These papers were created and collected by David Beito, born in Minneapolis on March 8, 1956. As an undergraduate at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis (history degree, 1980), he was a leader of the campus chapter of Students for a Libertarian Society (SLS), an organization espousing individual freedom and limited government. Formed in April 1979 to encourage the involvement of students across the country in the libertarian political movement, SLS was associated with the Libertarian Party. Libertarians were eager to engage the student population in their cause because they considered intellectuals to hold a pivotal role in the building of a successful political movement.
SLS considered its politics to be neither left wing nor right wing. Instead it worked with liberals and radicals on issues such as protesting the draft and with conservatives on issues relating to taxation and government spending. SLS chapters eventually formed on approximately sixty campuses.
The University of Minnesota chapter (SLS-Minn.) formed quickly. In December 1979, Beito, along with John Elmer, applied for formal SLS affiliation for the Minnesota chapter. However, the group had apparently been active before that date. A Minneapolis anti-draft rally held May 1, 1979, was organized by SLS. Anti-draft activism became the group's primary focus through these years (1979-1981). SLS-Minn. shared the same office with two other student anti-draft groups: Minnesotans Against Selective Service (M.A.S.S.) and Northland Resistance Committee (NRC), a Minnesota chapter of the National Resistance Committee. SLS-Minn. also became the first student group member of the Minnesota Committee Against Registration and Draft (MCARD), a coalition organized in the spring of 1979 by the Minnesota Civil Liberties Union (MCLU), the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), and the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC).
In addition to his leadership role in SLS-Minn., Beito apparently was an active member of M.A.S.S., NRC, and MCARD. Other groups with whom Beito or SLS-Minn. had some contact include: Vietnam Veterans Against the War, Veterans National Task Force, Fellowship of Reconciliation (F.O.R.), and Twin Cities Stop the Draft Committee (TCSDC). Other key figures in SLS-Minn. include John Elmer, Todd Olson, Tom Coughlin, and Michael Hardy.
Elmer and Olson were also active in the Young Libertarian Alliance (YLA), another student group associated with the Libertarian Party. YLA had formed at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis at least by July 1978, but it is not clear how YLA was related to SLS.
In January 1981, Beito entered the University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate program in history where he completed his M.A. in December 1982 and his Ph.D. in December 1986. While in Madison, he continued his involvement in SLS and several other issue-oriented political groups. For the years 1981 to 1983, these files reflect a concern for anti-draft activities and various tax
issues, including the privatization of government-owned schools, war tax resistance, and the flat tax. SLS-Madison was active in sponsoring debates, lectures, and rallies. Other prominent members included Dean Wingarten, Chris Martin, Robert Kokott, and Walter Morris.
In 1982, Beito and other libertarians ran for positions in the student government under the guise of the Campus Anarchy Party. In 1982, Beito also campaigned unsuccessfully for a seat in the U.S. Congress from Wisconsin's Second District.
During these years, Beito became more involved in regional and national SLS activities. He served as SLS midwest coordinator from 1980 to 1981 and was chair of the national SLS Student Board from 1981 to 1982. In July 1982 the SLS national convention was held in Madison. National SLS directors during these years include: Jeff Friedman, 1981; Kathleen Jacob-Richman, 1982; and Chris Gunderson, 1983.
In 1984, Madison SLS became heavily involved in opposition to a proposed city ordinance to control pornography. The ordinance was modelled after ordinances introduced earlier in Minneapolis and Indianapolis. Madison's Task Force on Prostitution and Pornography (TOPP) was among the local groups supporting the ordinance; the Committee Against Censorship, of which Beito was a member, was among the local groups opposed to the ordinance. The ordinance was not successful.
