Suggested Research Topics - The University Community and the War in Viet Nam

Anti-Vietnam War rally, steps of Alumni Memorial Hall, Oct. 16, 1965.

Anti-Vietnam War rally, steps of Alumni Memorial Hall, Oct. 16, 1965.

As American involvement in the Vietnam war increased, so to did opposition to the war develop on certain campuses. The University of Michigan was no exception; indeed Michigan has often been portrayed (with Columbia and Berkeley) as being on the cutting edge of a countercultural reaction against the war. The roles played by Michigan students in drafting the Port Huron statement, the faculty's pathbreaking teach-in on the war, and President Fleming's statements about the war all give credence to the assertion that this campus was a fertile field for anti-war activism. These disparate voices raised against the war would seem to indicate a pretty thorough rejection of America's policy and actions in southeast Asia. But many questions remain regarding the nature, degree, and direction of this protest.

How widespread was protest against the war? How early in the game did U-M community reject Johnson's escalation? Who exactly voiced their discontent with the war? A few students? (or was it a broad movement)? A handful of leftists on the faculty? Does opposition to the war result in splintering of the campus community? Do these fault lines develop along generational ("don't trust anyone over thirty") lines? On the basis of political orientation? Or can fractures be discerned along the lines of academic disciplines (arts v. sciences)? How does the U-M administration handle student and faculty protest? Does this protest have repercussions in the larger society?

Given the thrust of MHC collecting in documenting the 1960s, there is a wealth of materials relevant to this topic. One should break this topic into more manageable units by examining particular groups (UM students, faculty, administrators, and local religious groups) and their reaction to the war.

Examples of Primary Source Collections for each Group:

  1. UM Students: Brett Eynon's Contemporary History Project (oral histories of some students). David Chudwin, Arthur Collingsworth, Richard Wilson, and Michael Zweig were all anti-war activists. Skip Taube and James Davis collected ephemera on student protest. The Michigan Daily should provide some insight. Some student letters, memos, and demands should crop up in VP for Student Services and Hatcher's papers. The Labadie has the Philip Cushway and John Roberts papers.
  2. Faculty: See Eynon's interview with Bergmann. Arnold Kaufman and Richard Mann were anti-war activists. The International Conference on Alternative Perspectives was organized, in part by U-M faculty, to protest the war. The Labadie has Phil Cushway's papers related to this conference. On the other side of the issue A. Eckstein, head of the China center, has 6 folders on Vietnam in box 8; H. B. Benford, Naval Architect professor, comments on student protest in box 2; John Young, Engineering professor expresses similar feelings in box 1. Shuman's articulate piece on faculty opinion is enlightening.

  3. U-M Administration: VP for Student Services topical and annual files in boxes 8-10. Harlan Hatcher correspondence in boxes 44-47. President's Office Annual topical files in boxes 2, 6-7, 10-13, 16, 19, 24, 27, 32, 108-109, 112. Virtually any U-M administrative collection will reveal echoes of anti-war protest. Wes Vivian's constituents' letters on Vietnam in boxes 4-5 reflect outsiders' views on campus protest.

  4. Religious Groups: Eynon's interview of Barb Fuller. Richard Wilson (UM student). J. Edgar Edwards, director of Guild House, (headed local churchmen's protest) has anti-war materials in box 5. Interfaith Council, Ann Arbor, has materials on CALCAV (Clergy And Laity Concerned About Vietnam) in boxes 1-4. Box 10 of the IFC, AA collection has material on local, state, and national protest. Michigan Ecumenical Forum boxes 3-4.

In an effort to encourage creative thinking about possible research topics for students unfamiliar with archives and their inevitable complexities, archivists and student employees of the Bentley Historical Library have authored "suggested research topics ." The purpose of these is not to define a topic but rather to stimulate thinking about a topic where the holdings of the Bentley Library are particularly strong.