Free Speech Movement Archives Email Newsletters
11/26/2016
FSM-A News: Lecture, Party, Bill Mandel, Daily CalThis is being sent to 1053 folks on the FSM-A list by the Board of the Free Speech Movement Archives, a California non-profit (since 1998) that collects and preserves FSM history and educates coming generations in the spirit of the Free Speech Movement.
FSM Ex Comm member Bill Mandel Presente
We will share memorial plans when they become available. Watch for Facebook Memorial page.
Photo here:
http://fsm-a.org/Anonymous%20Executive%20Committee%20Meeting%20Photos.html#billmandelhttps://kpfa.org/blog/william-bill-mandel-1917-2016/
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20th Annual Mario Savio Lecture, Tuesday, November 29th, Pauley Ballroom, 8:00 p.m.
Speaker: Ben Jealous on Fighting for Justice: Sustaining the struggle, building a movement
Introduced and moderated by Bettina Aptheker
Ben Jealous was the keynote speaker at the FSM 50th Anniversary celebration.The event is free but tickets are required. Tickets are available through eventbrite:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/mario-savio-memorial-lecture-fighting-for-justice-tickets-28926124818Mail contributions: P.O. Box 152, Guerneville, CA 95446
Contributors to the Mario Savio Young Activist Award will be guaranteed reserve seats in front. DVDs and CDs of the event will be available for a $35 contribution. Contributors wishing to reserve seats should email savio(at)sonic.net.No more helpers or ushers are needed.
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FSM Archives Annual Potluck Party, 5 to 9:30 pm
Saturday, December 10 at Redwood Gardens in Berkeley.This year, in addition to the ususal schmoozing, bitching, and networking, we hope to schedule short episodes of singing, dancing, and speechifying. Stay tuned for details. If you will RSVP to me, Barbara Stack, I will share names in the near-future. We do believe that Alan Haber will be coming!
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Daily Cal Lauches Digital Archive with 1964
http://www.dailycal.org/2016/11/18/daily-cal-launches-digital-archive/
11/18/2016, The Daily Californian, Daily Cal launches digital archive, Michelle Pitcher,
"'During Sproul Showdown Students Ready for Arrest'These are a few of the headlines published in The Daily Californian's pages in 1964, the year of the Free Speech Movement. You can now view every newspaper printed that year in our newly launched digital archive: newsprint.dailycal.org."
10/15/2015
FSM-A: Big Fat Party BlastThis is being sent to 664 people on the FSM-A.org California list by the Board of Free Speech Movement Archives, a CA non-profit since 1998, which collects and preserves FSM history and educates coming generations in the spirit of the Free Speech Movement.
Hi California,
This email will reiterate party details and request a response if you plan to attend (and have not yet responded); list folks who have responded; list stuff we will have for sale.
Community Room at Redwood Gardens in Berkeley
2951 Derby Street, Berkeley 94705Sunday, October 18, 2015, 5-9:30 pm. A potluck with a $5 sliding scale admission to pay for a set up/clean up helper.
We still need volunteers to come early and help set up and stay later and help break down.
Redwood Gardens is located on the old Clark Kerr Campus, formerly the School for the Deaf.
#49 Bus stops right in front of Redwood Gardens; STOPS RUNNING AT 7 pm
Catch #49 at Rockridge BART or Downtown Berkeley BART
#51 runs along College Avenue, 2 blocks awayDirections to those coming from within Berkeley:
Go east on Dwight Way to the stoplight on Dwight and Piedmont Ave. (the third stoplight after the ones at Telegraph Ave and College Ave. Turn right onto Piedmont Ave. Go approximately 0.2 miles to where Piedmont Ave. ends at Derby St. (you will have passed the entrance to the Clark Kerr Campus on your left). Go left on Derby and proceed 0.1 miles. You should be looking to your left for a bus shelter next to an awning with 2951 on it in white letters. Claremont Blvd. intersects Derby on your right at this spot.Directions from those entering Berkeley from Caldecott tunnel
or going east on 580:
Take highway 13 which becomes Tunnel Road and go to the second stoplight at the intersection of Ashby Ave. and Claremont. Turn right on Claremont Blvd, being careful to keep to your left as the road divides (tacquiria restaurant on traffic island should be on your right). You are now on Belrose Ave., which in a few blocks curves around to the left onto Derby St. Look for the bus shelter/awning with 2951 on it in white letters on your right, and Claremont Blvd. intersecting Derby on you left. Proceed as above to enter Redwood Gardens.Directions from Hwy 80/580 on the bayshore side of Berkeley:
Take University Ave. exit and proceed 2.3 mile on University Ave. until it ends at Oxford St. Turn right onto Oxford St., stay in the right lane, and go 0.5 miles to Dwight Way (Oxford changes name to Fulton, but nevermind that). Turn left onto Dwight way, go 0.7 mile to the fifth stoplight at Piedmont Ave (the previous two stoplights being at Telegraph Ave and College Ave. Turn right onto Piedmont Ave., go 0.1 mile where it ends at Derby (you will pass the main entrance to the Clark Kerr Campus on your left). Turn left onto Derby and begin looking on your left for bus shelter/awning with 2951 on it in white letters. Claremont Blvd. intersects Derby on the right at this spot. Proceed as above to enter Redwood Gardens.There is parking on both sides of Derby Street and in adjacent neighborhoods.
After parking, go to the awning and up some stone steps, walk to your right a few steps and you will see a sign directing you to the entrance of the building we will be in. A more accessible route takes you just up the street, east of the awning to a partially barricaded driveway which also leads (to the left) to the party.
Leave time for parking and be careful to cross Derby at the crosswalk right outside Redwood Gardens as drivers tend to go fast on Derby Street.
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Party People (so far) NOT POSTED ONLINE
Stuff
FSM Arrestee Peter Wiesner, the guy who in 1964 made the red F S M signs and hung them in the Sproul balconies, has just published a science fiction novel, “Xtremus.” He characterizes it as “a dystopian satire about the aftermath of a cataclysmic demise of technology that takes place in post-apocalyptic Southern California.”
https://www.linkedin.com/pub/peter-wiesner/2/901/847
Peter gave us 5 inscribed copies to sell as a fundraiser. List (Amazon) is $26.95. FSM price: $15.
Barbara Dane wishes us a great party and has donated 5 copies of her 1973 Paredon/Smithsonian Folkways CD “I Hate the Capitalist System” $15 or best offers. You loved the LP. It’s a classic.
http://www.barbaradane.net/Buy_CDs.html
2004 FSM 40th anniversary T-shirt, 4 smalls only. Beautiful black shirts with same gorgeous image (Paul Fusco photo) as on the poster:
http://www.fsm-a.org/FSM%20Posters/Webpages/detail.np/detail-06.html
In case you missed it:
Free Speech Movement 50th Anniversary Hub
http://www.fsm-a.org/FSM%202014%2050th%20Anniversary%20Hub.htmlOn the audio/video page you’ll find the Cal Band FSM tribute! And the entire October 1 Rally! And lots more.
9/15/2015
FSM-A: Film showings of “Inside the Free Speech Movement” FREEThis is being sent to 571 folks on the FSM-A Northern CA list by the Board of the Free Speech Movement Archives, a California non-profit (since 1998) that collects and preserves FSM history and educates coming generations in the spirit of the Free Speech Movement.
