Title: Michael Lipsky and David J. Olson Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1935-1981 (bulk 1963-1981)

Creators:

• Lipsky, Michael
• Olson, David J.

Call Number: Mss 851; M96-024; Audio 1669A

Quantity: 4.6 c.f. (13 archives boxes) and 3 tape recordings; plus additions of 4.4 c.f.

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:

Papers, mainly 1963-1981, of Michael Lipsky and David J. Olson, two political scientists concerning their collaborative research on the urban race riots of the 1960s and Lipsky's separate research on rent strikes in New York City and materials documenting his involvement in the civil rights movement. The collection includes biographical information, editorial correspondence, exchanges with professional colleagues, research files, writings, and records documenting Lipsky’s work as special assistant to the chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, as a consultant to Upward Bound and Action, and as a Freedom Summer volunteer in 1964.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00851

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Political scientist and social welfare and civil rights activist Michael Lipsky, was born in New York City on April 13, 1940. He attended Oberlin College, receiving a B.A. in 1961, and Princeton University from which he received an M.P.A. and an M.A. in 1964 and a Ph.D. in 1967. While at Princeton, Lipsky became involved in student activism and the civil rights movement. In 1963 he traveled to Jackson, Mississippi, to help publish the Mississippi Free Press, a civil rights movement-oriented newspaper. On his return he volunteered to be adult advisor to the Princeton student organization Friends of SNCC (Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee). In 1964 he was a volunteer at the freedom school in Holly Springs, Mississippi, where he worked in voter registration and citizen education. During 1965-1966 Lipsky was a Brookings Institute research fellow, and in 1966 he became a consultant for Education Associates, Inc., a firm that served in turn as consultants to the Office of Economic Opportunity for the Upward Bound program.

Lipsky's activism both at Princeton and in the South led to a research interest in the struggle of the disadvantaged, especially African-Americans in northern cities, and his dissertation was entitled “Rent Strikes in New York City: Protest Politics and the Power of the Poor.” Prior to the completion of his dissertation (1967), Lipsky was hired as an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He taught in this capacity from 1966 to 1969. While at the University he was also a staff associate of the Institute for Research on Poverty and he served as special assistant to the chancellor for the University's equal opportunity program. In this capacity Lipsky was primarily responsible for developing a program to increase minority enrollment.

During his years at Wisconsin, Lipsky began a research collaboration with graduate student David J. Olson which continued even after Olson graduated in 1971. This collaboration concerned the political responses of state and national officials to the urban race riots of 1967 and 1968. Part of this research became the basis of Olson's dissertation, “Racial Violence and City Politics: the Political Response to Civil Disorders in Three American Cities.” It also became a 1977 book written jointly by Lipsky and Olson, Commission Politics: The Processing of Racial Crisis in America.

Michael Lipsky joined the faculty at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1969, and taught there until 1991, when he became associated with the Peace and Social Justice Program of the Ford Foundation in New York City.

After graduation from the University of Wisconsin, David J. Olson went on to teach Political Science at Indiana University and later at the University of Washington.

This collection was received in multiple parts from the donor(s) and is organized into 2 major parts. These materials have not been physically interfiled and researchers might need to consult more than one part to locate similar materials.

• Part 1 (Mss 851, Audio 1669A): Original Collection, 1935-1981
• Part 2 (M96-024): Additions, 1963-1971

The Wisconsin Historical Society has one of the richest collections of Civil Rights movement records in the nation, which includes more than 100 manuscript collections documenting the Mississippi Freedom Summer Project of 1964. More than 25,000 pages from the Freedom Summer manuscripts are available online as the Freedom Summer Digital Collection.

Use Restrictions

David J. Olson has retained his copyright to this collection until January 1, 2025.

Acquisition Information

Original Collection presented by Michael Lipsky, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1991, and David J. Olson, Seattle, Washington, 1992; Additions presented by Michael Lipsky, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Accession Number: M91-156, M92-258, M96-024

Processing Information

Original Collection processed by Amy J. Derosier (archives intern) and Carolyn J. Mattern, 1995.

