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Students for a Democratic Society (SDS)

Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) was a mass student organization that at its height had chapters on hundreds of college campuses and an estimated 100,000 members. It grew out of the youth branch of the League for Industrial Democracy, rejecting that organization’s anti-Communism and seeking to become part of a new student militancy sparked in large part by the civil rights movement. Its June 1960 founding document, the Port Huron Statement, advocated radical social involvement under the heading of “participatory democracy.”

From 1960 until its organizational demise in 1969, SDS played a major role in the social movements of the time, often spearheading campus protests and rebellions, and in particular strengthening the struggle against the war in Vietnam and all of Indochina, as well as engaging in community organizing in poor and working class communities, and support for the civil rights, Black liberation, and other Third World movements in the US. The collection represents a sampling of the periodicals, such as New Left Notes, and other position papers of SDS.

Documents

March on Washington to End the War in Vietnam March on Washington to End the War in Vietnam
Publisher: Students for a Democratic SocietyDate: 4/17/1965Volume Number: 17-AprFormat: PamphletCollection: Students for a Democratic Society (SDS)
Pamphlet explaining what you can do to be a part of the April 1965 Anti-War March on Washington
Speech at the Nov. 27 1965 March on Washington Speech at the Nov. 27 1965 March on Washington
Author: Carl OglesbyPublisher: Students for a Democratic SocietyDate: 11/27/1965Volume Number: 27-NovFormat: TranscriptCollection: Students for a Democratic Society (SDS)
Speech given by the President of SDS Carl Oglesby at the November 27th 1965 March on Washington
White House Sit-In Flyer White House Sit-In Flyer
Publisher: Students for a Democratic SocietyFormat: FlyerCollection: Students for a Democratic Society (SDS)
Flyer for a planned mass sit-in at the White House in protest of the Vietnam War
Statement by Paul Potter Statement by Paul Potter
Author: Paul PotterPublisher: Students for a Democratic SocietyDate: 5/1/1965Volume Number: 1-MayFormat: StatementCollection: Students for a Democratic Society (SDS)
Statement regarding the post-March National Council. Specifically a plea to people who were at the NC meeting to assume more responsibility for reporting the kinds of discussions that were held in sufficient detail so other people can pick up on these decisions.
RE: Crisis Response RE: Crisis Response
Author: Paul BoothPublisher: Students for a Democratic SocietyFormat: Press ReleaseCollection: Students for a Democratic Society (SDS)
Proposals for local coordinators to discuss before the May 9th SDS meeting at Swarthmore College
Statement on Student March on Washington Statement on Student March on Washington
Authors: Norman Thomas, A.J. Muste, Bayard Rustin, Robert W. Gilmore, H. Stuart Hughes, Ed Clark, Roget Lockard, Emily Parker Simon, Alfred Hassler, Charles Bloomstein, Harold TaylorPublisher: Students for a Democratic SocietyDate: 4/16/1965Volume Number: 16-AprFormat: Press ReleaseCollection: Students for a Democratic Society (SDS)
Statement on the eve of the March on Washington
A Call to All Students to March on Washington to end the War in Vietnam A Call to All Students to March on Washington to end the War in Vietnam
Publisher: Students for a Democratic SocietyDate: 4/17/1965Volume Number: 17-AprFormat: FlyerCollection: Students for a Democratic Society (SDS)
Flyer providing detailed information on the April 1965 Anti-War March on Washington
March Agenda March Agenda
Publisher: Students for a Democratic SocietyFormat: AgendaCollection: Students for a Democratic Society (SDS)
Schedule for the March on Washington to end the war in Vietnam
Urgent: SDS Chapters, March coordinators and other local groups Urgent: SDS Chapters, March coordinators and other local groups
Authors: Paul Booth and Todd GitlinPublisher: Students for a Democratic SocietyFormat: Press ReleaseCollection: Students for a Democratic Society (SDS)
Includes a plan of action for the weeks following the March on Washington, including end the war in Vietnam week, May 9th Conference on Summer Program, and a National Teach-in.