Berkeley Historical Society Film Showings
Inside the Free Speech MovementInside the Free Speech Movement, Part Two
Sunday, Sept. 27, 3-5 pm, Berkeley History Center, 1931 Center Street, Berkeley
From the Free Speech Zone to the United Front and the Police Car Scene to Organizing the Free Speech Movement. Looks at Administrative and FBI Involvement.Inside the Free Speech Movement, Part Three
Sunday, Oct. 4, 3-5 pm, Berkeley History Center, 1931 Center Street, Berkeley
Escalation of the FSM through the Sit-In, the Arrests, and the Strike. Includes Faculty Support, the Resolution, the Trial, and the Legacy of the Free Speech Movement.Inside the Free Speech Movement, a film series by Linda Rosen and Jai Jai Noire, features oral history interviews that grew out of the BHS exhibit on the Free Speech Movement. It covers the civil liberties and civil rights issues that led up to and were launched by the FSM. Students of differing points of view came to consensus and successfully convinced the faculty, and eventually the administration and the Regents, to support First Amendment rights. Part One, Precursors to the Free Speech Movement, was shown last spring.
The Student Rights Movement, which began in Berkeley, spread throughout the United States and the world, influencing the 1968 Paris student uprising and Prague Spring. Berkeley’s anti-Vietnam War protests, which followed on the heels of the FSM, demonstrated how youth could successfully challenge the status quo and emboldened others to follow suit. The Free Speech Movement permanently changed Berkeley. It serves as a positive role model for today’s civil rights protests. Featuring Bettina Aptheker, David Lance Goines, Kathleen Piper, Jack Radey, Anita Medal, Prof. Leon Wofsy, Prof. Peter Dale Scott, Henry Elson, and others.
Admission free; donations welcome, wheelchair accessible. Telephone: 510-848-0181
Seating is limited to 49 people – reservations recommended info@berkeleyhistoricalsociety.orghttp://www.berkeleyhistoricalsociety.org/events/201510_fsm_films.html
9/7/2015
FSM-A: Backward and Forward looking news items for your pleasureThis is being sent to 1064 folks on the FSM-A list by the Board of the Free Speech Movement Archives, a California non-profit (since 1998) that collects and preserves FSM history and educates coming generations in the spirit of the Free Speech Movement.
Hi everyone,
We wanted to alert you to some events and on-going projects. At our recent Board Meeting the FSM-A voted to turn our focus to the distribution of our archive, first to the Bancroft (has not yet happened) and then (we have many duplicates) to such institutions as the Southern California Library for Social Research, the Tamiment Library at NYU, the Wisconsin Historical Society Archives, and the Berkeley Historical Society. We will offer collections to many other US and European institions. THEREFORE, we are now setting the end of 2015 as our deadline to donate original FSM materials to our collection.
At that same meeting theFSM-A Board elected a new member, following upon the loss last year of Margor Adler
http://www.fsm-a.org/Person%20pages/Margot%20Adler.htmlOur newest member is Steve Lustig, who contributed is so many, many ways to our 50th celebration. Welcome, Steve, and thanks for accepting our nomination.
***
The Annual FSM Archives Party in Community Room at Redwood Gardens in Berkeley is set for:
Sunday, October 18, 2015, 5pm. As in previous years, it will be a potluck with a $5 admission to pay for a set up/clean up helper. [More details later.]***
Mario Savio Lecture (not a project of FSM-A) Thursday, November 5, 8 p.m., Pauley Ballroom
Anthony Romero, executive director for the American Civil Liberties Union, will speak on "Crime and Punishment in America: The Case for Redeeming Redemption." [That’s all we know right now.]***
The Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club will be honoring Mal Burnstein
November 1, 2015, 1-4 pm
2105 Award Luncheon honoring:
Betty Yee and Mal Burnstein
Tickets:
www.wellstoneclub.orgIn case you have forgotten that Mal was the head attorney for the FSM defense, go to the FSM Archives’ Legal Central page:
http://www.fsm-a.org/FSM_Legal.html
and click on The FSM Lawyers' Correspondence with Defendants (59 pages), which will take you here:
http://www.fsm-a.org/FSM%20Documents/FSM%20Legal/The%20Lawyers'%20Corr/Webpages/gallery-01.html
July 17, 2015
FSM Archives News—hold the dateThis is being sent to 1061 people on the FSM-A.org list by the Board of the Free Speech Movement Archives, a California non-profit (since 1998) that collects and preserves FSM history and educates coming generations in the spirit of the Free Speech Movement.
Hello friends,
As we begin to look beyond the 50th which has so preoccupied us, the first thing that comes to mind is—Party! Eleanor Walden has booked the Community Room at Redwood Gardens in Berkeley for:
Sunday, October 18, 2015, in the evening.
Details will follow closer to that dateOur website has many parts, and it is almost continuously undergoing updates and additions. There is now a 50th Anniversary Hub Page:
http://www.fsm-a.org/FSM%202014%2050th%20Anniversary%20Hub.html
Under Audio and Video, there is now a link to a video of the October 1 Rally.
Under Recent Activities:
http://www.fsm-a.org/FSM-A%20Recent%20Activities.html
there are photos and links to:
On February 27, 2015, the UC Berkeley History-Social Science Project, as part of its unit, Teaching the Free Speech Movement, hosted a group of FSM participants and arrestees for interviews by seniors in the Ethnic Studies class at CAL Prep High School in Berkeley. The Interviews now on YouTube.FSM arrestee Marylee Stephenson, who came down to the 50th from Vancouver, recently posted a terrific video, “Radicalization: From Berkeley To Now”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIqvfIXmZkQFSM arrestee Ira Chaleff recently wrote us about his new book, which we share because it concerns an “FSM topic”:
Intelligent Disobedience: Doing Right When What You’re Told To Do Is Wrong. with a forward by Phil Zimbardo
http://www.irachaleff.com/wp/And finally, there’s a document in the archives, we like to know more about. Dana Shapiro MacDermott claims not to remember much about it.
1965 02-23 FSM Speakers' Bureau
http://www.fsm-a.org/FSM%20Documents/FSM%201965%20Documents/Webpages/detail.np/detail-20.htmlThanks!
12/5/2014
FSM-A: NewsThis is being sent to 1062 people on the FSM-A.org list by the Board of the Free Speech Movement Archives, a California non-profit (since 1998) that collects and preserves FSM history and educates coming generations in the spirit of the Free Speech Movement.
Hello to all,
This time we tout our website, which celebrates the various activities of our 50th, (ongoing), especially in photos, which are still being posted. Note also video and audio links. If you missed it, here’s your chance.
Monday, December 08, 2014
Academic Senate: 50 Years after the Senate vote on the FSM: a reflection
Panel Discussion | December 8 | 3-5 p.m. | Wheeler AuditoriumModerator: Panos Papadopoulos, 2014-15 Chair, Berkeley Division of the Academic Senate, Academic Senate
Sponsor: Academic SenateOn the 50th anniversary of the Senate's vote of support for the FSM, a faculty panel will assess the impact of the FSM on universities and, more broadly, on society, and the challenges we face relating to freedom of speech. The panelists are: Richard Buxbaum (Law), Peter Dale Scott (English), and John Searle (Philosophy). Division Chair Panos Papadopoulos will moderate.
Event Contact: acad_sen@berkeley.edu, 510-642-4226
http://events.berkeley.edu/index.php/calendar/sn/fsm.html?event_ID=80246&date=2014-12-08Michael Lerner, FSM participant and panelist on September 27 writes:
In response to the Right-wing takeover of Congress, FSMer Michael Lerner, editor of Tikkun and chair of the interfaith and secular-humanist-welcoming Network of Spiritual Progressives is encouraging us to engage the liberal and progressive movements wherever we live in a serious rethinking of how we could be more effective in reaching the American public--through a series of public town hall meetings. The first such will be held in San Francisco Sunday afternoon December 14, with speakers that include George Lakoff the linguist who wrote Don't Think of an Elephant and Moral Pollitics, Marianne Williamson and Matthew Fox--but Lerner is also urging people who cant come to that one to create their own.
