfilmed by Primary Source Media (an imprint of Gale and a part of Cengage Learning) in 2008 as part of the series America in Protest: Records of Anti-Vietnam War Organizations. For the microfilming the company assigned new folder numbers from 1 to 201 and it did not use a frame counter. It also prepared a name and subject index to the collection that is keyed to the new microfilm folder numbers. A copy of this guide can be found in the State Historical Society of Wisconsin Library (Pam 09-1362). To facilitate access, the contents list which follows incorporates both the box and folder numbers for the paper collection and the new folder numbers assigned by the microfilm publisher. The new folder numbers are designated with the initials MF (for microfilm folder) at the end of each line in the container list. The following chart converts the new folder numbers to the appropriate reel numbers.

Reel MF (Microfilm Folder) Range
1 1-6
2 7-15
3 16-21
4 22-31
5 32-49
6 50-61
7 62-72
8 73-88
9 89-100
10 101-108
11 109-119
12 120-130
13 131-143
14 144-158
15 159-173
16 174-186
17 187-201

The papers consist of NATIONAL STEERING COMMITTEE RECORDS, CORRESPONDENCE, ACTIVITY FILES, PRESS MATERIAL, FINANCIAL RECORDS, CLIPPINGS, and PHOTOGRAPHS.

NATIONAL STEERING COMMITTEE RECORDS, 1967-1972, consist of meeting announcements, agenda, minutes, and other papers pertaining to the steering committee and also to the continuations, working, and interim working committees. Least represented is the working committee, which met weekly while the national office was headquartered in New York City. Because of their important though fragmentary nature, a complete list of the committee holdings follows:

Continuations Committee 1967 January 28 call, agenda
Working Committee 1967 June 6 minutes
Continuations Committee 1967 November 4 call, minutes
Working Committee 1968 May 8 minutes
Continuations Committee 1969 June 29-30 call, position papers for discussion
Steering Committee 1969 September 28 report
Steering Committee 1969 October 19 call, agenda, registration forms and handwritten minutes
Steering Committee 1969 December 7 agenda, minutes
Interim Working Committee 1969 December 18 minutes
Interim Working Committee 1970 January 8 minutes
Interim Working Committee 1970 January 20 agenda, minutes (typed and handwritten)
Steering Committee 1970 February 14 call
Steering Committee 1970 March 8 call, registration forms
Expanded Emergency Steering Committee 1970 May 3 and 24 call, summary, and other papers regarding disruption by PLP and SAS
Expanded Emergency Steering Committee 1970 October 10 schedule, handwritten notes
Steering Committee 1971 May 15 call, minutes
Steering Committee 1972 March 25 call

CORRESPONDENCE, 1966-1972, is arranged alphabetically by type: form letters sent primarily to local members and supporters, international and state correspondence, correspondence of Kipp Dawson and Syd Stapleton regarding their attempted ouster, and files of the G.I. Press Service. In addition to actual correspondence, some of these sections include related papers of various kinds.

Both the international and state sections are arranged alphabetically. The state correspondence, which is one of the largest and most useful portions of the collections, provides information on local antiwar activities. Some files, such as those for California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, and New York, are quite extensive. Although many of the exchanges are routine, some of the best material on the early days of the student war movement may be found in the California file which contains several interesting letters from Bettina Aptheker. The international files, which contain extensive ex-changes with opponents of U.S. involvement in the war in Australia, Canada, France, Vietnam, and other countries, concern arrangements and reports on international student strikes and greetings for SMC conventions. Correspondence in both of these categories, which was most often signed by Kipp Dawson, Syd Stapleton, Carol Lipman and Linda Morse, tapers off with the removal from New York City.

