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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

Clark Kerr- Multi-versity Clark Kerr- Multi-versity
Call Number: CE 704Format: 1/4 7 1/2 ipsProducers: Colin EdwardsCollection: Colin Edwards Free Speech Movement
Colin Edwards interviews the president of UC Berkeley Clark Kerr about his idea of multi-versity. Multi-versity basically describes the changing role of the university in society and Clark Kerr’s desire to further establish links to business and industry, expand the bureaucracy of the university and lessen its emphasize on abstract ideas and exploration and increase its role as a knowledge factory. Within the interview, Kerr discusses the role of professors, undergraduates vs. graduate students, the role of research, the role of universities in society, the role of truth and morality at the university, the autonomy of the university, educational reform on campus and the role of the president as the mediator in the multi-versity.
Clark Kerr Excerpts Clark Kerr Excerpts
Call Number: CE 705Format: 1/4 7 1/2 ipsProducers: Colin EdwardsCollection: Colin Edwards Free Speech Movement
This recording contains excerpts from Clark Kerr taken from interviews and speeches. Most of the focus is on the FSM, his concept of the mulit-versity and the state of universities in society. *Tape should be played sparingly to ensure preservation