Excuctive director of the NSP Cat Zavis will provide suport and assistance: cat@spiritualprogressives.org
Please read Lerner's strategic ideas for how to move forward at
http://www.tikkun.org/nextgen/why-the-right-keeps-winning-and-the-left-keeps-losing
and the description of the public town hall plus how to register for it at:
http://www.tikkun.org/nextgen/invite-to-reclaim-america-strategy-conference-dec-14Donate!
We are still tallying up the various revenues and expenses for the activities presented by FSM-A over that last weeked in September and it is clear now that we ran a modest deficit. We thank all who have so far pitched in with extra support (and you’ll receive thanks very soon). We hope some of you might make an end-of-year tax-deductible donation. And if you retire the deficit, then you’ll be funding such items as the website and archiving.You can find instructions here:
http://www.fsm-a.org/FSM_Archives_Donations.htmlOR
Please make a check payable to any of these
FSM-A
FSM Archives
Free Speech Movement ArchivesThen mail it to our treasurer:
Anita Medal
1801 5th Street
Berkeley, CA 94710-1914Friends of Margot Adler might like to take a look at our memorial page, which now links to a video of the NYC Memorial Service:
http://www.fsm-a.org/Person%20pages/Margot%20Adler.html
Happy Holidays,
The Board of Directors of the Free Speech Movement Archives
Lee Felsenstein, Gar Smith, Anita Medal, Bettina Aptheker, Susan Druding, Barbara Garson, Jackie Goldberg, Lynne Hollander Savio, Jack Radey, Barbara Stack, Robert Cohen
10/13/2014
FSM-A: We survived! It was great! Look at the websiteThis is being sent to 1061 people on the FSM-A.org list by the Board of the Free Speech Movement Archives, a California non-profit (since 1998) that collects and preserves FSM history and educates coming generations in the spirit of the Free Speech Movement.
Hello all,
Your Board, Committee and volunteers are all well on our way to recovery. That was one heck of a way to get overtired, and in Berkeley, the events continue, thankfully produced by other entities.
Did we break even—that’s yet to be determined.
For those of you who couldn’t get here, and for those who did, we are filling our website with photos and videos as they become available.
some highlights:
Edward Snowden FSM Statement
Photos ● Videos ● Press ● Twitter ● Blog
Lisa Rubens’ recently released ROHO Oral Histories
Pacific Film Archive Film Series.Go! Look! Click! Dig it! Thanks!
9/25/2014
FSM50.com Opening September 26.-- What you asked for!!This is going out to 1052 folks. Many of you have asked for a place to post memories, poetry, etc. FSM Arrestee Lee Cooper volunteered to make us such a site, and then did it! You need to register, per directions below. FSM-A will be able to archive the postings. Many thanks Lee and FSM Arrestee Craig Currier!!!
FSM50.com Opening September 26.
http://www.fsm50.com/We invite fellow veterans of the Free Speech Movement to share their experiences and tell their stories on this new website.
50 years ago we surrounded a police car. 50 years ago we took Sproul Hall. You were there. We did it together.
What did you see? What did you feel? What did you do? How were you changed? How was the University changed?
How did the events of the FSM 50 years ago impact you and the larger world both then and now?
FSM50.com offers you three ways to participate and reflect on these questions.
FSM Voices is the place to post comments, essays, histories, creative fiction, and just about anything you can link to on the web. Posts on FSM Voices may also be linked to The Free Speech Plaza forums.
The FSM Timeline allows you to comment and add shorter personal recollections and reflections in chronological order. Comment on existing dates or add your dates of your own.
The Free Speech Plaza. The whole world was watching then. Now, you can help them understand what they saw. The Free Speech Plaza invites you to post and respond to questions in ongoing discussion forums.
To participate and post on this site, we ask that you register and indicate how you were directly connected to the events of the fall of 1964 in Berkeley and beyond. Everyone is welcome to visit and learn from this site without registering, but only registered users will be able post content. This site is meant to be a voice for the FSM veterans.
Believing In the Spirit of October 3rd, when the FSM was formed out of the United Front, we have created this website in support of the FSM 50th Reunion to encourage all interested parties to share their life experience.
FSM50.com will eventually become a part of the FSM Archive.
Lee Cooper ’66 and Craig Currier ‘66
9/10/2014
FSM50: DEADLINES AND OTHER LIMITSThis is being sent to 1037 people on the FSM-A.org list by the Board of the Free Speech Movement Archives, a California non-profit (since 1998) that collects and preserves FSM history and educates coming generations in the spirit of the Free Speech Movement.
Hello all,
Apologies for those on our list who won’t be able to make it out here for the 50th, as this email carries a lot of nitty gritty details. However, there are a few points which you might note, includeing the possibility of following the #FSM50 Twitter feed.
1) Deadline for T shirt and bag order: 9/12
New T-shirt size range:
Womens': x small small med lge xlge xxlge xxxlge
Mens': small med lge xlge xxlge xxxlge
Men's is a crew neck, Women's is a slightly scooped neck. They're a straight-cut (not shaped).2) Deadline for Play order through us 9/15-- Can still be ordered on line by going right to brownpapertickets.com.
3) Deadline for Hootenanny order through us == 9/15. (tickets will be available at door on night of show).
4) Deadline for Sat. dinner -- will be cut off at 204 people and is now at 173. Get your $ in now if you want to go. We cannot take reservations except by receipt of payment.
5) Deadline for FINANCIAL AID requests -- 9/12
6) Parking (or rather No Parking): Sunday will probably be fine -- off campus is free, on-campus likely (we’ll get you an update). Saturday there’s a game; leave cars elsewhere. If staying in a private home, they can get all-day neighborhood parking passes for you. Try to get a ride to campus.
7) Saturday we will be in Boalt (enter west terrace for elevator) all day and then just cross the street for reception/dinner. There are going to be golf carts roaming the campus to help bring folks up to the stadium. They are not expecting to give rides to Boalt. I’m told persuasion may work.
We're trying to arrange car pools to get people from Bancroft Hotel to Hootenanny-- if you have a van (better, a friend with a van), please let us know.
8) Please check the list of people who have died:
http://fsm-a.org/fsmdeceased.html
If you have additions or links to obits we don’t have, please let us know.9) VOLUNTEERS needed to record panel sessions, preferably on digital video; audio if not possible.
10) Is there someone who Tweets: Saturday panels, the musical, and Wednesday rally should be covered.
There is a twitter feed: #FSM50. You can check what is being said at any moment. You can view “top” or “all.”
https://twitter.com/hashtag/fsm5011) Call or e-mail your friends who haven't signed up. Know any students on campus?
12) David Zeiger, whose film Sir! No Sir! told the long suppressed story of the GI Movement to end the Vietnam War, is producing a new feature documentary, Ten Years That Shook the World, that will follow the full arc of the Student Movement. An important feature of the film will involve movement participants reading from letters, diaries, and articles that they wrote at the time, and he is interested in contacting FSM veterans who would be willing to do that. He’s particularly interested in the statements to the court explaining why you had participated in the occupation. He will be attending the reunion on Saturday and Sunday, and if you would like to contact him before hand please write to
displaced@mindspring.com
http://www.sirnosir.com
8/27/2014
FSM50: Letter from the Reunion Chair, Lynne Hollander SavioThis is being sent to 1018 people on the FSM-A.org list by the Board of the Free Speech Movement Archives, a California non-profit (since 1998) that collects and preserves FSM history and educates coming generations in the spirit of the Free Speech Movement.
IT'S NOT JUST NOSTALGIA!
Is it worth spending a lot of money, time, and energy to come for a reunion that commemorates a battle that occurred fifty years ago and to mingle with people you haven't seen or heard from during those fifty years?
In addition to the pleasures of nostalgia--singing old songs, hearing funny or curious stories about our fall semester (Did they really plan those sit-in triggering suspension letters right from the moment the car sit-down ended?), and seeing old comrades whom we've lost touch with -- this Reunion does serve some significant political purposes.