Also extensive are the files of the G.I. Press Service, an arm of SMC, which served as a news service for underground G.I. newspapers and whose publication of the same name served as the anti-war paper for soldiers on posts where there was no underground paper. Included here are exchanges between individual G.I.s and various underground post newspapers and editors Allen Myers and Bob Wilkinson. Also included is correspondence on early G.I. organizing by SMC staff member Howard Petrick prior to the formation of the press service. Also present in this section of the collection are letters, press releases, mailing lists and miscellany; a nearly complete run of G.I. Press Service has been transferred to the Society Library. Also transferred to the Library was an extensive collection of post newspapers collected by the press service.

ACTIVITY FILES, 1967-1972, concern not only SMC-sponsored activities, but also other demonstrations, marches, and protest activities which SMC sponsored either alone or in conjunction with New and National Mobilization Committees to End the War in Vietnam and the National Peace Action Coalition, Although these files are primarily arranged by the date, some activities (most notably SMC's high school organizing and its exposure of campus complicity in the war effort) did not focus on a particular event and are thus filed alphabetically by subject. This section contains limited correspondence, but there are press releases, flyers, and clippings. For SMC's national anti-war conferences there are also copies of proposals submitted to the delegation for discussion. Unfortunately there are few minutes or copies of proceedings for any of these sessions, Most thoroughly represented are:

  • 1967 April 8-15, Vietnam Week
  • 1968 April 26-27, International student strike
  • 1969 April 5-6, Easter weekend G.I. - civilian marches
  • 1969 July 4-5, National anti-war conference
  • 1970 February 14-15, National student anti-war conference
  • 1970 April 15, Student strike
  • 1970 December 19 and 21, National student anti-war conference
  • 1971 November 3 and 6, Strike and march
  • 1972 February 25 and 27, Student anti-war conference

PRESS MATERIALS, 1967-1973, include press releases, flyers, and mailing lists. Runs of Student Mobilizer, High School Mobilizer, and several other national and local SMC titles were transferred to the Historical Society Library.

FINANCIAL RECORDS, 1967-1971, are quite spotty with the exception of a file of widely distributed fund-raising appeals and a file regarding the activities of Ron Wolin, director of special events. This file, which concerns various cocktail parties, art exhibits and other events held by the New York chapter of SMC, is of interest for the light that it sheds on the phenomenon known as “radical chic.”

CLIPPINGS date 1969-1972. PHOTOGRAPHS include images of meetings, a portrait of an anti-war soldier, posters by the group on walls, and demonstrations in Bloomington, Indiana, and in Tucson, Arizona.

Administrative/Restriction Information
Acquisition Information

Presented by the Committee, Washington, D.C., August 31, 1968 and April 24, 1969. Additions presented by Debbie Bustin, April 25, 1971, and via Church Petrin and Barbara West, February 7, 1978 and March 28, 1978. Accession Number: M68-277, M69-123, M71-146, M78-67, M78-136


Processing Information

Processed by R.A. Gutierrez (archives intern), Joanne Hohler, and Carolyn Mattern, June 16, 1976 and October 1979.


