John G. Mason Papers
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Date
Creator
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Abstract
The John G. Mason Collection contain various records from many of the student and student faculty organizations active at NYU during the years 1962 to 1978. The primary focus of this collection is student and faculty opposition to the Vietnam War between the years 1965 and 1971. The records include organizational position papers, flyers, and posters. These materials are a representative sample of information on student activity and do not contain comprehensive documentation of all student groups.
Biographical Note
A member of the interdepartmental Albert Schweitzer Program in the Humanities for undergraduates at New York University, John G. Mason was active in the Students for a Democratic Society and other university student organizations of the 1960s-1970s. Like many other students of the period, Mason was involved in organizations which were funded and/or organized by the university, and also in organizations which were external to the university and self-funded.
Mason was strongly affected by his matriculation in the Schweitzer Program, which was established by New York State in 1965 and given an endowed chair. The Schweitzer Program was led by Dr. Conor Cruise O'Brien from 1965-1969. Dr. O'Brien, a Left-opposition politician in the Republic of Ireland (Eire), and a longtime contributing editor to the Atlantic Monthly, had a significant intellectual influence upon Mason and other members of his student leadership cohort (see the general history of NYU contained within the collection).
In his collected correspondence Mason also attributed a portion of his political views to his experiences in Paris, France, which he visited in 1968 in the aftermath of the "Paris Commune" and the national students' strike, which strongly affected French educational policy through the mid-1970's.
After his involvement with NYU and the student movement as an undergraduate, Mason went on to get a M.A. from NYU's Politics Department and then a Ph.D. from CUNY.
Arrangement
Although the original order was noted and recorded, the collection has been reorganized so that the series are arranged chronologically by content (except where specially noted as exceptions), with the aim of facilitating research access. The collection consists of eight series, seven of which are boxed together; one of which is stored in the flat files.
The collection has been organized into eight series:
- Historical Overviews, Personal Papers and Ephemera
- SDS Material, Chi-Reston Papers, SDS "Successors"
- New York University (NYU) Student Organization Activity
- New University Conference (NUC) Materials
- Library and Cafeteria Workers--National Students' Strike of 1970
- NYU Administrative Documents
- Student Movement Organizations
- Student Organization Posters
Scope and Contents
The John G. Mason Papers are a personal collection of records that document NYU student activity and the student movement. The collection is the result of selective recordkeeping on the part of the collection's creator and donor. Mason was an active or ex-officio member of many of NYU's student organizations during the late 1960s. As a result, several students and faculty members entrusted him with their materials regarding this period. The collection covers the period 1962-1978, although the bulk of the materials are concentrated upon the period from 1965 through 1971. It is also important to note that while there are some materials from the University Heights campus in the collection, the bulk of the material is from the Washington Square campus.
The primary collection materials include: leaflets, organizational position papers, flyers, posters, handbills, public-relations pamphlets, university and student publications, newsletters, newspapers, analytical, financial, and strategic documents, and multiple analyses of the university's structure, officers, trustees, financial activity, professoriate, and curriculum. The collection also includes ephemera such as buttons and organizational membership cards. Included as well is 16mm film footage of a student and faculty protest against Dow Chemical Corporation recruiters on campus. This footage was filmed by NYU Campus Security. These materials exist as manuscript, typescript, mimeographic reproduction, printed matter and freehand drawings.
Subjects
Organizations
Genres
Access Restrictions
Repository permission is required for access. Please contact New York University Archives, (212) 998-2641, university-archives@nyu.edu
Use Restrictions
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. Please contact New York University Archives, (212) 998-2641, university-archives@nyu.edu.
Preferred Citation
Published citations should take the following form: Identification of item, date (if known); John G. Mason Papers; MC 88; box number; folder number; New York University Archives, New York University Libraries.
Provenance
The John G. Mason papers are a personal collection of records of NYU student activity and the student movement. John G. Mason personally arranged the collection and titled the folders. The collection is the result of selective recordkeeping and possibly selective culling.
The collection was partially accessioned by the University Archives in early 1978. Additional material was accessioned throughout 1978.
About this Guide
Processing Information
For conservation purposes oversize posters have been stored in flat file cases, newspapers have been copied and removed (some to the Tamiment/Wagner collections), non-annotated University publications have been discarded or separated to the general collection of University publications, and fragile materials have been copied. All photocopies have been made onto acid-free paper, and the collection has been processed in accordance with the NYU Archives' standard rules arrangement and description, and disposition.
The following newspapers were discarded from the collection:
Columbia Daily Spectator: March 23, 1970
New Left Notes: Vol. 2 No. 34, October 2, 1967; Vol. 3 No. 3, January 22, 1968
New Mobilizer: No. 3, October 8, 1970
NYU Alumni News: May 1974
The Ticker: April 14, 1970; November 18, 1970; December 9, 1970; September 20, 1971
Washington Square Journal: November 7, 1968; December 18, 1968, March 9, 1970; April 7, 1970; April 9, 1970; April 13, 1970; April 15, 1970; April 20, 1970; April 21, 1970; April 29, 1970; April 30, 1970; May 4, 1970; November 16, 1970
The Anti War Conference poster (1971) was reintegrated into the collection in November 2018.