There will be a LOT of press (they've already started contacting us)! The University is going all-out on publicity, both on and off the campus. We need to show that we consider the FSM at least as important as they do by showing up in force to celebrate. We need to be a big enough presence on campus that students don't answer "never heard of it" when asked their thoughts on the FSM. It is easy to patronize a small group of old(er) people, especially ones who think the values and causes of the Sixties could possibly have any relevance to today. If we don't cherish our own history, why should they?
Perhaps motivated by our reaching out to them, many of the student political organizations have now formed a Progressive Coalition -- and we are working with their representatives to have student involvement in Saturday's panels (see below), in the Wednesday rally, and in the "intergenerational dialogue on campus activism" that afternoon. (The students will also be creating an event that honors us and assists their own organizing efforts on December 2nd.)
Wednesday's noon rally will also try to inspire the wider, non-activist student population by focusing on a positive message about the potential for change. We can't start a movement at UC -- only the students, motivated by passion about a cause -- can do that. But we can communicate to a large number of students that it's worth struggling for change, even taking risks, because if you do the right things, sometimes you get lucky and win (and it's also fun).
Some of you may know that Robert Cohen's biography of Mario, Freedom's Orator: Mario Savio and the Radical Legacy of the '60s, was chosen by "On The Same Page", the freshman "book-in-common" program, as this fall's book; each new student gets a copy and various ancillary events are held during the term (speeches, concerts, etc.). Robby has gotten some letters from students in response, and I want to quote one of them:
"I am starting Berkeley in the Fall, and we were all "’highly encouraged’ to read the book in order to mark our celebration of the FSM movement this year. I really hope most other freshman heeded that call. This book is the reason I have decided to blend my academic pursuits with a personal and not just professional focus. It was greatly impactful and has more than energized me to be a highly vocal student politically, artistically, and I think just generally. (emphasis added) ‘Freedom's Orator’ in a thematic sense definitely preludes my Fall semester! I'm thrilled to start soon."
Our events and our presence on campus Sept. 26-Oct. 2 can have this same motivating impact upon students -- and the larger our presence is, the more effective. We might even inspire ourselves, Some FSMers are still working for social change in their jobs or their retirement activities. Others have moved in different directions. Perhaps some of the panels will give us new ideas about the roles we can still play in today's struggles -- we're not dead yet!
We will have fun at the Reunion, we will be nostalgic, but with an underlying purpose, the same purpose that motivated us in 1964: to change the world for the better.
Attached is an update of the registration program, with a detailed glimpse of forthcoming events, including Saturday's panels (most panelists tbd) and related events put on by other groups between 9/26-10/2 in honor of the FSM. There are changes, so take a second look at the program. Be sure to google the "UC Berkeley FSM 50th Calendar" for events from early September through December 8th outside of FSM week. Check the schedule and information available on www.fsm-a.org for details, and come, COME TO THE REUNION!
Hoping to see you there,
Lynne Hollander Savio
Chair, FSM 50th Anniversary Celebration
8/11/2014
This is being sent to 994 people on the FSM-A.org list by the FSM50 Committee of the Free Speech Movement Archives, a California non-profit (since 1998) that collects and preserves FSM history and educates coming generations in the spirit of the Free Speech Movement.
Hullo everyone,
ALERT: THERE IS VERY LIMITED SPACE FOR THE SATURDAY NIGHT DINNER. IF YOU WISH TO ATTEND, YOU SHOULD REGISTER FOR IT NOW.
We now have 166 registrations for the Reunion recorded (and a few more awaiting data entry). Many who have otherwise indicated that they plan to attend have not yet registered, so we believe that we’ll have a great turnout. The press, by the way, is REALLY taking notice.
As we are now firming up plans for meals and venues, it would be MOST helpful to hear from folks sooner rather than later. In any case, we must now announce that we will be accepting registrations postmarked earlier than September 1. All later registrations are subject to availability of seating.
FLASH: Tickets for "FSM: a play with music about a time that changed America" are now open for purchase by the general public.
We are getting an 18% discount ON ORDERS BY 8/25. The play celebrates our struggle, raises provocative questions about our achievements , and does it all with tuneful music and clever lyrics that capture the exuberant spirit of our movement. You will not want to miss it. Register now ($22) for performances on Sunday, September 28, at 2 pm or 7 pm, at Berkeley Repertory Theater (Thrust Stage). (Other performances and venues are available, without a discount, at BrownPaperTickets.com). This is a professional production, with an Equity cast and production team.We have discussed circulating a list of names of folks who are coming. Would any of you consider this an invasion of privacy?
Financial aid & Scholarships
We have received only a limited number of requests for “financial aid.” Please note that our registration form:
http://www.fsm-a.org/50th%20cover%20letter,%20schedule,%20&%20Reg.pdfhas a My Needs section where finances can be mentioned. And we have received donations earmarked for “scholarships.”
Places to stay
The Visit Berkeley site
http://visitberkeley.com/
click on tab “Places to Stay”We have a limited number of offers of beds, rooms, and couches and will shortly start match-making.
One person had requested a safe place to park his car during his stay in Berkeley.Parking
Parking will be a bear (pun intended). The lot under the Student Union will not be available due to construction. We’ve asked our campus liaison to research the parking options, but they will not be free.Mobility
We have heard from folks with mobility problems and unfortunately, the scenario is not golden. We have been told that the university will not be able to provide golf carts and that we should ask the fraternities and sororities whether they might have volunteers who can help folks get around. We are still working on this.Ai Wei Wei Cruise & Alcatraz Mobility support
First, no more registrations can be accepted. The block we bought is sold out. Good news for those in Bay Area—exhibit will be open til April 26, 2015.
For groups arriving in automobiles, handicap parking is now available at Pier 33 on a first-come first-served basis. All vehicles must display a Department of Motor Vehicles handicap placard. (Charter bus parking is not available)
Pre-boarding for guests with mobility issues is also offered. Please inquire with a guest service agent if anyone in the group needs to pre-board.
S.E.A.T. (Sustainable Easy Access Transport) is available for those with mobility needs on Alcatraz Island on a first-come first-served basisDonations
We are greatful to all those who have donated. Our needs are various: most events are going to cost us a bit more than the registration fee, and even the free events will have costs for us. Note that recently we sent out a postal mailing to folks for whom we had addresses but no email address. We got a number of responses and some of those are receiving this mailing as the list grows! And of course, if donations exceed costs, there is always the ongoing archiving project, in which we will soom be distributing our collection to major repositories around the country. You can include a donation with your registration (a separate check is advised). As always, donation information is posted here:http://fsm-a.org/FSM_Archives_Donations.html
Last, but not least, our website is getting very robust. Sadly, sadl, you will read there that we recently lost FSM arrestee and FSM-A Board member, Margot Adler.
www.FSM-A.orgThanks all!
6/25/2014
FSM50: Reserve by June 27 for Ai Wei Wei @large Alcatraz exhibitThis is being sent to 975 people on the FSM-A.org list by the FSM50 Committee of the Free Speech Movement Archives, a California non-profit (since 1998) that collects and preserves FSM history and educates coming generations in the spirit of the Free Speech Movement.
Artist and Chinese political dissident Ai Wei Wei knows and admires the FSM; and the organizers of this exhibit celebrating freedom of expression and human rights are thrilled that our reunion is happening at the same time as the exhibit. Some of Mario's speeches are in the exhibit's books. We may even be in the actual audio or visual materials in the exhibit. The exhibit curator or one of her assistants will take us on a tour, and you can also wander around on your own.
We will try to get tickets for Tuesday morning, Sept. 30, no earlier than 8:30 and no later than 1 p.m. If you want to join the group, you must indicate your interest by e-mailing BTStack@aol.com by 6/27, including the names of all who will be attending with you. Registration fees for the reunion and payment of $30.00 per ticket for this event will be due by July 3rd.