Mss 851	Part 1 (Mss 851, Audio 1669A): Original Collection, 1935-1981 Physical Description: 4.6 c.f. (13 archives boxes) and 3 tape recordings  Scope and Content Note This collection consists of material separately donated by Lipsky and Olson which was combined in the Archives. The merged collection documents their joint research, research carried on by Lipsky alone, the non-teaching aspects of Lipsky's career, and the written products of their research. The papers are organized as BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL, CORRESPONDENCE, RESEARCH MATERIAL, LIPSKY CAREER FILES, and WRITINGS. Vitas, press releases, and dust jacket text comprise the initial folder of BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL. The CORRESPONDENCE series consists of one folder of correspondence exchanged between Lipsky and Olson; one folder of correspondence exchanged with Transaction Press, which published much of their research; and one folder of correspondence with others. The RESEARCH MATERIAL is subdivided into three alphabetical subject files: the first pertains to Lipsky's interest in the civil rights movement of the 1960s, the second pertains to the New York City rent strike research he carried out for his doctoral dissertation, and the third pertains to Lipsky and Olson's joint interest in the various commissions established to examine the sources of the race riots of the 1960s. The civil rights subject files contain virtually no material pertaining to Lipsky's own activities in Mississippi during the summer of 1964, although the Holly Springs folder does contain letters he received in response to a fundraising appeal he sent to Northern friends in behalf of that community. Also included are several mimeographed form letters he received from Sid Walker and other volunteers who continued to work in Holly Springs through 1966. Several other folders (i.e. New York Ad Hoc Committee in Support of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party and the Princeton Freedom Center) suggest Lipsky's civil rights interests in the North, but only a few items document his personal activities. Most important of these is the file on the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights for which Lipsky served as the representative of the Northern Student Movement (NSM). This folder, which chiefly consists of mimeographed memoranda for Washington representatives, includes a confidential memo from Thomas A. Frank about a January 29, 1965 meeting which discussed the possible membership of NSM and an undated draft memoranda prepared by Lipsky about LCCR's response to the murders of Mrs. Viola Liuzzo and Jonathan Daniels. The remainder of the series, and in particular the general SNCC file, consists of material collected by Lipsky. The SNCC file includes mimeographed minutes, memoranda, press material, reports and a handwritten letter (May 24, 1965) from Stokely Carmichael to Lucia Hatch about the differing protest philosophies of SNCC and SCLC. This and several other items in this file were originally in Hatch's possession, and according to Mr. Lipsky were shared with him by Ms. Hatch shortly after they were written. Lipsky's rent strike research includes several folders of building data that is only summarized in his dissertation. This research investigated the relationship between building conditions, legal actions, and rent strikes. Several additional folders contain memoranda and data pertaining to the city agencies responsible for housing. Most important among the rent strike materials, however, are Lipsky's files on the grassroots organizations which sprang up at the time such as Chelsea Save Our Homes and Businesses Committee, the Community Council on Housing, and the Harlem Action Group. This material is not cited in Lipsky's bibliography, although it is quite useful because of the transitory nature of these groups. Typically, these folders contain handbills, notes, and clippings. Important original research is also represented by the typed notes about interviews Lipsky conducted with numerous city officials and with a few rent strike supporters. The notes on Jesse Gray, leader of the Harlem strike, however, do not reflect research interviews but rather the content of remarks Gray made in various public settings. The riot commission research is arranged alphabetically into categories on the four commissions that were most extensively studied. Generally, each commission is represented by notes, miscellaneous official documents, clippings, and most importantly, by typed reports about the interviews conducted with various commission members and staff. The Mayor's Development Team in Detroit, the Kerner Commission, and the New Jersey riot commission are well represented in this way, but the Milwaukee riot