Title: Madison Anti-Apartheid Coalition Records
Inclusive Dates: 1968-1992

Creator:

• Madison Anti-Apartheid Coalition (Wis.)

Call Number: Mss 836; PH Mss 836

Quantity: 1.6 c.f. (3 archives boxes and 3 card boxes), 10 photographs, and 10 transparencies

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, mainly 1970-1973 and 1987-1991, of a student organization at the University of Wisconsin originally formed in 1969 as the Madison Area Committee on Southern Africa (MACSA) to lobby, educate the community about events in South Africa, and provide assistance to liberation movements. In 1985 the committee reorganized as the Madison Anti-Apartheid Coalition. Included are minutes and background information, correspondence, financial records, promotional records, several research publications, photographic copies of posters, and miscellaneous files. There is also documentation on two other local organizations with related interests in South Africa: the Free Namibia Committee and the African Students Union.
The records contain some information on the campaigns which resulted in the divestment of holdings in South African businesses by the University of Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Retirement Investment Trust. The correspondence includes contacts with churches, labor organizations, and national organizations such as the North American Anti-Imperialist Coalition. Promotional records include flyers and handbills, posters, position papers, and information on publication sales.

Note:

There is a restriction on use of this material; see the Administrative/Restriction Information portion of this finding aid for details.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00836

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The precise origins of the Madison Anti-Apartheid Coalition (MAAC), originally formed as the Madison Area Committee on Southern Africa (MACSA), are uncertain. The records suggest that the committee, first known as the ad hoc Committee for Action on Southern Africa, was formed early in 1969 in response to an increasing local awareness of the situation in Southern Africa. This committee, which included University students, African nationals, and several former African missionaries (or the children of missionaries) advocated forming a permanent organization. As a result of community interest the committee called an organizational meeting for March 22, 1969--one day after the ninth anniversary of the Sharpeville Massacre. Although no constitution or by-laws exist in the collection, the newly-formed group took as its purpose publicizing the conditions in southern Africa, developing political pressure, and carrying on research and fundraising.

By October 1969 MACSA had a membership of about forty organized into six committees (Executive Committee, Committee for the University, Committee for Religious Groups, Committee for Public Information, Committee for Schools, and Committee for Research). The first office was located at the University YMCA at 306 N. Brooks Street, but although University students and faculty comprised a major portion of its support, MACSA also included representatives from the community at large. In November, 1969 MACSA published the first issue of a newsletter that was to become its major vehicle for publicizing activities and providing information about the situation in Africa. During the early 1970s MACSA also sponsored guest speakers such as Prexy Nesbitt and Sharfudine Khan, publicized various liberation movements, picketed, supported boycotts of South African products or companies that did business in South Africa, and raised funds for African liberation movements. They also researched and published three pamphlets: Wisconsin Corporate Involvement In Southern Africa, Israel and Southern Africa, and Is Southern Africa Wisconsin's Business?

In August 1972, MACSA moved from the University YMCA to Pres House, and in an effort to improve its financial situation, the newsletter was changed to a subscription publication. In 1975 MACSA News was distributed to a list of over 400 names. During its first years MACSA efforts focused on five countries in southern Africa: the Republic of South Africa, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Angola, and Namibia, but as the African colonies of Portugal gained independence, MACSA concentrated its efforts on South Africa.

The years 1974 and 1975 saw a decline in activity and membership, and, as a result, in September 1975 MACSA restructured itself to provide a newly-established executive committee (the convener, the recorder, and the six committee chairs) with enhanced responsibility to oversee operations and formulate policy. At this time the organization had an active membership of about twenty-five.

Following the Soweto Massacre in 1976, increased national publicity about apartheid and the leadership of Convener Ron Lord (1977-1978) contributed to a second period of MACSA vitality. During this period MACSA petition drives and lobbying contributed to the University of Wisconsin's decision to divest its investments in South African corporations. Although the countries surrounding South Africa (Namibia, Angola, Zimbabwe) were still areas of MACSA concern, their main focus in the late 1970s centered on the apartheid system in South Africa. By 1979, however, MACSA had again declined to the point that it no longer functioned on a regular basis.