The schedule and registration form can be found here:
http://fsm-a.org/FSM%202014%2050th%20Anniversary.html
Below is a description of the exhibit:
http://www.for-site.org/project/ai-weiwei-alcatraz/@Large: Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz
September 27, 2014 – April 26, 2015 at Alcatraz Island
“The misconception of totalitarianism is that freedom can be imprisoned. This is not the case. When you constrain freedom, freedom will take flight and land on a windowsill.”
— Ai WeiweiThe Chinese artist Ai Weiwei is internationally renowned both as a maker of potent and provocative art and as a passionate advocate for human rights and freedom of expression. His art and ideas find a compelling new context in this exhibition of works created specifically forAlcatraz — a 19th-century military fortress, a notorious federal penitentiary, a site of Native American heritage and protest, and now one of America’s most visited national parks.
Ai’s sculpture, sound, and mixed-media works will occupy four locations in the former prison: the New Industries Building, A Block, the Hospital, and the Dining Hall. With the exception of the Dining Hall, these spaces are usually off limits to the public, but all will be open throughout the run of this unprecedented exhibition. Revealing unexpected perspectives on Alcatraz and its layered legacy, @Large prompts visitors to consider the implications of incarceration and the possibilities of art as an act of conscience.
For Ai, these are not just artistic themes; they are facts of life. A vocal critic of the Chinese government, Ai was secretly detained by Chinese authorities for 81 days in 2011 on charges of tax evasion, and is still not permitted to leave China. As a result, Ai is currently unable to visit Alcatraz. He is developing the artwork for the exhibition from his studio in Beijing, with the help of the FOR-SITE Foundation and a team of collaborators from organizations including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.
An interesting article:
http://www.sfgate.com/art/article/Ai-Weiwei-Alcatraz-exhibition-a-major-move-for-5571353.php
6/4/2014
FSM Archives 50th Reunion RegistrationThis is being sent to 955 people on the FSM-A.org list by the Board of the Free Speech Movement Archives, a California non-profit (since 1998) that collects and preserves FSM history and educates coming generations in the spirit of the Free Speech Movement.
Hi all,
Attached and also available for download on our site (on homae page and on 50th Schedule page) is a four-page pdf with a cover letter, schedule, and two-page registration form. We want you to print out the Reg forms (they are pages 3 & 4), fill them out and mail them back with a check. Note that we structured an incentive for you to mail back your Registration sooner than later.
Please forgive the still-developing schedule.
Thanks to all who completed the on-line survey. We hope to do another soon, which will test the highest-ranking panel ideas against a few more which have been suggested.
We also just sent out 500+ Registration packets via USPS to members of our list in the US and abroad for whom we have no email addresses. That is another example of how your donation $$ are being used. It might be easier for all of us if you choose to include a donation with your Registration (one stamp for both!) if you make a separate check. Apologies for the old-fashioned bookkeeping and registration.
Onward!
5/17/2014
FSM Archives 50th Anniversary SurveyThis is being sent to 955 people on the FSM-A.org list by the Board of the Free Speech Movement Archives, a California non-profit (since 1998) that collects and preserves FSM history and educates coming generations in the spirit of the Free Speech Movement.
Dear FSMers and Friends,
Although September may seem far away, our 50th Anniversary celebration requires lots of advance planning and we need information NOW in order to reserve venues.
We will follow up this survey with more detailed queries and registration forms. We will soon also send out a postal mailing to all those for whom we have postal addresses but not email.
At this point we have a tentative schedule, very much subject to change:
http://fsm-a.org/FSM%202014%2050th%20Anniversary.html
We have an estimated $150 registration fee for the weekend, including one lunch, two dinners, theater and hootenanny tickets, but not including housing.
Please contribute (tax-deductible) to help defray costs for a limited number of people needing assistance, for some travel costs for speakers, venues, and for many other expenses.
http://fsm-a.org/FSM_Archives_Donations.html
We ask you to respond via email to the following Questions:
My Needs:
I need low-cost housing _____ for (# people) ______at $______ or less per night.
I can only pay $ _______ per person towards the estimated $150 cost of Reunion events.
I need accommodation for the following disabilities: _______________________My Offers:
I can provide a mattress ______ bed _____ room _______ other _______
for # ________ people for the night(s) of ______________________.Check one: This is available at no charge OR for $ _______ per night.
will charge ___________ AND donate it to the Reunion fund.I volunteer to do e-mail or telephone work now ________.
I will help out during the reunion ____________Please use the following link for our short online Questionnaire via Survey Monkey
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/V8D8CLW
Thanks from the FSM Archives Planning Committee
Lynne Hollander Savio, chair; Lee Felsenstein, Steve Lustig, Dana MacDermott, Karen McLellan, Jack Radey, Mike Smith, Barbara Stack, Jack Weinberg, Margy Wilkinson
4/21/2014
FSM-A: April 27 Staged reading of PLANET SNOWVIOThis is being sent to 423 Bay Area folks on the FSM list by the Board of the Free Speech Movement Archives, a California non-profit (since 1998) that collects and preserves FSM history and educates coming generations in the spirit of the Free Speech Movement.
We just learned of this April 27 event. Note that there is a $10 admission fee for the museum (required to see the show).
Mario Savio of the Free Speech Movement meets NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden in PLANET SNOWVIO;
Stage reading of experimental musical; Obama and Putin appear;
at UC Berkeley Art Museum; 50th anniversary of Free Speech Movement (1964-2014).
Who travels to the beat of a “Different Drum”?
Contact: Jay Critchley, reroot@comcast.netOn the 50th anniversary of the historic Free Speech Movement, FSM (1964-2014), multi-media artist Jay Critchley will debut a stage reading of his new experimental musical, PLANET SNOWVIO. The one-act play is based on the meeting of Mario Savio, FSM, and NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. On their journey to PLANET SNOWVIO they encounter Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Barack Obama. This political satire is sprinkled with humorous interpretations of classic pop songs.
PLANET SNOWVIO will debut at the UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, 2626 Bancroft Way, Berkeley, CA, on Sunday, April 27 at 2:00pm. This one-time-only performance is part of the exhibition, The Possible, a four-month long experimental exhibition that reconceives the museum as a site for creative convergence. There will be a public discussion following the performance. Critchley was invited by artist Raphael Noz as part of The Something, an experiment in participatory music, performance and video at the museum.
Musical director and arranger for PLANET SNOWVIO, Masis Parunyan, received his Bachelor’s degree in Music from the University of California, Berkeley. Currently he is working with the University Choruses and Orchestras, he has directed ensembles through original productions on stage and in concert. Actors include: Savio, Alyssa Stone; Snowden, Jesse Cortez; Obama, Andre San-Chez; and Putin, Richard Kalman.
Following the civil rights’ Freedom Summer in Mississippi, the FSM helped propel the country out of the restrictive Cold War culture and sparked national and international campus activism and anti-Vietnam protests.
“Recalling the significance of 1964, I read the biography of Mario Savio while closely following the dramatic revelations of whistleblower Edward Snowden. This inspired the creation of PLANET SNOWVIO - where these two historic, radical figures meet!” Critchley states.
“Did Mark Twain have it right? ‘History doesn't repeat itself - but it rhymes.’ Where is the dissonance?” he added.
PLANET SNOWVIO mixes historic speeches with musical pop parody, including: Savio and Snowden singing, "I Got You Babe"; a Putin-Snowden duet, "YMCA" (Snowden: "Why NSA?" Putin: "Vi M Vi Fey?"). This mash up leads to "You Don't Own Me" by Leslie Gore. PLANET SNOWVIO includes a poignant reminder of the radical change that is happening with the seminal civil rights ballad, "A Change is Gonna Come" by Sam Cook. And finally, who travels to the beat of a "Different Drum"?