Contents List
Mss 339
Series: National Steering Committee Records
Box   1
Folder   1
Minutes and reports, 1967-1972 (Microfilm Folder (MF) 1)
Note: See Scope and Content Note for reel number.
Registration forms
Box   1
Folder   2
, 1969 October 19 meeting (MF 2)
Box   1
Folder   3
, 1970 March 8 meeting (MF 3)
Series: Correspondence
Box   1
Folder   4
Choice '68, 1968 (MF 4)
Box   1
Folder   5
Dawson/Stapleton exclusion, 1968 (MF 5)
Box   1
Folder   6
Form letters, 1966-1972 (MF 6)
G.I. Press Service
Correspondence
Box   1
Folder   7-9
, 1968-1969 April (MF 7-9)
Box   2
, 1969 May-December (MF 10-16)
Box   3
Folder   1-2
, 1970 (MF 17-19)
Box   3
Folder   3
, 1971 (MF 20)
Box   3
Folder   4
, Undated (MF 21)
Box   3
Folder   5
Press releases, 1969-1971 (MF 22)
Box   3
Folder   6
Mailing lists, undated (MF 23)
Box   3
Folder   7
Meyers/Petrick miscellany, 1967-1970 (MF 24)
International correspondence
Box   3
Folder   8
Africa, 1967-1972 (MF 25)
Box   3
Folder   9
Australia, 1967-1970 (MF 26)
Box   4
Folder   1
Belgium, 1966-1972 (MF 27)
Box   4
Folder   2
Cambodia, 1972-1973 (MF 28)
Box   4
Folder   3-5
Canada, 1967-1972 (MF 29-31)
Box   4
Folder   6
China (Mainland), 1967 (MF 32)
Box   4
Folder   7
Czechoslovakia, 1968 (MF 33)
Box   4
Folder   8
Denmark, 1967-1970 (MF 34)
Box   4
Folder   9
France, 1967-1972 (MF 35)
Box   4
Folder   10
Germany, 1967-1971 (MF 36)
Box   4
Folder   11
Hungary, 1967-1969 (MF 37)
Box   4
Folder   12
India, 1967 (MF 38)
Box   4
Folder   13
Israel, 1967-1970 (MF 39)
Box   4
Folder   14
Italy, 1967-1973 (MF 40)
Box   4
Folder   15
Japan, 1967-1972 (MF 41)
Box   4
Folder   16
Latin America, 1967-1971 (MF 42)
Box   4
Folder   17
Netherlands, 1967-1969 (MF 43)
Box   4
Folder   18
New Zealand, 1968-1972 (MF 44)
Box   4
Folder   19
Norway, 1967-1969 (MF 45)
Box   4A
Folder   1
Sweden, 1967-1972 (MF 46)
Box   4A
Folder   2-3
United Kingdom, 1967-1973 (MF 47-48)
Box   4A
Folder   4-6
Vietnam, 1967-1973 (MF 49-51)
Box   4A
Folder   7
Yugoslavia, 1968 (MF 52)
Box   5
Folder   1
Miscellaneous countries (MF 53)
Box   5
Folder   2
International Tribunal, 1967 (MF 54)
Box   5
Folder   3-3a
Recruiting tours, 1967-1971 (MF 55-56)
State correspondence
Box   5
Folder   4-6
Area reports, 1970 (MF 57-59)
Box   5
Folder   7
Alabama, 1967-1971 (MF 60)
Box   5
Folder   8
Alaska, 1970 (MF 61)
Box   5
Folder   9
Arizona, 1967-1970 (MF 62)
Box   5
Folder   10
Arkansas, 1968-1971 (MF 63)
California
Box   5
Folder   11-13
, 1966-1967 (MF 64-66)
Box   6
Folder   1-4
, 1968-1972 August (MF 67-70)
Box   6
Folder   5
Colorado, 1967-1972 (MF 71)
Box   6
Folder   6
Connecticut, 1967-1971 (MF 72)
Box   6
Folder   7
Delaware, 1967-1971 (MF 73)
Box   6
Folder   8
Florida, 1967-1971 (MF 74)
Box   6
Folder   9
Georgia, 1967-1972 (MF 75)
Box   6
Folder   10
Hawaii, Idaho (MF 76)
Illinois
Box   6
Folder   11-12
, 1966 December-1968 November (MF 77-78)
Box   7
Folder   1-2
, 1969 January-1972 April (MF 79-80)
Box   7
Folder   3
Indiana, 1967-1970 (MF 81)
Box   7
Folder   4
Iowa, 1967-1969 (MF 82)
Box   7
Folder   5
Kansas, 1969 (MF 83)
Box   7
Folder   6
Kentucky, 1967-1971 (MF 84)
Box   7
Folder   7
