Colin Edwards Free Speech Movement
The Free Speech Collection is primarily comprised of audio recordings produced by independent journalistColin Edwards from 1964-1967. Edwards was a journalist working with Canadian Broadcasting, the BBC and Pacifica Radio among others. His work represents a comprehensive account of the major perspectives, ideas, events and figures of the Free Speech Movement, the Sproul hall sit-in and the subsequent changesconcerning the rights of students to engage in political activity on the UC-Berkeley campus. These changes, best known as the December 8th Resolutions, were put to the test in 1966 during the “Little Free Speech Movement” in which students’ political rights were again brought into question.This part of the collection focuses on the November 30th, 1966 confrontation between anti-war demonstrators and a Navy recruiting table that was set up in the student union building. Many students and non-students were arrested and disciplined, and students responded with a strike that disrupted campus activities. Ultimately, UC president Clark Kerr was dismissed by newly-elected Governor Reagan and the Board of Regents for being “too soft” onprotesters.
One of the strongest aspects of thiscollection is Colin’s ability to speak with all the major players: students,professors, administrators, local political and police representatives as wellas members of the corporate media. This provides a vibrant context with whichto understand the movement and its lasting effects on the political culture ofthe UC Berkeley campus. It also shifts the focus of the movement fromwell-known figures to people whose names that we might not know but played anequally important role in the success of the movement. In addition to hisinterviews, the collection also features speeches and rallies held by the FSM,Student Senate Debates in which major FSM issues were decided and even audiofrom Mario Savio's birthday party.
This is one of the definitive audiocollections of the Free Speech Movement and represents an important addition tothe dominant narrative that limits the free speech movement and itsaccomplishments to the work of a couple of dedicated students. The audioprovides evidence of the significant linkages between the civil rightsstruggles being waged by African-Americans and the Free Speech Movement, themass nature of the protests and the true politically diversity of student andfaculty participants.
The FSM is equally as relevant todayas it was in the 1960s. Check out two of our interns' blogs about thecontemporary relevance of this collection:
Documents
Mona Hutchin: conservative student involvement in the FSM
Interview with Mona Hutchin, a conservative student activist who participated in the Free Speech Movement. She discusses how she became involved and her experiences with the Sproul Hall sit-in, police violence and subsequent arrest. She describes harassment of student organizers by fraternity members. She discusses with Colin the distorted media coverage of the sit-in, describing some coverage as “out and out lies.”
Professor Joseph Tussman: faculty reflections on the FSM (part 1 of 2)
Interview with Professor Joseph Tussman, chair of the UC Berkeley philosophy department and experimental education advocate. He reflects on the events of the fall and winter of 1964 as a supportive yet critical faculty member with a strong interest in democratic engagement and education reform.
Professor Joseph Tussman: faculty reflections on the FSM (part 2 of 2)
Interview with Professor Joseph Tussman, chair of the UC Berkeley philosophy department and experimental education advocate. He reflects on the events of the fall and winter of 1964 as a supportive yet critical faculty member with a strong interest in democratic engagement and education reform.
Rick Davis: Covering the FSM (part 1 of 2)
Interview with prominent television reporter, writer and producer Rick Davis about his experiences reporting on the FSM. His coverage began with the car top rally in October 1964 and continued through the Sproul Hall sit-in in December. He is critical of some student viewpoints and tactics, with an especially harsh assessment of Mario Savio, but describes himself as being strongly invested in free speech and accurate reporting, and exposes many of the distortions and fabrications that were present in his colleagues’ reporting, such as invented reports of break-ins and vandalism. He describes police violence, and their attempts to discourage press coverage. He discusses the various political factions on campus and the role that right-wing students held within the FSM.
Claude Mann: Covering the FSM
Claude Mann is a news reporter from Channel 2 in Oakland. Claude recounts his experiences at the FSM protests at Sproul Hall in early October 1964 and then on December 2nd and 3rd 1964. He talks about the atmospheres of those protests, the mood of the students and answers questions about student provocateurs. He details what he saw at the December 2nd and 3rd sit-ins and arrests and comments on whether or not the aisles were blocked, whether or not the police were unnecessarily rough, his feelings on mainstream news coverage of the FSM, the issue of branding the leadership of the FSM as communists and the absence of Black students from the arrests and sit-ins. Mann’s commentary around the press coverage of the events is especially interesting as Colin and him discusses differences between print and tv journalists and their coverage, limitations of coverage and the attitude of reporters towards the FSM.
Wallace Turner: Covering the FSM
The first part of this tape is an interview with the West Coast correspondent with the New York Times. He discusses the Sproul Hall sit-in, the nature of the protest, the nature of the students, what did the inside of Sproul Hall look like and other topics. He re-enforces the dominant narrative of the establishment by refusing to contradict the official version of accounts from the police and the district attorney. He describes the arrests of the students, talks about the connections between the civil rights movement and the leadership of the FSM and supports Clark Kerr commenting “ he’s done more to protect free speech than any of the protestors.” The second part of the tape focuses on the Jail sentences handed out to students arrested at the Sproul Hall sit-in. Accounts of the students’ experience in Santa Rita Jail are remembered by Hal Draper, Roberta Alexander, Bettina Apickther, and Anita Lavin. Specifically discussed are the conditions inside the jail and the attempts of the guards to separate the prisoners from the students and the politicization of the prisoners.
Robert Treuhaft: FSM legal counsel (part 1 of 5)
Interview with Oakland attorney Robert Treuhaft, who served as legal counsel to the Free Speech Movement beginning in October 1964, and was arrested in the December 2 sit-in at Sproul Hall. He discusses the events of October to December 1964 and their ramifications from a legal standpoint. Part 1.
Robert Treuhaft: FSM legal counsel (part 2 of 5)
Interview with Oakland attorney Robert Treuhaft, who served as legal counsel to the Free Speech Movement beginning in October 1964, and was arrested in the December 2 sit-in at Sproul Hall. He discusses the events of October to December 1964 and their ramifications from a legal standpoint. Part 2.
Robert Treuhaft: FSM legal counsel (part 3 of 5)
Interview with Oakland attorney Robert Treuhaft, who served as legal counsel to the Free Speech Movement beginning in October 1964, and was arrested in the December 2 sit-in at Sproul Hall. He discusses the events of October to December 1964 and their ramifications from a legal standpoint. Part 3.
Robert Treuhaft: FSM legal counsel (part 4 of 5)
Interview with Oakland attorney Robert Treuhaft, who served as legal counsel to the Free Speech Movement beginning in October 1964, and was arrested in the December 2 sit-in at Sproul Hall. He discusses the events of October to December 1964 and their ramifications from a legal standpoint. Part 4.