Critchley is a multi-media performance artist based in Provincetown, Massachusetts whose work and activism have traversed the globe, showing in Argentina, Japan, England, Holland, Germany, Columbia, France and Spain. He was recently featured on LOGO TV and BBC/UK. His 2011 exhibition in Chelsea, NYC received key reviews in the New York Times, The New Yorker and the Village Voice. Toilet Treatments, won an HBO Award at Provincetown Film Festival. He has taught at the Museum School at MFA Boston, and has had residencies at: Harvard University; AS220, RI; Williams College; Real Art Ways, Hartford; Milepost 5, Portland, OR; Fundacion Valparaiso, Majocar, Spain; and CAMAC, Marnay-sur-Seine, France. www.jaycritchley.com
4/10/2014
FSM-A: HackFSM Judging and Presentations
This is being sent to 243 FSM arrestees and participants in Northern CA by the Board of the Free Speech Movement Archives, a California non-profit (since 1998) that collects and preserves FSM history and educates coming generations in the spirit of the Free Speech Movement.
Hi all,
This is a reminder that on Saturday, April 12, the Bancroft Library HackFSM will host demonstrations, judging, and an awards ceremony on their competition for coding a new interface for their FSM digital materials.
The winning entries will be announced at 2:45, and our Gar Smith will be among the award presenters. At 3:00 the first-place team will demo their project as part of a Cal Day event on the Free Speech Movement Archive.
3:00 pm - 4:30 pm winning team demonstrates their project for a public audienceLocation: the I-School in 210 South Hall
http://digitalhumanities.berkeley.edu/fsm-archive-hackathon
Our interface for the Bancroft’s digital offerings is here:
http://fsm-a.org/BancroftLibraryFSMLinks.html
4/3/2014
FSM-A: the alleged Golden Jubilee & other news and projectsThis is being sent to 938 people on the FSM-A.org list by the Board of the Free Speech Movement Archives, a California non-profit (since 1998) that collects and preserves FSM history and educates coming generations in the spirit of the Free Speech Movement.
Hello to all, and a special welcome to the new people who have joined our list!
Preparations for FSM’s 50th Anniversary are really picking up steam, with events on campus already underway. The latest refers to the Free Speech Movement Golden Jubilee!
April 10, Daily Cal Commemorative Program with the Grad School of Journalism:
http://us3.campaign-archive1.com/?u=7e3e937cc6125bfb005e9e03e&id=8a322efd9e&e=625d0b6a7aApril 12 Bancroft Library HackFSM judging on their competition for coding a new interface for their FSM digital materials:
http://digitalhumanities.berkeley.edu/fsm-archive-hackathonWhich brings to mind our own site, which is undergoing a slow transformation inside and out. Recently Daily Cal photographer Ron Enfield gave us permission to repost his photos! Take a look:
www.FSM-A.orgOur interface for the Bancroft’s digital offerings is here:
http://fsm-a.org/BancroftLibraryFSMLinks.htmlAnother event of interest is archivist Lincoln Cushing’s April 3 Lecture at the SF Public Library on Political and Countercultural Printshops of the S.F. Bay Area—including Berkeley Graphic Arts, where the FSM Newsletter was printed:
http://californiastudiesblog.wordpress.com/2014/02/23/political-and-countercultural-printshops-of-the-s-f-bay-area-slide-lecture-april-3/http://www.docspopuli.org/articles/BayAreaRadicalShops.html#BerkeleyGraphicArts
Call for Short Poems:
Arnie Passman has announced a compendium:
2 poems, a brace, each of 50 words or less from 50 writers on the 50 *cruelest backlashes* (worst feeling) and writers' favorite greater good (best feeling) of the 50 years since freedom summer, civil rights act, free speech movement, war on poverty, Vietnam, what the rednecks call "when Kennedy and Johnson shit in the soup" . . . by Labor Day, 2014. Contact Arnie at pazmaux1 at gmail.com.Research Request
My name is Sissi Jaschik, and I currently live in Casa Zimbabwe. This is my second and last semester as a member of the BSC [Berkeley Student Cooperative], since I will be graduating this spring. My time in CZ has been such a unique and special experience that I decided to write my Bachelor’s thesis about activism in the BSC, from the Free Speech Movement through Apartheid and Occupy to No 2 Napolitano. Thus, I would gladly speak to people who have lived in Barrington Hall, Chateau, or were somehow involved in any of these movements. Please e-mail or call me with any information: e.jaschik at berkeley.edu or (347) 837 5939.
[cc FSM-A if you like]More Details on that alleged Golden Jubilee
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 20143 pm -- Begin check-in; late registrations
5:30 - Welcoming reception, no-host bar (pre-registration required)
6:30 - Dinner (pre-registration required)
8- 10 -- Icebreakers, informal socializing, possibly discussion group(s)SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 27
8 a.m. - 10 Free breakfast at FSM Cafe (numbers limited; pre-reg required)
10 -- 10:30 Plenary Session: Welcome, Announcements, Memorial ceremony; Dwinelle Hall (all Sessions)
10:30-12 Session 1 (continuation of plenary): Fighting the attack on Voting Rghts, with guest speakers
12 --1:30 Box lunch pre-ordered from FSM Cafe or BYO
1:30 -- 3 Session 2: Simultaneous panels or discussions, topics and number to be decided.
3:15 -- 4:45 Session 3: Simultaneous panels or discussions, topics and number to be decided.
5:30 -- 6:30 Happy hour, no-host bar (pre-reg required)
6:30 -- 8:30 Dinner, with open mic for reminiscing (pre-reg required)
8:45 -- 12:30 Hootenanny and dance with guest artists, Ashkenaz(pre-reg advised)SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 28
10 am - 1 pm -- Brunch picnic (possibly pre-reg required)
2-4:30 - * FSM Musical play performance (presented by Stagebridge, in assoc with Berkeley Rep; pre-reg req)
Alternative options: 2 - 5 * UC Coops reunion
3-5:30 * Berkeley Historical Society opening of FSM exhibit
* FSM art/documents exhibit; Bancroft Library
* 60's Design exhibit with Political poster slide show, Wurster Hall (?)
* Film at Pacific Film Archive (?)
* Drop-in Lounge
(Dinner on your own)
7:00 -- * FSM Musical play (see 2 pm above)Note: FSM musical will also be performed 9/20, 9/21, 9/26 and 9/27
We expect additional events to be scheduled by University departments during the week , from Constitution Day to Dec. 8th (Anny. of the Academic Senate Resolutions).
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 29
10-12? - *Special open hours at Berkeley Historical Society for FSM exhibit time tba: * Center for African Studies:panel on the Anti-Apartheid Divestment Movement, withTodd Gitlin, Pedro Noguera, and Gay Seidman
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30
7:30 -- Political poetry night, FSM Cafe, with Josh Healey
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1 --
12 - 1 FSM rally on Sproul Plaza with FSM vets and special guest speakers
1:30 - * 3:30 Berkeley Faculty Association Teach-in: The University Then and Now,
3:30 - Panel and town hall discussion of student activismTHURSDAY, OCTOBER 2
4:00 -* Panel on Teaching about the FSM, with Visiting Prof. Robert Cohen (NYU)and UC- California History Project Director Rachel Reinhard (pre-registration required; for teachers)
7:30 - * Mario Savio Memorial Lecture with Saru Jayaraman, Co-Founder/Co-Director ROC-United, Director of the Food Labor Research Center, UCBYour Help Needed
We need money to make the anniversary events happen--for venue rentals, printing, labor, etc.--and to continue the archiving work (funding is almost depleted). To make a tax-deductible donation, please make a check payable as shown at this link. And BIG thanks for those who have already sent in contributions!http://fsm-a.org/FSM_Archives_Donations.html
Thanks from the FSM Archives Board
Lee Felsenstein, President; Anita Medal, Treasurer; Gar Smith, Secretary. Board Members: Margot Adler, Bettina Aptheker, Robert Cohen, Susan Druding, Barbara Garson, Jackie Goldberg, Lynne Hollander Savio, Jack Radey, Barbara Stack
3/4/2014
FSM-A: Optimistic, Photo-realistic, and Curious emailThis is being sent to 899 people on the FSM-A.org list by the Board of Free Speech Movement Archives, a CA non-profit since 1998, which collects and preserves FSM history and educates coming generations in the spirit of the Free Speech Movement.