In 1985 renewed national interest in South Africa and apartheid prompted the formation of a new organization in Madison, the Citizen's Anti-Apartheid Coalition, that included some of the remaining elements of MACSA. Only loosely organized at first, CAAC lobbied for the passage of Assembly Bill 54 and called on the Wisconsin Retirement Investment Trust to divest itself of interest in all companies doing business in South Africa. This committee reorganized as the Madison Anti-Apartheid Coalition (MAAC). The precise relationship of MACSA to this new organization is uncertain. Some documents in the collection describe MAAC as a University student group while MACSA had united a broader community membership. Other materials, however, suggest that MAAC believed itself to be MACSA's successor. (The fact that MACSA records were in the custody of Duncan Chaplin, a MAAC officer, when they were turned over to SHSW, suggests they were correct in this belief.)

MAAC supported the fight against apartheid in South Africa, as well as working with the Mozambique Support Network and the National Namibia Concerns Committee. In 1988 membership stood at twenty full-time members (plus one hundred semi-active members). In October of that year, MAAC published the first (and apparently only) issue of a new newsletter, Madison Anti-Apartheid Coalition. MAAC continued its involvement in activities similar to those supported by MACSA including lobbying for divestment, sponsoring speakers, rallies and benefits. In 1991, membership had decreased to ten full-time members.

The records of the Madison Anti-Apartheid Coalition (MAAC) are divided into five series: ADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS, CORRESPONDENCE, FINANCIAL RECORDS, PROMOTIONAL RECORDS, and MISCELLANEOUS RECORDS.

The records span the years 1968-1992, but are most complete for the periods 1969-1973, 1977-1978, and 1987-1991, and thus document both MAAC as well as the Madison Area Committee for Southern Africa. Documentation about both organizations is incomplete, although the records provide information about the general nature of the two groups' activities and their involvement with similar organizations around the country, the composition of their membership, and the ideas they espoused. The most complete documentation of MACSA history may be found in the MACSA Newsletter which is available on microfilm in the Historical Society Library. Even this source is disappointing, however, for it provides less coverage of internal MACSA activities than of events in Africa.

The ADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS consist of background records, minutes, and membership lists. The background records, 1969-1986, contain some information relating to the origins and history of the Madison Area Committee on Southern Africa (MACSA) and a few items pertaining to MAAC. Included is the form letter inviting interested individuals to the original organizational meeting on March 22, 1969, some information on the people who attended, handwritten and mimeographed statements of purpose dating from various periods in the organization's history, and an undated orientation manual which explained routine office operations. The volunteer manual is extremely useful, as it contains information on MACSA's relations with many similar local organizations. Also of note are materials outlining a free university class “Southern Africa: Oppression and Liberation,” which proved to be a major tool for educating people about the situation in Southern Africa. There is no constitution or by-laws for either organization.

The meeting minutes date from the periods 1969-1978 and 1987-1991. The MACSA minutes provide some details about specific activities, but they are often handwritten, sketchy, and undated. The MAAC minutes are even more fragmentary, not even providing coverage of the group's formation. One of the best documented activities within the MACSA minutes are the detailed reports on outreach to local labor unions which appears to have been a strong focus in 1972. The membership lists detail the composition of the organization at various times in its existence, as well as documenting its committee structure.

The CORRESPONDENCE includes general mail, as well as sorted files arranged alphabetically by subject or function: fundraising mail; correspondence about speakers; correspondence concerning medical assistance for Mozambique; correspondence of conveners Ron Lord and Bill and Ruth Minter; correspondence with prisoners; and correspondence concerning film rentals, literature purchases, and literature sales. The chronologically arranged general correspondence gives a good indication of the issues with which MACSA and MAAC were involved throughout their history and some of the local and national groups with which they worked. This file is most complete for the periods 1970-1973, 1977-1978, and 1988-1989 and least complete for the period 1980-1984 during which the organization barely functioned. Specific items of interest include letters from Congressman Robert Kastenmeier and Senator Gaylord Nelson expressing concern for the situation in Rhodesia and exchanges with various church groups concerned with circumstances in Namibia and with various national organizations such as the American Committee on Africa (ACOA). Other correspondence involves unions in the United States and items concerned with pressuring the University of Wisconsin-Madison to divest its holdings of securities and stocks in South Africa. In the later correspondence there are exchanges with former MACSA members who moved to Africa. Some exchanges with the International Campaign Against Racism in Sport protested a tennis match played by the South African Davis Cup Team in Tennessee. Another small group of correspondence concerns the introduction of legislation regulating Wisconsin investments in South Africa. The latest general correspondence is mainly concerned with the issue of apartheid: the passage of the Anti-Apartheid Amendment of 1988, Mobil and Shell Oil corporate activity in South Africa, and a visit to the University of Wisconsin by Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Also present is correspondence from Congressman Kastenmeier concerning the United Nations resolution that placed Namibia under U.N. control. Another noteworthy item is a letter from the African National Congress (ANC) thanking MAAC for their donation.