Louisiana, 1967-1969 (MF 85)
Box   7
Folder   7
Maine, 1967-1969 (MF 85)
Box   7
Folder   8
Maryland, 1967-1972 (MF 86)
Box   7
Folder   9-12
Massachusetts, 1967-1972 (MF 87-90)
Michigan
Box   7
Folder   13-14
, 1966 January-1968 June (MF 91-92)
Box   8
Folder   1-2
, 1968 July-1972 July (MF 93-94)
Box   8
Folder   3-4
Minnesota, 1967-1972 (MF 95-96)
Box   8
Folder   5
Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire (MF 97)
Box   8
Folder   6
New Jersey, 1967-1971 (MF 98)
Box   8
Folder   7
New Mexico, 1967-1968 (MF 99)
New York
Box   8
Folder   8-10
, 1966 December-1968 October (MF 100-102)
Box   9
Folder   1-3
, 1968 November-1973 February (MF 103-105)
Box   9
Folder   4
North Carolina, North Dakota (MF 106)
Box   9
Folder   5-8
Ohio, 1967-1973 (MF 107-110)
Box   9
Folder   9
Oklahoma, 1967-1971 (MF 111)
Box   9
Folder   10
Oregon, 1967-1972 (MF 112)
Pennsylvania
Box   9
Folder   11
, 1967 January-1969 August (MF 113)
Box   10
Folder   1
, 1969 September-1972 June (MF 114)
Box   10
Folder   2
Puerto Rico, 1966-1968 (MF 115)
Box   10
Folder   3
Rhode Island, 1967-1970 (MF 116)
Box   10
Folder   4
South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee (MF 117)
Box   10
Folder   5-6
Texas, 1967-1972 (MF 118-119)
Box   10
Folder   7
Utah, Vermont (MF 120)
Box   10
Folder   8
Virginia, 1967-1971 (MF 121)
Box   10
Folder   9
Washington (State), 1967-1971 (MF 122)
Box   10
Folder   10
Washington, D.C., 1967-1973 (MF 123)
Box   10
Folder   11
West Virginia, 1967-1969 (MF 124)
Wisconsin
Box   10
Folder   12
, 1967 February-1969 February (MF 125)
Box   11
Folder   1
, 1969 March-1971 February (MF 126)
Box   11
Folder   2
Miscellaneous correspondence, 1967-1972 (MF 127)
Series: Activity File
Box   11
Folder   3
Campus complicity, 1970 (MF 128)
Box   11
Folder   4
GE strike support, 1969 (MF 129)
High school organizing
Box   11
Folder   5
Correspondence and general papers, 1967-1972 (MF 130)
Box   11
Folder   6
Legal material, 1968-1972 (MF 131)
Box   11
Folder   7
Flyers, undated (MF 132)
Box   11
Folder   8
Clippings, 1969-1971 (MF 133)
Box   11
Folder   9
House Committee on Internal Security, 1970 (MF 134)
Box   11
Folder   10
, 1966 December 28-30 (MF 135)
Box   11
Folder   11
1967 April 8-15, Vietnam Week (MF 136)
Box   11A
Folder   1
1967 April 8-15, Vietnam Week correspondence (MF 137)
Box   11A
Folder   2
1967 May 13-14, Chicago conference (MF 138)
Box   11A
Folder   3
1967 October 21, “Confront the Warmakers” (MF 139)
Box   11A
Folder   4
1967 December 4-8, Stop the Draft Week (MF 140)
Box   11A
Folder   4
1968 January 27-29, National Antiwar Conference (MF 141)
Box   12
Folder   1-3
1968 April 26-27, International student strike (MF 142-144)
Box   12
Folder   4
1968 August 31-September 1, National conference (MF 145)
Box   12
Folder   5
1968 December 27-29, G.I.-Civilian anti-war conference (MF 146)
Box   12
Folder   6
1969 January 18-20, Counter-inauguration (MF 147)
Box   12
Folder   7
1969 April 5-6, Easter weekend mobilization (MF 148)
Box   12
Folder   8
1969 June, Visit by Japanese radicals (MF 149)
Box   12
Folder   9
1969 July 4-5, National anti-war conference (MF 150)