is represented only by a single interview. Also in the Milwaukee file are typed notes about two 1967 press conferences conducted by Milwaukee Mayor Henry Maier; the actual tape recordings of these conferences have been assigned call number Audio 1669A. Most prominent among the interviewees are discussions with Robert Meyner (an interview characterized by Olson, however, as disappointing) and a transcription of a broadcast interview with Richard J. Hughes. The LIPSKY CAREER FILES contain administrative files Lipsky created as special assistant to the chancellor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and as a consultant for Upward Bound, 1965-1968, and Action, 1977-1978. The alphabetically-arranged university files document Lipsky's special responsibility for increasing minority enrollment, and the file appears to be his official office records. While many folders contain convenience copies of the documents to and from other university faculty and staff that are not unique, a few items reflect Lipsky's special role. Most useful are the files on the evolution of the Black Studies curriculum (see the Ad Hoc Committee on Studies and Instruction on Race Relations and the Special Scholarship Advisory Committee, which operated under various titles and was sometimes known as the Doyle Committee.) These files include several memos drafted by Lipsky on a strategy for attracting 500 minority students to the University as well as a budget memo he prepared on the new curriculum. Also interesting is a confidential memo on the situation of Black athletes at the University that was prepared by James W. Cleary and a memo on the hiring of additional Black faculty. The Upward Bound files are Lipsky's working files as a consultant hired by the Institute for Services to Education which in turn served as consultant to OEO for the Upward Bound program. The files include reports on educational facilities and programs around the United States, correspondence, press releases, guidelines, reports, expense reports, national meeting minutes and papers, and notes. Most useful are the site evaluations Lipsky prepared for UB programs at UW-Eau Claire, UW-Milwaukee, UW-Whitewater, and at other colleges and universities, as well as the evaluations he drafted about potential program sites in Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Texas. Several of the operating programs are also represented by newsletters and curricular materials. The ACTION files represent several distinct functions that Lipsky fulfilled for that agency. In general, the files include policy papers, reports, finance and travel reports, correspondence with the White House and other ACTION officials, statements, memoranda, and proposals. The earliest files relate to work for the Evaluation Division and include memos, examples of material reviewed, notes, travel vouchers, and a copy of Lipsky's preliminary report (July 25, 1977). Several memos concern related evaluation work for OEO. A second phase of Lipsky's work for ACTION concerns the development of President Jimmy Carter's National Urban Policy. Lipsky's role in this began at an October 1977 conference for which he prepared one of the keynote addresses. A copy of this and related papers, together with reviewers' comments are included in this collection. Also included are several later program papers prepared by or reviewed by Lipsky.
Box   1 Folder   1	Series: Biographical Material
	Series: Correspondence	⇧
Box   1 Folder   2	Lipsky and Olson, 1969-1981
Box   1 Folder   3	Other academicians, 1968-1976
Box   1 Folder   4	Transactions, 1969-1976
	Series: Research Files	⇧
	Civil rights
Box   1 Folder   5	Holly Springs, 1964-1966 Alternate Format: All or part has been digitized and is available online.
Box   1 Folder   6	Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, 1965-1966
Box   1 Folder   7	New York City offices of SNCC (Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee) and Ad Hoc Committee in Support of MFDP, 1965, undated
Box   1 Folder   8	Princeton SNCC and Freedom Center, 1963-1965, undated
Box   1 Folder   9	Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, 1964-1965
Box   1 Folder   10	University of North Carolina, Conference on Negro Politics, Notes, 1964
	Housing and New York City rent strikes
Box   1 Folder   11	Building data sheets
Box   2 Folder   1-2	Building data sheets (continued)
Box   2 Folder   3	Citizens Housing and Planning Council, 1963, 1965
Box   2 Folder   4	Chelsea Save Our Homes and Businesses Committee, 1964
Box   2 Folder   5	Committee on Housing and Urban Development, 1965
Box   2 Folder   6	Community Council on Housing, 1964
Box   2 Folder   7	Court cases, 1964
Box   2 Folder   8	1199 rent strike, undated
Box   2 Folder   9	Gray, Jesse, Articles, undated
