Collection of Material on the Battle for People’s Park

Berkeley: 1969. 21 single sheet flyers, 7 issues of Instant News Service, 3 stapled letters, 1 issue of Defendants’ Newsletter (Vol. 1, No. 1). Some materials toned and wrinkled, commensurate with age and use. All but four of the flyers have dates printed on the documents themselves or added in pencil. Light musty odor. Good.

A collection of flyers, letters, and news sheets circulated by activists looking to claim community control of People’s Park. The University of California secured the plot of land through eminent domain, but it remained underdeveloped for several years due to lack of funds. In the meantime, a group of local residents, including some veterans of the Free Speech Movement, gathered to propose alternative uses for the parcel as a public park for rallies and events, going so far as to begin landscaping without the University’s approval. The University fenced off the parcel and, on May 15, ordered armed local and state police to disperse protestors. Over 100 injured individuals were reported as a result of the ensuing conflict and James Rector, a bystander, was killed by police. The National Guard was deployed that evening to subdue further protest.

The documents were produced by protestors in order to circulate news and information about upcoming protests. The Instant News Service was a 4-page daily produced by protestors in the immediate aftermath of the police violence of May 15 and was meant to provide up to the minute updates. One issue claims a circulation of five to ten thousand. The articles are an important primary source for how protestors were responding to police tactics; they include reports on tear gas, testimony from witnesses of the shooting of James Rector, and announcements of aid for arrestees. The earliest item is dated February 6 and is a typed transcription of a letter to the editor of the San Francisco Chronicle criticizing Reagan’s (then California’s governor) crackdown on People’s Park. The documents are mostly dated May 21 to May 26.

Included is the unrecorded debut issue of Defendants’ Newsletter, a hastily produced journal seeking to organize arrestees. Its cover states “due to the printing costs of this newsletter, distribution must be limited to those people busted in events stemming from the fencing of the park.” A majority of the flyers and documents indicate that the labor of typesetting and printing was donated. Most materials are typed and dittoed with some done as photocopies and offset.

A substantive collection on a major political issue in Berkeley that had wide influence on social protest actions nationwide.