Vietnam War, 1961-1975

ACLU Oakland County Branch Records

abarker — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 10:40:43 -0400

The Oakland County Branch of the American Civil Liberties Union was formed in 1979, with James Lafferty serving as the first elected president. Petitioned by the Metropolitan Detroit Branch of the ACLU, the branch was formed to address issues such as Oakland County jail conditions, lie detector use, senior housing rights, and attempts to reinstate the death penalty.

Contents of the collection include materials relating to the Baldwin Site Proposal for Senior Housing in the City of Birmingham, MI, and the related activities of PRIDE (People Rallying in Defense of Equality); the office files of branch president James Lafferty, and documentation of the war resistance and anti-draft activities of CARD (Committee Against Registration and Draft) and CCOO (Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors).

Alex Baskin Papers

drice — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 10:45:39 -0500

Dr. Alex Baskin is a professor at State University of New York at Stony Brook; among his main
research interests is social history of the late 20th century, especially with regard to the 1960s and 1980s. Dr. Baskin also attended Wayne State University during the 1960s where he studied various left-wing social movements. Among his published works include The Woman Rebel and The Masses.

The materials in this collection reflect a wide variety of subjects that Dr. Baskin researched and mostly pertain to various social movements of the late 20th century. Included are posters and flyers related to Marxism, the anti-war movement, the women’s movement, Jewish issues, the labor movement, foreign policy under the Reagan Administration, and much more. The collection also contains various essays, some written by Dr. Baskin, as well as newspaper clippings and newsletters related to his interests.

Tom and Janet Canterbury Papers

abarker — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 12:17:27 -0400

Tom and Janet Canterbury were active in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in Lowndes County, Alabama. Their papers reflect the Canterbury’s involvement in the civil right movement, and the activities of the SNCC in registering African-American voters in Southern states.

Detroit Coalition to End the War Now! Records

drice — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 16:36:52 -0400

In 1969 supporters of the peace movement gathered to discuss Detroit participation in a national convention of the New Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam (New Mobe). The result of this gathering was the formation of the Detroit Coalition to End the War Now! (DCEWN). This group became one of the most influential anti-war organizations both in Detroit and nationwide.The Coalition was highly visible by means of demonstrations, teach-ins, press coverage, leaflets and mailings. It also generated a great deal of public involvement and support.

The papers in Part 1 primarily consist of correspondence, mailings and other general
materials of the workings of DCEWN, with a portion pertaining specifically to NPAC.

Part 2 of the collection consists mainly of materials that cover the organization efforts for the
large scale mobilizations of the NPAC and DCEWN in Oct. 1970 and April-May 1971. There
are also anti-war news publications, clippings, and correspondence from James Lafferty.
Materials from various other anti-war organizations are also represented in the records.

Ann Filardo Papers

drice — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 16:09:57 -0500

Ann Filardo was chairperson and executive board member of the Teachers Action Caucus, a rank and file caucus within the United Federation of Teachers, and founder of the United Action Caucus, a national rank and file group within the American Federation of Teachers. Her papers reflect her involvement with both groups.

Al Fishman Papers

abarker — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 16:16:12 -0400

Alvin Fishman was born in Los Angeles, Nov. 28, 1927, but he was raised in New York and graduated from Stuyvesant High School. He was drafted and served in Italy during World War II. After the war, he moved to Ann Arbor, MI to attend the University of Michigan and study architecture. During this time he became involved in politics. Fishman left the university prior to graduation to move to Detroit and work as a tool and die machinist in an auto plant for the next thirteen years. He married Margaret Radulavich in 1951; they had two children, Marcia and Daniel. As an adult, he returned to college to complete his education in mathematics at Wayne State University. He also pursued a Master of Public Adminstration from Wayne State in the 1970s. He made a living programming computer systems for the Detroit Police Department.

Al Fishman and his wife, Margaret, were activists for peace and justice. Al was a long time leader of Peace Action of Michigan, serving as co-chair and representative on the national board of directors. He joined in the 1980s when the group was called the SANE/Freeze, working on the Nuclear Freeze Campaign. He was also involved with the New Jewish Agenda, Detroit Area Peace with Justice Network, Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism, and Democratic Socialists of America.

Part 1 of Mr. Fishman’s papers reflect his activities as state chairperson for the New Democratic Coalition of Michigan (NDCM) and his involvement in various Detroit-area political organizations and the anti-Vietnam War movement.

Part 2 of the collection documents the Fishman’s activism in the city of Detroit and their participation in various peace, justice and human rights groups, such as New Jewish Agenda, Peace Action of Michigan and Detroit Area Peace with Justice Network groups. Materials from Margaret Fishman’s involvement in the group Women’s Conference of Concerns are included. The collection also contains some materials from Al Fishman’s work with the Detroit Police Department, the City Charter Revision Commission, and his unsuccessful bids for city office.