The nature of the functionally-arranged correspondence is largely self-evident. The fundraising correspondence is primarily mail from individuals and organizations (chiefly church groups) who donated money to MACSA. There is also a large quantity of routine exchanges concerning speakers, rental of films, and purchase of literature for distribution by MACSA - all of which were important MACSA functions, as well as copies of applications for events for which MAAC sought grant funding. The correspondence regarding medical assistance to Mozambique, 1970-1972, is an example of one specific fundraising campaign in which MACSA was involved with minimal success. Of greater interest is the correspondence of Ron Lord, who was the convener from 1977 to 1979, and Bill and Ruth Minter, two of the founding members, who served, respectively, as convener and secretary. Their correspondence gives a good representation of the scope of operation and function in the early years of MACSA. In 1973 they left MACSA to live in Africa. Of special interest is a 1970 letter to Ruth Minter from the Israeli consulate in Chicago reacting to a perceived anti-Semitic element in the controversial MACSA pamphlet Israel and Southern Africa.

The FINANCIAL RECORDS are quite incomplete, consisting of financial statements, a petty cash ledger, and an apparent check register. Some additional financial statements may be found in the newsletter.

The PROMOTIONAL RECORDS, which include press releases, flyers, handmade posters (color and black and white photographic copies available in Visual Materials Archive), research publications, and position papers provide good documentation of a major MACSA function. (Parade banners received with the collection were transferred to the SHSW Museum.) Especially revealing are the flyers and handbills which document the speakers who appeared in Madison and the films shown under MACSA sponsorship. The MACSA Newsletter, also an important source concerning that organization's promotional activities, is available on microfilm in the SHSW Library, although the records in the Archives contain some supplementary production material.

Also relating to MACSA's informational function is a card file (1971 to 1977, but especially complete for 1971 to 1973) containing the names of newsletter subscribers and detailed information on publication sales. (Similar information on the publications the group distributed can be found in the newsletter, although neither source should be considered complete.) The previously mentioned Israeli pamphlet, which is also available in the SHSW Library, is documented here by a draft and a critique by Bill Minter. Also present are copies of two short-lived MAAC publications: a newsletter and a news digest.

The small file of position papers include official statements of MACSA and MAAC views. Because many of these items are unidentified it is possible that some of these statements represent the opinions of other organizations. The position papers about Mozambique include a research report, published in 1989 by William Minter, entitled The Mozambican National Resistance (RENAMO) as Described by Ex-Participants. The statements concerning divestment include a defense from the Citizens Anti-Apartheid Coalition of their peaceful occupation of the Wisconsin State Capitol in 1985 and a call for the passage of Assembly Bill 54, the Wisconsin Retirement Investment Trust divestment bill. Circulation of petitions, which was an important public function for both MACSA and MAAC, is documented by a weeded sample of the petitions found in the collection including one submitted to the UW Board of Regents and another addressed to Governor Anthony Earl in 1985. Also included is a 1991 petition to the Regents opposing effort to reverse the University's divestment policy.

The MISCELLANEOUS RECORDS include papers of the African Student Union, the Madison Free Namibia Committee, and some information concerning the meetings of national organizations to which MACSA belonged such as the North American Anti-Imperialist Coalition, the National Coalition for the Liberation of Southern Africa, and the Washington Office on Africa that took place in Madison during the 1970s.