Box   12
Folder   10
1969 August 9, Hiroshima Day (MF 151)
Box   12
Folder   11
, 1969 Fall offensive (MF 152)
Box   12
Folder   12
1969 October 15, Moratorium (MF 153)
Box   12
Folder   13
1969 October, Radicals' trip to Vietnam (MF 154)
Box   12
Folder   14
1969 November 15, , March on Washington (MF 155)
1970 February 14-15, National Student Anti-war Conference
Box   12
Folder   15
Preliminary material (MF 156)
Box   12
Folder   16
Proposals and convention papers (MF 157)
Box   12
Folder   17
International letters of support (MF 158)
Box   13
Folder   1
Handouts (MF 159)
Box   13
Folder   2-3
1970 April 15, Demonstration (MF 160-161)
Box   13
Folder   4
1970 May 30, Strike (MF 162)
Box   13
Folder   5
1970 June 9, National Emergency Conference (MF 163)
Box   13
Folder   6
1970 August 8, Hiroshima Day (MF 164)
Box   13
Folder   7
1970 August 29, Chicano Moratorium (MF 165)
Box   13
Folder   8
1970 October 20-23, Kent State response (MF 166)
Box   13
Folder   9
1970 October 31, Moratorium (MF 167)
Box   13
Folder   10
1970 December 4-6, National anti-war conference (MF 168)
Box   13
Folder   11-12
1971 February 19-21, National conference (MF 169-170)
Box   13
Folder   13
1971 April 24, March on Washington (MF 171)
Box   13
Folder   14
1971 May 5, “May Days” (MF 172)
Box   13
Folder   15
1971 July 2-4, National anti-war conference (MF 173)
Box   14
Folder   1
1971 November 3 & 6, Strike and march (MF 174)
Box   14
Folder   2
1971 December 3-5, National anti-war conference (MF 175)
Box   14
Folder   3-5
1972 February 25-27, National anti-war conference (MF 176-178)
Box   14
Folder   6
1972 April 22, Demonstrations (MF 179)
Box   14
Folder   7
1972 May 4, Moratorium (MF 180)
Box   14
Folder   8
1972 May 21, March on Washington (MF 181)
Box   14
Folder   9
, 1972 November 14-March 18 (MF 182)
Series: Press Material
Box   14
Folder   10
Leaflets for recruiting, undated (MF 183)
Box   14
Folder   11-12
Press releases, 1967-1973 (MF 184-185)
Box   14
Folder   13
Miscellaneous flyers, undated (MF 186)
Box   14
Folder   14
Literature order forms, undated (MF 187)
Box   14
Folder   15
Mailing lists, undated (MF 188)
Series: Financial Records
Box   14
Folder   16
General, 1968-1970 (MF 189)
Box   15
Folder   1
Fund-raising mailing, 1967-1970 (MF 190)
Box   15
Folder   2
Travel expense forms, 1970 (MF 191)
Box   15
Folder   3
Chicago financial correspondence, 1968-1969 (MF 192)
New York financial correspondence
Box   15
Folder   4
Correspondence, 1967-1970 (MF 193)
Box   15
Folder   5
Advertising copy, 1969 (MF 194)
Box   15
Folder   6
October Breakout, 1967 (MF 195)
Box   15
Folder   7
Art show, 1969 (MF 196)
Box   15
Folder   8
Art auction, 1969 (MF 197)
Box   15
Folder   9
Christmas art sale, 1968 (MF 198)
Box   15
Folder   10
Arts and crafts sale, 1970 (MF 199)
Box   15
Folder   11
Miscellaneous flyers, undated (MF 200)
Box   15
Folder   12
Clippings, 1969-1972 (MF 201)
PH Mss 339
Series: Photographs
Scope and Content Note: Includes images of meetings, a portrait of an anti-war soldier, posters by the group on walls, and demonstrations in Bloomington, Indiana, and in Tucson, Arizona.