William C. Gausmann Papers

abarker — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 15:37:10 -0400

William Gausmann held positions in Europe, the United States and Vietnam as a labor advisor, news analyst and policymaker with various European and United States government agencies. Mr. Gausmann’s papers relate his work concerning labor issues, Communism, and the Vietnam War and to a lesser degree, his associations with the Socialist Party and the Lutheran Church of America.

H. Merrill Jackson Papers

pneirink — Tue, 03 Jan 2023 08:49:56 -0500

H. Merrill Jackson was a social scientist who had an academic career from the 1950s through the 1990s. In 1953 Jackson conducted research on Vietnamese and African communities while abroad in Paris and Vietnam. From 1969-1970 he performed fieldwork in West Africa and the Caribbean and was a research fellow at the University of Ghana. Jackson joined the faculty at Wayne State in 1970 and taught at Monteith College in the Science of Society Division and with the School of Social Work. This collection contains Jackson’s research on relational theory, social change, folk and urban society, and peasant society. Also well represented is Jackson’s interest in marginalized groups, Black Power, and race relations. The collection also contains fieldwork from his time in Vietnam, France, the Caribbean, and West Africa and documents his pedagogy at Wayne State University’s Monteith College. The collection includes articles and working papers by Jackson; scholarly articles by his contemporaries; manuscript chapters on relational theory and related interviews with Robert Thomas; and course syllabi and lecture notes.

James Lafferty Papers

drice — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 14:45:34 -0400

James Lafferty was a Detroit lawyer who became one of the nation's most prominent draft attorneys and a staunch supporter of civil rights. He was active in the movement to end U.S. intervention in Vietnam, Central America/the Carribbean, and the Persian Gulf. He also founded the Oakland County branch of the American Civil Liberties Union. His papers reflect his involvement in the Detroit Coalition to End the War Now! and the National Peace Action Coalition during the Vietnam era; his work with peace movements protesting U.S. military intervention in the Caribbean and Central America in the 1980s; and his involvement in protesting the U.S. war in the Persian Gulf in 1990-91.

Smith College Records

aorchard — Fri, 29 Aug 2014 11:04:30 -0400

The collection contains pamphlets, booklets, periodicals, and monographs related to a wide variety of liberal causes from the 1920s to the late 1960s. The majority of items concern issues in the United States or that directly deal with American involvement. Most of the records date back to the 1960s and involve topics related to the American anti-war movement or socialism.

Milton Tambor Papers

jruss — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 15:45:23 -0400

Milton Tambor was born in New York City in 1938. He earned a Hebrew Teachers degree from Yeshiva University in 1957. He completed his bachelor’s in Psychology at Wayne State University in 1959, his Master of Social Work at Wayne in 1963, and his PhD in Sociology at Wayne in 1991. Throughout his scholarly career, he has focused on teaching and writing about organizing social workers and non-profit and agency employees. He also had a long career in unionism, holding staff and leadership positions in AFSCME Detroit Local 1640, AFSCME Michigan Council 77, and AFSCME Michigan Council 25. Throughout his career, Tambor was also involved in other labor and leftist organizations in Detroit, most notably the anti-Vietnam War group Detroit Coalition to End the War Now and the Michigan Labor Committee on Central America. In 2001, Tambor retired and moved to Atlanta where he continues to work in the progressive movement.

The Milton Tambor Papers document Tambor’s academic career, work for AFSCME, and participation in labor, leftist, and progressive organizations in Detroit. They include articles, newspaper clippings, publications, fliers, meeting minutes, reports, and training material.

United Service Organizations Downtown Detroit Club Records

aorchard — Mon, 26 Jan 2015 13:56:44 -0500

The United Service Organizations (USO) was formed in 1941 through a partnership with the National Jewish Welfare Fund, the Salvation Army, the National Catholic Community Service, the Traveler’s Aid Association, and the YMCA and YWCA. The goal of the organization is to assist soldiers in their transition home or into service and with their families should they be deployed, injured, or killed.

This collection consists of materials created by the metropolitan Detroit branch of the USO, primarily from their work with Vietnam veterans, as well as some of their work with World War II veterans. The collection holds newspaper clippings from articles about the USO’s activities in Detroit, as well as event photographs and some invoices and correspondence. Additionally, the collection contains comprehensive lists of volunteers and participants in programs.

Fred Valle Papers

abarker — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 09:27:42 -0400

The Fred Valle Collection contains correspondence documenting the debate between United Auto Workers (UAW) Secretary-Treasurer Emil Mazey and Mr. Valle over the United States policy on Vietnam.