The papers of the African Student Union, 1982-1987, relate to a university student group that shared many of the same goals and programs as MAAC. It is thought that this file belonged to Lothaire Niyonkuru, an ASU officer who was also a member of MAAC. The file includes a constitution, handwritten minutes, annual reports, correspondence, and promotional material. Of special interest is a letter from ASU to Wisconsin Governor Lee Dreyfus (1982) concerning violence toward African students in the University of Wisconsin System and a letter to UW Chancellor Irving Shain protesting recruitment of a professor from South Africa by the UW Geography department.

The papers of the Free Namibia Committee, a community-based organization with a strong religious base with which MAAC cooperated, include minutes and a statement of purpose.

Use Restrictions

Copyright is held by the Wisconsin Historical Society.

Acquisition Information

Presented by the Coalition via Duncan Chaplin, Madison, Wisconsin, and Sue Larson, Sun Prairie, Wis., 1992-1993. Accession Number: M92-205, M93-069

Processing Information

Processed by John Cherney (Intern), 1993.

Mss 836	Series: Administrative Records
Box   1 Folder   1	Creation and background records, 1969-1986
	Minutes
Box   1 Folder   2	1969-1978
Box   1 Folder   3	1987-1991
Box   1 Folder   4	Miscellany
Box   1 Folder   5	Membership and officer lists, 1969-1991
	Series: Correspondence	⇧
Box   1 Folder   6-8	General correspondence, 1968-1991
Box   1 Folder   9	Convener correspondence (Ron Lord), 1977-1979
Box   1 Folder   10	Film rentals, 1970-1973
Box   1 Folder   11-12	Fundraising, 1970-1987
Box   2 Folder   1	Literature purchases, 1970-1973
Box   2 Folder   2-3	Literature sales, 1970-1978
Box   2 Folder   4	Medical assistance for Mozambique, 1970-1972
Box   2 Folder   5	Minter, Bill and Ruth, 1970-1978
Box   2 Folder   6	Prisoners, 1972-1973
Box   2 Folder   6A	Research publications, circa 1970-1971
Box   2 Folder   7	Speakers and speaking engagements, 1970-1973, 1977-1978, 1989-1991
	Series: Promotional Records	⇧
Box   2 Folder   8	Brochures re MACSA, undated
Box   2 Folder   9	Clippings, 1991-1992
Box   2 Folder   10	MAAC Digest, Vol. 1, No. 1
Box   2 Folder   11	Flyers and handbills, 1970-1990
Box   4-6	Index cards
Box   2 Folder   12	Israeli pamphlet draft
Box   2 Folder   13	MAAC Newsletter, Vol. 1, No. 1
Box   2 Folder   14	MACSA Newsletter, Miscellany and unfilmed issues
Box   3 Folder   1	Petition samples
	Position papers
Box   3 Folder   7	Corporate involvement
Box   3 Folder   8	Divestment
Box   3 Folder   9	Mozambique
Box   3 Folder   10	Namibia
Box   3 Folder   11	Portuguese colonization
Box   3 Folder   12	Sharpeville
Box   3 Folder   13	South Africa
Box   3 Folder   14	U.S. relations
Box   3 Folder   15	Zimbabwe
Box   3 Folder   15A	Poster transcripts
PH Mss 836	Color and black and white prints and transparencies of posters
Mss 836 Box   3 Folder   2	Press releases, 1970-1990
Box   3 Folder   3	Unidentified manuscript, undated
	Series: Financial Records	⇧
Box   3 Folder   4	Check registers, 86-168, 318-400
Box   3 Folder   5	Financial statements and miscellany, 1969-1973, 1988-1991
Box   3 Folder   6	Petty cash, 1973-1974
	Series: Miscellaneous Records	⇧
	African Students Union
Box   3 Folder   16	Constitution, undated
Box   3 Folder   17	Annual reports, 1984-1985
Box   3 Folder   18	Correspondence, 1982-1987
Box   3 Folder   19	Minutes, undated
Box   3 Folder   20	Miscellany and handbills
Box   3 Folder   21	Coalition for the Liberation of Southern Africa, 1976-1977
Box   3 Folder   22	Edgewood liberation workshop, 1973
Box   3 Folder   23	Free Namibia Committee, 1988
Box   3 Folder   24	Mozambique Support Network, 1987
Box   3 Folder   25	North America Anti-Imperialist Coalition, 1972-1973
Box   3 Folder   25	Washington Office on Africa, 1975