About this Guide
The University of Connecticut’s Archives & Special Collections holds many collections related to Student Activism at UConn and around the country. This guide provides a curated selection of student activism-focused published materials, manuscript collections, and digitized materials available in the CTDA. The guide is meant to provide a starting point for research into student activism and related topics in UConn's Archives & Special Collections--it is not a comprehensive listing of all materials related to these topics held by the UConn Archives & Special Collections.
Several pages of this guide draw from previous work done by Archives & Special Collections staff and student workers presented through Collection Spotlights hosted on the Archives & Special Collections blog. These posts are linked throughout the guide, and can provide you with additional information and resources on the topics covered on the guide.
About the Student Activism Collections
Student Activism materials can be found in two of the collecting areas of UConn Archives & Special Collections: The University of Connecticut History Collections and the Alternative Press Collection.
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Browse all University of Connecticut History CollectionsBrowse all finding aids for collections related to University History available in UConn Archives & Special Collections.
Related Resources
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d’Archive Episode 4: Abbie Hoffman, UConn and the War in VietnamThe American invasion of Vietnam and campus recruitment by petro-chemical companies matched by growing disparities between haves and have-nots and its reflection in a lack of students of color at UConn led to the beginning of student demonstrations in 1968. Popular national counter culture icons like Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin of the Yippee’s and Chicago 7 are featured in the waning days of the movement. This episode discusses the 1960s Alternative Press activist collections contained in the Archives & Special Collections.
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d’Archive Episode 5: Alternative Archiving with Richard AkeroydThis episode of d’Archive features former UConn Archives & Special Collections Archivist and Former Connecticut State Librarian Richard Akeroyd in conversation about the formation of the Alternative Press Collection, the War in Vietnam and the role of documenting protest movements. Drawing on his experience of establishing the ephemera heavy Alt Press Collection at the UConn Archives, Richard explains the beacons, alliances and controversies that arose out of his collecting initiatives beginning in the late 1960s. The formation of this collection at one of the most politically divided times in the country’s history, informs and resonates the challenges of documenting the current discourses of today’s equally divided political landscape.
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d’Archive Episode 26: 1974 Black Student Sit In @ Wilbur Cross LibraryThis episode features an overview of collection materials in the archives documenting the Black Student sit in of April 22, 1974 in the Wilbur Cross Library at UConn. This direct action came as a student response to several grievances regarding structural racism in higher education and locally in the Anthropology Department.
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d’Archive Episode 28: Day-Glo & NapalmGuest Curator, George Jacobi and Chris Malis join me for a conversation about the UConn Archives exhibition Day-Glo & Napalm: UConn 1967-1971. As UConn alumni, and Woodstock audience members, George and Chris discuss the exhibition, their student days at UConn 50 years ago, the music, the attitudes, and the perspectives they hold about the times on this anniversary.
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d'Archive Episode 39: 50 Years from Earth DayThis episode of d’Archive was recorded in the Fall of 2019 and features a conversation with Adrianna Chestnut, a human rights intern at the Archives & Special Collections as well as a member of the student environmental activism group Fridays For Future. Adrianna explored the collections for material relating to her interests in the first Earth Day event held at UConn in 1970 and discusses the similarities between the environmental justice movements of then and now.
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d’Archive Episode 30: UConn Students for a Democratic SocietyThis episode includes interviews that were collected from UConn alumni and members of the New Left student organization, Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) at a Woodstock 50th anniversary celebration this summer hosted by guest curator of Day-glo & Napalm, George Jacobi.
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d’Archive Episode 47: Inner CollegeThis episode features interviews with University of Connecticut alumn and faculty who participated in the National Endowment for the Humanities funded experimental education program, the Inner College in the early 1970s. This unique program allowed UConn students to take courses from other students or educators in a non-traditional academic setting and receive credit for teaching and learning. These recordings were made during the reunion celebration held on August 6th, 2022 at the Alumni Center on the Storrs campus.
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d’Archive Episode 51: Organizing for Change, 1974 Black Student Sit In @ Wilbur Cross LibraryThis episode features an interview with alumni Rodney Bass (BA ’75/MA ’76) who was active in organizing Black students through the Organization of African American Students (OAAS) during his time at the University of Connecticut, Storrs campus. One of the high-water marks for activism by students of color at UConn was the 1974 Black Student Sit-In in Wilbur Cross Library which he served as a representative for when delivering demands to the administration of President Glenn W. Ferguson. Rodney walks us through the days leading up to this protest and contextualizes the experiences of Black students on the Storrs campus during that period.
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d’Archive Episode 52: Gary King, Organizing for Change 1974This episode features an exhibition walkthrough with alumni Gary King (’74) who was active in organizing Black students during his time at the University of Connecticut, Storrs campus. One of the high-water marks for activism by students of color at UConn was the 1974 Black Student Sit-In in Wilbur Cross Library which he operated as a member of the internal steering committee of organizers to advance their demands. Dr. King, professor of Biobehavioral Health at Penn State University, joined me in the Schimmelpfeng Gallery at the Archives & Special Collections in March of 2024 to walk through the exhibition Please Respond Personally: Commemorating the 1974 Black Student Sit-in (running March 11-July 19, 2024) for the event’s 50th anniversary.
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25 for 25: Black Student Sit-In Photographs, 1974
This video explores the Black student sit-in of April 22-24, 1974 at the University of Connecticut's Wilbur Cross Library. Using black and white photographs taken by the University photographer, we contextualize and explore the recorded past to help demonstrate the impact of students of color involved in antiracist activism on the Storrs campus since the late 1960s. -
25 for 25: The Student Perspective
A rare perspective on the street level, from then student photojournalist Howard S. Goldbaum, documenting events for the Connecticut Daily Campus newspaper in the late 1960s. Compared to the larger collections of the University of Connecticut Photograph Collection, these 35mm negatives are a rare example of a student documenting students engaged in a changing time. -
Student Activism Archives: UConn Black Student Sit-In 1974
This video explores the Black student sit-in of April 22-24, 1974 at the University of Connecticut's Wilbur Cross Library. -
DMD 2200 Student Unrest Motion Graphics 1
This video represents a selection of student work from the UConn Digital Media & Design 2200 Motion Graphics Class in the Spring Semester of 2020, focusing on the 4D animation technique demonstrated here on still images chosen from the Digital Student Unrest Photography Collection at the UConn Archives. Thanks to the students and instructors for their partnership in bringing these archives to life.
10 Tips for Navigating Archival Research
The 10 tips for Navigating Archival Research slides were originally created by Melica Stinnett in 2022 for the Archives & Special Collections blog.
Need Help?
For help with your research, please email us at archives@uconn.edu
