Group of 5 printed and typed documents pertaining to Columbia University’s response to the student unrest and campus occupations of April-May 1968. Central item: A Message to Alumni, Parents, and Other Friends of Columbia by university president Grayson Kirk, June 1, 1968. 8 pages, stapled self-wrappers. Accompanied by A Message to the Faculty and Teaching Staff of the University by provost David B. Truman, June 4, 1968. 4 pages. Also included: typed and hand-signed July 17, 1968 letter from Dean Henry S. Coleman to alumni; typed and hand-signed September 12, 1968 letter from trustee chairman William E. Petersen to fellow alumni; and Columbia Chronicle (Vol. 2, No. 5, September 1968) announcing the “retirement” of Kirk and appointment of Andrew Cordier as acting president.
All originally mailed to alumnus and architect Alonzo D. Tartt. A compact but unusually coherent documentary record of the University’s attempt to stabilize institutional authority, reassure alumni and faculty, and navigate the political collapse of the Kirk administration following one of the defining campus uprisings of the 1960s. Mild wear and mailing folds typical of ephemeral material of the period; overall clean and well-preserved. An excellent—and topical—primary-source grouping from a pivotal moment in the history of the modern American university, student protest, and Vietnam-era dissent.
Mild damp staining and light soiling to wrappers. Light bumping and rubbing to sheets. Newsprint NF.
Group of 5 printed and typed documents pertaining to Columbia University’s response to the student unrest and campus occupations of April-May 1968. Central item: A Message to Alumni, Parents, and Other Friends of Columbia by university president Grayson Kirk, June 1, 1968. 8 pages, stapled self-wrappers. Accompanied by A Message to the Faculty and Teaching Staff of the University by provost David B. Truman, June 4, 1968. 4 pages. Also included: typed and hand-signed July 17, 1968 letter from Dean Henry S. Coleman to alumni; typed and hand-signed September 12, 1968 letter from trustee chairman William E. Petersen to fellow alumni; and Columbia Chronicle (Vol. 2, No. 5, September 1968) announcing the “retirement” of Kirk and appointment of Andrew Cordier as acting president.
All originally mailed to alumnus and architect Alonzo D. Tartt. A compact but unusually coherent documentary record of the University’s attempt to stabilize institutional authority, reassure alumni and faculty, and navigate the political collapse of the Kirk administration following one of the defining campus uprisings of the 1960s. Mild wear and mailing folds typical of ephemeral material of the period; overall clean and well-preserved. An excellent—and topical—primary-source grouping from a pivotal moment in the history of the modern American university, student protest, and Vietnam-era dissent.
Mild damp staining and light soiling to wrappers. Light bumping and rubbing to sheets. Newsprint NF.