James H. Williams Papers

abarker — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 14:41:06 -0400

A founder of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) Louisville branch, Students for Social Action, James Williams was active in various radical, student and labor organizations, such as the Southern Student Organizing Committee, the young People’s Socialist League, and Operation Freedom. Mr. Williams held positions on the staff of the IUE News, the West Virginia Federation of Labor, the American Newspaper Guild, and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) Workers Education Local 189, the National Education Association (NEA), and Labor Today.
Mr. Williams’ papers reflect his involvement in various student and radical organizations, and to a lesser degree, his participation in the NEA Staff Organization (NEASO). The Committee for Miners, selective service, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and SDS are among important subjects in the collection.

Box 3 is unavailable.

Women's International League for Peace and Freedom Detroit Branch Records

aorchard — Fri, 29 Aug 2014 11:34:35 -0400

The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) is a non-profit, non-governmental organization dedicated to ending war and bringing about world peace. Formed in 1919 along with the Michigan branch, Detroit’s WILPF branch has been active in pushing for peace and equality throughout the region and nationally. These actions reflected in the collection include lobbying politicians (notably Michigan governors, Representative John Dingell, and Detroit mayor Coleman Young), writing publications advocating their positions on various issues, holding public demonstrations for numerous causes, and more. WILPF has continually operated since its formation, but activity and membership spiked in the 1960s in response to the Vietnam War. Noteworthy past members include Meta Riseman (who would go on to serve as the head of WILPF’s US branch), former president Agnes Bryant, and Alice Herz (the first American to commit self-immolation in protest of the war in Vietnam).

The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom Detroit Branch Records contains the records of WILPF’s Detroit chapter with some materials from the Michigan state branch. Much of the collection is comprised of records from meetings for the two chapters and their various subgroups. These reports and meeting minutes reflect the goals and activities of the local WILPF chapters. Other notable sections are the records for WILPF’s Peace Day Camp, compiled materials on prominent local WILPF members, numerous subject files, WILPF publications and pamphlets advocating various issues, planning materials for special events, legislative activities with local and federal politicians, newsletters, and scrapbooks documenting the organization’s history.

Subject Focus: Armistice Day and Veterans Day

teller — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 16:20:42 -0400

Although the First World War did not officially end until the signing of the Treaty of Versailles on June 28, 1919, combat between the Allied nations and Germany ended on November 11, 1918, when an armistice was called for the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. read more »

(350) Demonstrations, Vietnam War, Kennedy Square, Detroit, 1969

eclemens — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 10:54:43 -0400

Thousands of demonstrators gather at Kennedy Square to join the Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam, a worldwide demonstration that demanded an end of U.S. involvement in Vietnam, Detroit, Michigan.

(2822) Demonstrations, Vietnam War, Police, Detroit, 1972

eclemens — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 10:52:01 -0400

Police officers armed with batons attempt to push back anti-war demonstrators in front of the Federal Building on W. Lafayette Avenue, Detroit, Michigan. The demonstrators remain unmoved.

(11549) Victor Reuther, Vietnam, 1965

eclemens — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:35:00 -0500

Victor Reuther distributes school supplies to orphans in Vietnam while on a trip through Southeast Asia.

(12009) Demonstrations, Vietnam War, Kennedy Square, Detroit, 1969

eclemens — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 10:49:05 -0400

Thousands of demonstrators gather at Kennedy Square to join the Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam, a worldwide demonstration that demanded an end of U.S. involvement in Vietnam, Detroit, Michigan. Some participants show their feeling for the ideas invoked by the speaker by giving signs of peace or obscene gestures.

(12010) Demonstrations, Vietnam War, Kennedy Square, Detroit, 1969

eclemens — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 10:47:34 -0400

A panoramic view of Kennedy Square as thousands of demonstrators gather to join the Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam, a worldwide demonstration that demanded an end of U.S. involvement in Vietnam, Detroit, Michigan.

(12011) Demonstrations, Vietnam War, Detroit, 1970

eclemens — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 10:45:26 -0400

Anti-war demonstrators march around the U.S. Federal Building on Fort Street to demand the end of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, Detroit, Michigan.

(12013) Cemeteries, Veterans, Vietnam War, Detroit

eclemens — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 14:29:30 -0400

A fallen soldier is buried in a section of the cemetery reserved for those killed in the Vietnam War, Detroit, Michigan.

(12014) Demonstrations, Vietnam War, Detroit, 1970

eclemens — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 16:16:57 -0400

A panoramic view as anti-war demonstrators march around the U.S. Federal Building on Fort Street to demand the end of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War.

(30710) Vietnam War, Recruitment, Michigan, Undated

eclemens — Thu, 07 Nov 2013 15:57:39 -0500

Army recruitment billboard that notes “A country needs love, too.”