Jerry Dickason Collection on Protests
Call Number
Date
Creator
Extent
Language of Materials
Abstract
The Jerry Dickason Collection on Protests contains materials authored by or assembled by political activist and New York University alumnus Jerry G. Dickason between 1954 and 1971. Correspondence, meeting minutes, attendance sheets, notes, newsletters and news briefs, reports, calendars and itineraries, and flyers generated by the School of Education, the National Student Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) and the Committee of Returned Volunteers (CRV) address the expansion of the Indochina War with the invasion of Cambodia in 1970, the repression of the Black Panther Party by the United States Government, and the Kent State University shootings. Original posters and prints, clippings from the NYU Ticketer, Washington Square Journal, The New York Times, Tempo, National SNCC Monthly , and a resource packet produced by the United Nations titled "Cuba: 100 Years of Struggle" further demonstrate the political unrest at that time. Materials produced by the NEW Movement for a New Community, the African Research Group, and the Peace Corps speak to issues of poverty and the environment crises during the Vietnam War.
Biographical / Historical
Jerry Grove Dickason would become the first male recreation staff member to be employed by the American National Red Cross when he accepted an eighteen-month assignment from August 1967 to February 1969 in South Vietnam. He later transferred to a six-month assignment at the Walter Reed Army Hospital before returning to the United States in 1969 after receiving a Rehabilitation Service administration traineeship for graduate study at New York University. While obtaining his master's degree, Dickason became involved in a number of efforts against the Vietnam War. Not only did he supervise spaces at the School of Education that provided equipment for anti-war activities, but he also participated in peace caucuses held by the National Student Recreation and Park Society Association (NRPA), an organization that, at the time, was promoting peace, alleviating oppression, and actively addressing pressing political and environmental crises.
Arrangement
Folders are arranged by topic.
Scope and Contents
The Jerry Dickason Collection on Protests contains materials that were mainly authored by or assembled by political activist and New York University alumnus Jerry G. Dickason between the mid-1960s and early 1970s. These materials document local and national protests that occurred in response to the expansion of the Indochina War after the invasion of Cambodia in 1970, a decision that resulted in the killings of United States citizens at home and abroad. Records produced by the School of Education, including correspondence, meeting minutes, attendance sheets, notes, newsletters and news briefs, reports, calendars and itineraries, and flyers called for the end of Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) training, the withdrawal of military forces in Southeast Asia, the end of research for the Defense Department, freedom for political prisoners, fair trials and treatment for members of the Black Panther Party, memorialization of students murdered by the Ohio National Guard on the Kent State University campus, and a halt to harassment experienced by politically active students. Demonstrations, rallies, and other anti-war activities are heavily documented, including aspects of the National Student Strike that occurred in May 1970, as well as the occupation of the Courant Institute, a takeover that called for the impeachment of Nixon and advocated for bail money for Panthers. Many of the same political concerns are also addressed by materials produced by the National Student Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) and the Committee of Returned Volunteers (CRV), although these files, as well as the materials generated by the NEW Movement for a New Community, the African Research Group, and the Peace Corps also indicate Dickason's interest in solving poverty across the globe and addressing environmental crises. Original posters and prints, clippings from the NYU Ticketer, Washington Square Journal, The New York Times, Tempo, National SNCC Monthly , and a resource packet produced by the United Nations titled "Cuba: 100 Years of Struggle" further demonstrate the political unrest at that time.
Subjects
Conditions Governing Access
Materials are open without restrictions.
Conditions Governing Use
Because of the assembled nature of this collection, copyright status varies across the collection. Copyright is assumed to be held by the original creator of individual items in the collection; these items are expected to pass into the public domain 120 years after their creation. The New York University Archives is not authorized to grant permission to publish or reproduce materials from this collection.
Preferred Citation
Identification of item, date; Jerry Dickason Collection on Protests; MC 164; box number; folder number; New York University Archives, New York University.
Location of Materials
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Materials found in collection; provenance is unknown.
About this Guide
Processing Information
Materials were treated for mold in October 2017, placed in acid-free folders by topic, and rehoused in a manuscript box. In November 2017, the overfilled folders from the manuscript box were divided further and rehoused in two manuscript boxes. Prior to 2017, a folder of some of the collection's oversize posters and prints had been added to Series VII of the New York University Collection of Building and Large Format Materials (OS). This folder was removed from shared box 19 of the artificial collection in order to be surveyed at 20 Cooper Square. Additional oversized materials from the manuscript boxes were added to this folder to prevent further damage before it was returned to University Archives.
Processing information prior to survey work and rehousing conducted during the fall of 2017 has not yet been recorded.