Hello to all, and welcome to the over 25 people new to our list!
Plans for the fall 50th Anniversary Reunion and Commemoration events September 26-October 1, 2014 are going well, with campus participation all the way up through the Chancellor. We have learned that incoming freshmen will be reading Robert Cohen’s bio of Mario Savio, “Freedom’s Orator.” In addition to the efforts of FSM Archives, a number of community groups and journalists are planning projects. We will soon ask you to declare whether you plan to come to Berkeley so we can plan facilities.
Archives
We are really happy to bring your attention to a collection of 151 photos by Howard Harawitz which he has allowed us to share on our site. Many, many are online for the first time. Take a look and help us ID all those wonderful young people who were us.
http://fsm-a.org/Harawitz%20photos/Webpages/gallery-01.htmlWe just posted 179 pages of Faculty documents here:
http://www.fsm-a.org/stacks/covers/FSM_Documents.htmlDoes anyone have copies of Particle Berkeley Magazine to donate to the Archives?
Lost Lambs
We’re still looking! You can look here:
http://fsm-a.org/missing.html
At this point, we need specific info rather than general pointers. In the near future we will be sending a first-class mailing to those for whom we have postal addresses but not email.Social media
We are told that social media will be an important publicity vector. Howard Harawitz recently announced our posting of his photos on Facebook. Can you find an excuse to announce the Fall dates to your lists with a link to our website
www.fsm-a.orgJornalist Martin Snapp, who writes for the Bay Area News Group as well as the California Monthly, has been writing about the FSM for decades. When he was an undergrad at Yale, he read about the FSM and realized: "Oh no! I went to the wrong school!" Martin is planning some major FSM projects and writes:
I’m looking to hear from FSM veterans who will tell me two things:
1. What impact FSM had on their lives, both back then and in the years since.
2. Great stories from back in the day. Like, for example, the people who sat at the four corners of the police car. Or somebody who was in the audience at the Greek Theater when the cops mugged Mario. Or whatever. Just some stories to give people a vivid picture of the time.You can write to Martin at:
catman-at-sunset.net
If you are willing, cc FSM-A at this email address.The Pitch
We need money to make the 50th happen: (for venue rentals, printing, labor, etc.). If you should be inclined to make a tax-deductible donation, please make a check payable as shown below. By the way, the Archives Project is still far from complete and we continue to ask for donations of documents, artifacts and other memabilia. Let your memo line show your preferences. Apologies as we can as yet offer no online alternative to checks by mail.Payable to:
FSM-A
OR
FSM Archives
OR
Free Speech Movement ArchivesMemo line:
50th
OR
Archives
OR
blank = unrestrictedThen mail it to our treasurer:
Anita Medal
1801 5th Street
Berkeley, CA 94710-1914Thanks from the FSM Archives Board
Lee Felsenstein, President; Anita Medal, Treasurer; Gar Smith, Secretary. Board Members: Margot Adler, Bettina Aptheker, Robert Cohen, Susan Druding, Barbara Garson, Jackie Goldberg, Lynne Hollander Savio, Jack Radey, Barbara Stack
1/10/2014
FSM-A: Newsy EmailThis is being sent to 874 people on the FSM-A.org list by the Board of Free Speech Movement Archives, a CA non-profit since 1998, which collects and preserves FSM history and educates coming generations in the spirit of the Free Speech Movement.
Two Studies: Please respond to me and I’ll forward:
1. Kai Gardner, a student at Oberlin, is researching the FSM, with a special eye to the part his grandfather, Norman Jacobson might have played in the Movement. Norman was a professor of political theory at the time. Does anyone who have personal recollections to share?
2. FSM Arrestee Rolf Hasso Lutz, a grad student from Germany, died in a motorcycle accident in Texas soon after the FSM. Interest in his life continues in both Germany and the US, and another FSM arrestee, Susan Peterson, is researching his FSM experience. Does anyone have recollections or photos?
Madeleine Loh of the Berkeley Student Cooperative is very interested in the FSM and we have cross-listed FSM Arrestees who were Coop members. What we don’t have is other FSM participants were were coop mems. If you were, will you let me know, along with the name of your house. If you are not receiving mail from Berkeley Student Cooperative and would like to, tell me and I’ll forward your info to Madeleine.
A Document the FSM Archive does not have: The 1965 Yearbook! I you have one, and wish not to donate it, but to loan it, we’d love to scan the FSM pages.
Note that we continue to find our lost lambs and to update our list here:
http://fsm-a.org/missing.htmlThe best way to find folks (other than their googling themselves and finding our list) is for you to peruse the list and then check your own address lists for contact info.
Two FSM-related Films to be shown on PBS this Month:
Frederick Wiseman’s “At Berkeley”
“1964”Reviews mentioning the FSM will appear here:
http://btstack.com/btstackfsmpressbib.htmlReminder
A celebration of Neal Blumenfelds’s life will be held on January 18, 2014, at 1:00PM at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda, Berkeley, CA. In lieu of flowers the family requests that tax-deductible donations be made to the Free Speech Movement Archives, 1801 5th Street, Berkeley, CA, 94710.FSM 50th
We plan to gather for three days of special events running from September 26-28, 2014 -- panels, concerts, a play, films, a poetry reading, speakers and special guests. There will be many other campus events the following week -- including a noon rally on the Savio Steps on October 1. We need your support to help make this happen!Finally, you can see the smiling faces of the California members of the FSM-A Board here:
www.FSM-A.org
We had just voted to go ahead with the 50th!
12/13/2013
FSM-A: Mandela Commemoration TOMORROW (Sat.) on CampusThis is being sent to 500 people on the FSM-A.org greater Bay Area list by the Board of Free Speech Movement Archives, a CA non-profit since 1998, which collects and preserves FSM history and educates coming generations in the spirit of the Free Speech Movement.
Assemblymember Nancy Skinner asked us to spread the word about this just-organized event. FSM-A thought you’d want to know. This is a rare exception to our FSM-only subject-matter, though the 1984 FSM Anniversary has been credited with jumpstarting the divestment organizing at Cal. Attached is a pdf of this announcement.
UC BERKELEY CAMPUS &
COMMUNITY GATHERING HONORING
NELSON MANDELA
SATURDAY, DEC. 14, 2013
3PM - 5PM Sproul Plaza, UC Berkeley
Music, Reflections, Candlelight VigilMUSIC: Kev Choice, Rico Pabon, Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir,
Rasheed Shabazz and more.
CAMPUS, COMMUNITY LEADERS: ASUC President Deejay Pepita,
CA State Assembly Speaker John perez, Chancellor Nicholas Dirks
Gabby Shuman & Marcel Jones of the Black Student Union,
Pastor Michael McBride and more.
12/10/2013
FSM-A: Sad News: Neal Blumenfeld 1930-2013
This is being sent to 871 people on the FSM-A.org list by the Board of Free Speech Movement Archives, a CA non-profit since 1998, which collects and preserves FSM history and educates coming generations in the spirit of the Free Speech Movement.http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/text/article.cfm?issue=10-12-04&storyID=19850
10/12/2004, Berkeley Daily Planet, Psychiatrist's Encounter With FSM Shaped Life, Richard Brenneman,"When young psychiatrist Neal Blumenfeld read that students had staged a protest at Sproul Plaza, he drove his Triumph TR-3 sports car as close as he could get to the campus, then walked over for a first-hand look.