Box   2 Folder   10	Harlem, Report on conditions, 1935
Box   2 Folder   11	Harlem Action Group, 1964-1965
Box   2 Folder   12	History of the housing problem, 1964-1965
Box   2 Folder   13	Interviews on rent strikes, 1964-1965
Box   2 Folder   14	“Key” summary sheets, 1964-1965
Box   2 Folder   15	LeBlanc, Nancy, 1964-1965
Box   3 Folder   1	Metropolitan Council on Housing, 1962-1966
Box   3 Folder   2	Miscellaneous literature, 1962-1966
	New York City
Box   3 Folder   3	Department of Buildings, 1963-1964
Box   3 Folder   4	Department of Health, 1964-1965
Box   3 Folder   5	Public health laws, 1963-1965
Box   3 Folder   6	Department of Real Estate, undated
Box   3 Folder   7	Rent and Rehabilitation Administration, 1964-1965
Box   3 Folder   8	Northern Student Movement, 1963-1964
Box   3 Folder   9-13	Notes and revisions
Box   3 Folder   14	Receivership law, undated
Box   3 Folder   15	Rent Strike Coordinating Committee, 1963
Box   3 Folder   16	SDS strike literature, undated
Box   3 Folder   17	Tenant affidavits, 1964
Box   3 Folder   18	Worksheets and notes
	Riot commission research
	Detroit
Box   3 Folder   19	General
Box   4 Folder   1	Interviews
	Kerner Commission interviews
Box   4 Folder   2	General
Box   4 Folder   3	Mattick, Hans
	Milwaukee
Box   4 Folder   4	Research
Box   4 Folder   5	Interview and tape recording notes
1669A/1-3	Tape recordings of two press conferences conducted by Milwaukee Mayor Henry Maier, 1967
Mss 851	Newark and New Jersey
Box   4 Folder   6	Interviews
Box   4 Folder   7-8	Research
	Series: Lipsky Career Files	⇧
Box   9 Folder   2	Subseries: North Carolina Fund, 1966-1967
	Subseries: University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1968-1969	⇧
Box   4 Folder   9	Admission
Box   4 Folder   10	Afro-American Center
Box   4 Folder   11	Athletes, Black
Box   4 Folder   12	Black faculty
Box   4 Folder   13	Black students
Box   4 Folder   14	Black Studies curriculum
Box   5 Folder   1	Black Studies curriculum (continued)
Box   5 Folder   2	Business School
Box   5 Folder   3	CCHE “Increasing Human Potential Through Educational Change” Conference
Box   5 Folder   4	Central Administration
Box   5 Folder   5	Chancellor's office
Box   5 Folder   6	Chronological file of outgoing letters, 1968-1969
Box   5 Folder   7	Committee on Institutional Cooperation
Box   5 Folder   8	Community Action Commission
Box   5 Folder   9	Curriculum, General
Box   5 Folder   10	Disadvantaged, Programs for
Box   5 Folder   11	Education, School of
Box   5 Folder   12	Educational Opportunities Committee
Box   5 Folder   13	Equal Opportunities programs
Box   5 Folder   14	Financial Aid Committee
Box   5 Folder   15	General financing
Box   5 Folder   16	Graduate School
Box   5 Folder   17	Institute for Services to Education
Box   5 Folder   18	Journalism School
Box   5 Folder   19	King Scholarship Fund
Box   5 Folder   20	Law School
Box   5 Folder   21	Medical School
Box   5 Folder   22	Miscellany
Box   6 Folder   1	Nursing School
Box   6 Folder   2	Proctor Report
Box   6 Folder   3	Project Teach
Box   6 Folder   4	Scholarships, Special Committee on (Ruth Doyle committee)
Box   6 Folder   5	Strowig, Wray
Box   6 Folder   6	Summer School
Box   6 Folder   7	Teaching, General
Box   6 Folder   8	Unsorted, “Take to Chancellor's Office” file
	Subseries: Upward Bound	⇧
Box   6 Folder   9-11	Consultant's general files, 1965-1968, undated
Box   6 Folder   12	Notes
	Site evaluations
Box   6 Folder   13	Groton
Box   6 Folder   14	Indiana
Box   6 Folder   15	Marist College
Box   6 Folder   16	Minnesota
Box   6 Folder   17	Mississippi
Box   7 Folder   1	Northwestern University
Box   7 Folder   2	Oklahoma
Box   7 Folder   3	Providence College
Box   7 Folder   4	Texas
Box   7 Folder   5	University of North Carolina
Box   7 Folder   6	UW-Eau Claire
Box   7 Folder   7	UW-Milwaukee
Box   7 Folder   8	UW-Whitewater
Box   7 Folder   9	Wayne State University
Box   7 Folder   10	Western Reserve University
	Subseries: ACTION	⇧
Box   7 Folder   11-12	Files on evaluation and notes, 1977
Box   7 Folder   13	Files on national urban policy
Box   7 Folder   13	General file, 1977-1978
Box   7 Folder   14	“Towards a National Urban Policy” conference, October 1977
Box   8 Folder   1-2	National urban policy material
	Series: Writings	⇧
	Rent strike dissertation
Box   8 Folder   3	Correspondence, 1965
Box   8 Folder   4	Early perspectives and outline, 1964-1965
Box   8 Folder   5-9	Draft version of chapters 1-4, 7
Box   9 Folder   1	Dissertation: “Rent Strikes in New York City: Protest Politics and the Power of the Poor”
Box   10 Folder   1-2	German tenant law article: Correspondence, notes, and drafts, 1967-1968
	Kerner Commission book
Box   10 Folder   3-4	Chapter 1 drafts
Box   10 Folder   5-6	Chapter 2 drafts
Box   10 Folder   7	Chapter 3 draft
