Title: Science for the People. Madison Collective: Records
Inclusive Dates: 1968-1974

Creator:

• Science for the People (Organization). Madison Collective (Wis.)

Call Number: Mss 499

Quantity: 1.0 c.f. (3 archives boxes)

Repository:

Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Abstract:

Records of the Madison Collective of Science for the People, an organization (1969-circa 1974) of science graduate students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison formed to educate the public about the misuse of science by business and government. In the collection are organizational records, correspondence, and printed material, but the records reveal relatively little of the history of the group. Some correspondence concerns related interest groups such as Science for Vietnam, Computer People for Peace, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The printed material contains information on the Vietnam War, particularly on the destruction caused through science and technology. Also present are the results of the collective's investigation of the Army Mathematics Research Center on the University of Wisconsin campus, including drafts of the book The AMRC Papers, background and source documents, clippings, and AMRC correspondence.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00499

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Science for the People (SftP), Madison Collective was formed in 1969 at the University of Wisconsin by graduate students in science and technical research. In 1971, SftP moved into an office at the YMCA on Brooks Street in Madison. By 1973 the collective had two full-time paid organizers, Joseph Bowman and Doug Hansen. The collective became inactive sometime after 1974.

As an unincorporated educational and public interest research organization, each individual collective worked to bring useful scientific knowledge to the public via political action. Members were concerned with the ways in which government and business used science and dominated the politics of scientific research. SftP sought to expose this control of science and the subsequent “dehumanization of men and women [in science] by the productive relations of capitalism, its institutionalized forms of violence and destruction, and the myth of scientific neutrality.” Nationally, SftP often coordinated programs with Scientists and Engineers for Social and Political Action (SESPA), which worked to bring the country to a socialist society.

Madison Collective members were not only active in SftP/SESPA, but were also interested in China, Science for Vietnam, and ending the war in South East Asia. The collective's major local activity was protesting the work of the Army Mathematics Research Center (AMRC) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. To support their activities, the members of the collective wrote and published a book, The AMRC Papers, exposing the military nature of the AMRC work and its contribution to the war in South East Asia.

The records consist mainly of printed material and information concerning the scientific, political, and social interests of SftP. They are arranged in two series, Madison Collective Records and AMRC Papers. Although some of the source documents date from the mid-1950s, most of the papers are dated 1968-1974. Since provenance was maintained as far as possible, some correspondence and minutes are scattered throughout the files.

The records of the Madison Collective include organizational and printed material, and correspondence, which detail relatively little of the history of the collective, its beginning or end. Primarily photocopies of the originals, the correspondence discusses the lack of local cohesive organization, the addition of two full-time paid organizers to the collective, and national and regional SftP meetings. There is some national and international correspondence with related interest groups, such as Computer People for Peace (CPP), the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and Science for Vietnam. There are also minutes of meetings, 1972 tax forms claiming tax exemption for the organization as a non-profit educational group, and membership lists.

Some printed material is found in every folder, and details the use and misuse of science by government and business. Subjects include the Vietnamese War and its destructive effects on ecology, the land, and the people; chemical and biological warfare; and numerous newspaper clippings concerning the war. A few papers discuss increased governmental control over people. Also present are copies of articles regarding exploitive capitalist governments, China, and a science teaching program for teachers. There are also SftP propaganda files as well as position papers for SftP, SESPA, Science for Vietnam, and various other groups with whom they had contact. Files are arranged alphabetically by subject.

Contained in the second series are the results of the collective's investigations into the AMRC, including various drafts of the book, The AMRC Papers, background information on the AMRC, its personnel, its publications, the symposia it sponsored on population dynamics and mathematical programming, and related army research activities. There are newspaper clippings concerning demonstrations against the AMRC and the publication of The AMRC Papers. Also included is correspondence from SftP with AMRC, as well as Xeroxed copies of letters from AMRC files discussing the 1963 appointment of Dr. Rosser as head of AMRC, the contract between the University of Wisconsin and the army for the establishment of the AMRC, progress reports to the army, and the 1970 bombing of Sterling Hall.

Many publications of SftP and other printed reference materials have been separated to the Historical Society Library.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Science for the People, via Joseph Bowman, Ashland, Wisconsin, 1976. Accession Number: M76-360

Processing Information

Processed by Menzi Behrnd Klodt and Claire Collier (Intern), September 1979.

	Series: Madison Collective Records
Box   1 Folder   1	General Correspondence, 1972-1974
Box   1 Folder   2	National Correspondence, 1972-1974
Box   1 Folder   3	Background Information-Scientific, 1968-1973
Box   1 Folder   4	Chemical and Biological Warfare, 1969-1972
Box   1 Folder   5	China, 1972
Box   1 Folder   6	Data Bank Surveillance, 1972
Box   1 Folder   7	Financial Records, 1973-1974
Box   1 Folder   8	Internal Education, 1972-1974
Box   1 Folder   9	Internal Papers and Interests, 1971-1974
Box   1 Folder   10	Madison Writings, 1969-1974
Box   1 Folder   11	Miscellaneous Information File, 1972
Box   1 Folder   12	Newspaper Clippings, 1972
Box   1 Folder   13	Propaganda, 1973
Box   2 Folder   1	Science for Vietnam, 1968-1972
Box   2 Folder   2	Science Lesson Plans, 1972
Box   2 Folder   3	Vietnam
	Series: AMRC Papers	⇧
Box   2 Folder   4	Preliminary Manuscript
Box   2 Folder   5	Revised Manuscript
Box   2 Folder   6	Second Revised Manuscript
Box   2 Folder   7	Source Documents, 1957-1973
Box   3 Folder   1	Research Notes, 1965-1974
Box   3 Folder   2	Research File Cards, 1961-1972
Box   3 Folder   3	Project Michigan, 1967, 1972
Box   3 Folder   4	Correspondence from SftP to AMRC, 1969-1973
Box   3 Folder   5	AMRC - Internal Correspondence, 1963-1974
Box   3 Folder   6	Press Coverage - The AMRC Papers, 1973-1974
Box   3 Folder   7	Newspaper Clippings - demonstrations, 1969-1972
Box   3 Folder   8	Miscellaneous Activities, 1972