At Berkeley in the Sixties
The Making of an Activist
Published on 24. December 2003
Book
Paperback/Softback
384 pages
978-0-253-21622-9 (ISBN)
Description
This book is a memoir and a history of Berkeley in the early Sixties. As a young undergraduate, Jo Freeman was a key participant in the growth of social activism at the University of California, Berkeley. The story is told with the "you are there" immediacy of Freeman the undergraduate but is put into historical and political context by Freeman the scholar, 35 years later. It draws heavily on documents created at the time-letters, reports, interviews, memos, newspaper stories, FBI files-but is fleshed out with retrospective analysis. As events unfold, the campus conflicts of the Sixties take on a completely different cast, one that may surprise many readers.
Reviews / Votes
When Jo Freeman began her undergraduate education in 1961, the University of California, Berkeley, like many colleges then, took "in loco parentis" seriously. Administrative rules enforced curfews, banned political groups from operating on campuses and forced professors to sign loyalty oaths. Freeman and other students joined Slate, "a permanent student political party" that began by protesting racial segregation in fraternities and sororities, then quickly moved on to demonstrate against the death penalty, for civil rights in the South and for fair housing in Berkeley. The more the university attempted to crack down on student unrest, the larger the dissident groups grew. The arrest of one alumnus for handing out leaflets at a student-only table led to the birth of the Free Speech Movement. Freeman, author of "A Room at a Time: How Women Entered Party Politics" and other works about feminism, brings enormous research to bear on her heady college days. In a book that is less memoir than political history, the descriptions of some of the players and of her own life pale against the campus uprisings - sparks that allowed later protests against the war in Vietnam to ignite. Karla Jay International Herald TribuneMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Bloomington, IN
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
US School Grade: College Graduate Student and over
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 155 mm
ISBN-13
978-0-253-21622-9 (9780253216229)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Content
1 The Train to Berkeley; 2 Ca; 3 Politics and the University; 4 SLATE; 5 Exploring the Political Bazaar; 6 The Young Democrats; 7 Student; 8 Protest; 9 Summer vacation in Washington D.C.; 10 Crossing the Line; 11 The Speaker Ban; 12 The SLATE Supplement; 13 Fair Housing; 14 Mexico and Central America; 15 The House on Parker St.; 16 The Assassination of JFK; 17 The Bay Area Civil Rights Movement; 18 On Civil Disobedience; 19 The Sheraton Palace; 20 Auto Row; 21 Clogging the Courts; 22 On Trial; 23 Freedom Summer; 24 Summer Session; 25 Hitchhiking; 26 The Democratic Convention; 27 New York City; 28 First Week of the Fall Semester; 29 Eviction!; 30 Who Done It?; 31 Capturing the Car; 32 Strongwalled; 33 The October 2 Pact; 34 The FSM is Born; 35 Sparing; 36 Energy; 37 Escalation; 38 The "Right Wing" Revolt; 39 Secret Negotiations; 40 Changes; 41 Mutual Misconceptions; 42 The Heyman Committee Report; 43 The Regents Meet; 44 The Abortive Sit-In; 45 Resurrection; 46 The Real Sit-In; 47 Strike!; 48 Victory; 49 Intermission; 50 FUCK; 51 On Regents and Rules; 53 The State Legislature; 54 Graduation; 55 The FBI Files; 56 Aftermath, Afterword, and Afterthoughts