Box   10 Folder   8-9	Chapter 4 (?) drafts
Box   10 Folder   10	Chapter 5 draft
Box   10 Folder   11	Chapter 6 draft
Box   10 Folder   12	Revision notes
Box   11 Folder   1	Dust jacket copy
Box   11 Folder   2	Transactions article, 1969
Box   11 Folder   3	Outlines and revisions
Box   11 Folder   4	Bibliographies
Box   11 Folder   5	Reviews
	Street Level Bureaucracy book
Box   11 Folder   6	Correspondence, 1978
Box   11 Folder   7	Conference paper, 1977
Box   12 Folder   1-5	First draft
Box   12 Folder   6	Second draft fragment
	Towards a theory of street level bureaucracy, 1969
Box   13 Folder   1	Original draft
Box   13 Folder   2	Working draft and comments
Box   13 Folder   3	Miscellaneous writings, 1969, 1977
Box   13 Folder   4	Miscellaneous notes
M96-024	Part 2 (M96-024): Additions, 1963-1971 Physical Description: 4.4 c.f. (4 record center cartons and 1 archives box)  Scope and Content Note: Additions, 1963-1971, to Lipsky and Olson papers documenting Lipsky's involvement in the civil rights movement as a member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and the Princeton Association for Human Rights, his research on the New York City rent strike, 1963-1964; and his research for the book Street Level Bureaucracy, which include many files relating to the Kerner Commission. Materials include print and near-print publications, pamphlets, conference papers, clippings, minutes of meetings, notes, unpublished papers, and proceedings of a 1971 Brown University symposium on Presidential Commissions and Social Change.	⇧
	Civil Rights Movement, 1963-1966
Box   1 Folder   1	Holly Springs, Mississippi Alternate Format: All or part has been digitized and is available online.
Box   1 Folder   2	Mississippi, miscellaneous
Box   1 Folder   3	Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party
Box   1 Folder   4	Pamphlets and articles, Mississippi Alternate Format: All or part has been digitized and is available online.
Box   1 Folder   5	Pamphlets and maps, Mississippi
Box   1 Folder   6-8	Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), Mississippi, New Jersey Alternate Format: All or part has been digitized and is available online: Folder 6, Folder 7 and Folder 8.
Box   1 Folder   9	Princeton Association for Human Rights (Newsletters, bylaws, etc.)
Box   1 Folder   10	Americus, Georgia (correspondence with Rep. William Ryan), 1963
Box   1 Folder   11	Northern Student Movement, 1963-1964
Box   1 Folder   12	Noel A. Day campaign, 1964 Alternate Format: All or part has been digitized and is available online.
Box   1 Folder   13	Civil Rights programs and archives
	Miscellaneous
Box   1 Folder   14	“The Hippies as a Force for Change: Some Speculations and Provocations”, by Daniel Schechter, 1966
Box   1 Folder   15	University of Wisconsin, faculty affairs
	New York City Rent Strike, 1963-1964
Box   1 Folder   16	Scrapbook 1, photocopied, 1963-1964
Box   1 Folder   17	Scrapbook 2, photocopied, 1964
Box   1 Folder   18	Organizing handbook (for Tenants), 1964
Box   1 Folder   19	Petition, non-payment of rent forms, New York, 1964
Box   1 Folder   20	New York Community Council on Housing, court documents, 1964
Box   1 Folder   21	Rent Strike, notes on court cases, 1964
Box   1 Folder   22	Buildings dealt with, New York City Rent Strike
Box   1 Folder   23	Notes (on New York City Rent Strike)
Box   1 Folder   24	Housing, State level
Box   1 Folder   25	Notes on legislation
Box   1 Folder   26	Community Service Society of New York, memos, etcetera
Box   1 Folder   27	Bernard J. Ruggieri
Box   1 Folder   28	State legislation, non-housing politics
Box   1 Folder   29	Notes on legislation
Box   1 Folder   30	Correspondence, Bruce J. Gould, 1964
Box   1 Folder   31	Miscellaneous
	Street Level Bureaucracy Research Files
Box   1 Folder   32	Russell Sage Foundation, 1972, 1975
Box   1 Folder   33	Notes and development of project, 1973
Box   1 Folder   34	Project documents, 1973-1974
Box   1 Folder   35	Jeffrey Prottas, drafts and notes, 1973
Box   1 Folder   36-38	A-M, other authors' published writings, source material
Box   2	N-Z, other authors' published writings, source material, chapter information
Box   3-4	Topical files, including clipping files concerning the Kerner Commission
Box   5 Folder   1	Related papers by Lipsky and Olson
Box   5 Folder   2	Presidential Commissions and Social Change, proceedings of a Brown University symposium, 1971, featuring Milton Eisenhower, Otto Kerner, and William S. Scranton
Box   5 Folder   3	The Riot Commission Report and the Notion of “Political Truth” by Joan Hock, 1969
Box   5 Folder   4	Report for Action - Governor's Select Commission on Civil Disorder (New Jersey, February 1968)
Box   5 Folder   5-7	National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, transcripts of proceedings