Within days of that 1964 protest he'd been ousted from his part-time consultancy with the Berkeley Police Department and had established himself as what Free Speech Movement leaders described as 'the movement shrink.'"
A celebration of his life will be held on January 18, 2014, at 1:00PM at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda, Berkeley, CA. In lieu of flowers the family requests that tax-deductible donations be made to the Free Speech Movement Archives, 1801 5th Street, Berkeley, CA, 94710.
Neal M. Blumenfeld, MD
Neal Blumenfeld, eminent psychiatrist, citizen of the world, passed at his home on December 1, 2013. He was 83.
Neal was preceded in death by his beloved wife Lise, his parents Dr. Charles M. and Pauline Blumenfeld, and sister Mrs. Diane Miller, and is survived by many: his three children, Eve, Peter and Thomas; three stepchildren: Mimi, Judy and Mike Wolff; five grandchildren: Laura, Alex, and Nick Blumenfeld, and Alex and Nat Wolff; and friends, comrades, neighbors, classmates and colleagues.
Neal was born on November 26, 1930, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and spent most of his adolescence in Sacramento, California, after having lived in Cleveland, Ohio and Salt Lake City, Utah. He graduated from UC Berkeley, received his medical degree from the University of California, San Francisco, was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and performed his residency in psychiatry at Yale University. He served as Army captain while stationed in Vicenza, Italy, where he and his first wife Leah Zeff adopted two children, Eve and Thomas. Peter was born nine years later. Neal settled in Berkeley and was a prominent figure in the Bay Area mental health scene since the 1960s.
Not defined by his medical acumen alone, Neal was an astute political observer. A passionate civil rights advocate, his fervor found expression in the Free Speech Movement, which he fully embraced among countless human rights causes. He viewed the Free Speech Movement as a moral issue, rather than an issue of a youth rebellion, writing: “It is intriguing to speculate on why the moral issue is so frequently ignored or derided.… Perhaps it is too disturbing to recognize that there are people who can say: ‘I have not given over my whole conscience to any system -- I reserve the right to protest (and if necessary to break the rules of the system in that protest), when the system trespasses upon basic rights.’” As a philanthropist, he was a man committed to the betterment of those who either could not, or were not empowered, to help themselves.
At various times in his life Neal could be described as a radical, revolutionary, Socialist, Neo-Trotskyist, lefty, and self-proclaimed BhuJew, yet these labels do not do justice to the depth of his commitment to the causes he believed in. A goal in his life was to make common cause, to help the oppressed, to stand up for the worker, to defend the individual and environment from corporations, and to give voice to the voiceless. A man with a large heart for those who needed help, he was a believer that a just society is a fair society.
His adventurous spirit took him from Cuba to Eritrea, on trails and rope bridges, in cold rivers and lakes, up mountains and down gorges. His athleticism led him to enjoy everything from basketball and hiking to climbing, bicycling, tennis, and swimming, winning his age division in Master’s swimming at age 69. Neal enjoyed both art and music, and he loved to play his steel guitar and sing his favorite folk songs and Spanish Revolutionary War ballads.
An avid life-long learner, he was both intellectually curious and physically active, equally at home in the library or public park. Intellectual, writer, environmentalist, linguist, raconteur, historian, antagonist, preservationist, and explorer, his vivacious spirit and larger-than-life personality captivated those who knew him. His dry sense of humor and endless supply of witty anecdotes entertained and engaged.
The lefty has left, and an era has ended, but his indomitable spirit and joie de vivre remains and touches us.
A celebration of his life will be held on January 18, 2014, at 1:00PM at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda, Berkeley, CA. In lieu of flowers the family requests that tax-deductible donations be made to the Free Speech Movement Archives, 1801 5th Street, Berkeley, CA, 94710.
12/4/2013
FSM-A: Appeal for 2014 50th Anniversary Commemoration and Reunion
This is being sent to 866 people on the FSM-A.org list by the Board of Free Speech Movement Archives, a CA non-profit since 1998, which collects and preserves FSM history and educates coming generations in the spirit of the Free Speech Movement.Hi all,
On September 8, the FSM-A Board voted to start preparing for the much-anticipated FSM 50th Anniversary Commemoration and Reunion. We sent out an initial request for donations to fund the many expenses the FSM Archives organization will incur. Since then, we have received $1,525 in contributions targeted for the 2014 event. It’s a great start!
We plan to gather for three days of special events running from September 26-28, 2014 -- panels, concerts, a play, films, a poetry reading, speakers and special guests. There will be many other campus events the following week -- concluding with a noon rally on the Savio Steps on October 1, for which our campus friends have already reserved Sproul Plaza!
There are many memories that FSM vets have shared with the Archives over the years. Here's just one:
Julia Stein wrote us in 1996
“When I sat in in Sproul Hall, it was also Hanukah; some of the Jewish students lit a menorah inside the sit-in and danced a hora to a record on a portable record player. It seemed fitting to be Hanukah, both in 1964 and now, because Hanukah is a holiday that commemorates a struggle for freedom.”We need money to make this happen: (for labor, printing, venue rentals, transportation for guest speakers, etc.). If you should be inclined to make a tax deductible year-end donation, please make a check payable to any of the following (and note “2014 50th” on the memo line).
FSM-A
OR
FSM Archives
OR
Free Speech Movement ArchivesThen mail it to our treasurer:
Anita Medal
1801 5th Street
Berkeley, CA 94710-1914Happy Holidays!
The FSM Archives Board
Lee Felsenstein, President, Anita Medal, Treasurer, Gar Smith, Secretary. Board Members: Margot Adler, Bettina Aptheker, Robert Cohen, Susan Druding, Barbara Garson, Jackie Goldberg, Lynne Hollander Savio, Jack Radey, Barbara Stack
And Jack Weinberg
11/6/2013
FSM-A: Request for Interviews from Robert CohenThis is being sent to 470 participants and arrestees on the FSM-A.org list by the Board of Free Speech Movement Archives, a CA non-profit since 1998, which collects and preserves FSM history and educates coming generations in the spirit of the Free Speech Movement.
Friends,
Before I convey Prof. Robert Cohen’s request, I just want to report that our last email on behalf of Christopher Phelps almost immediately brought a response from an FSM Arrestee who was one of Ed Roberts' two main attendants during the FSM period!
Dear FSM veteran,
As a final assignment the students in my MA seminar in US History this semester at NYU are going to be doing an oral history project on the Free Speech Movement.
These students will be teaching about the 1960s in their classroom work first as student teachers this year in New York public high schools and later when they become full time history teachers. Doing this oral history work on the FSM will both help them teach the 1960s to future generations and also be of great use so they can teach their own students how to do oral history projects.
In order to make this oral history project work we need about a dozen Free Speech Movement veterans to serve as interviewees. I am writing to ask for volunteers to be interviewed by my students. This will involve about a half hour or so of your time, doing a telephone interview, in which my students will ask you about your political biography, your role in the Free Speech Movement, and your reflections on the movement and the 1960s. If you are willing, we may also make the interviews available on line and to the media so that they can be used in stories that may be written by the Daily Californian and others as the 50th anniversary of the Free Speech Movement approaches.
If you are in the New York area and can do the interview in person that would also be great.
If you are willing to be interviewed by my students please contact me at rpc6@nyu.edu
Thanks for considering this request.
Sincerely,
Robert Cohen
Professor of Social Studies, NYU Steinhardt
Affiliated Professor, History Department
New York University
rpc6-at-nyu.edu**********
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