The item today is from the National United Committee to Free Angela Davis. Thirty-two years ago this week Angela Davis was released from prison. Davis was arrested in 1970 for her involvement in the eventual killing of Judge Harold Haley after his kidnapping by  Jonathan Jackson in Marine County, California. Jackson, Judge Haley and two others were killed in a gun fight with police as they tried to flee the courthouse during the kidnapping. The guns used in the kidnapping by Jackson belonged to Angela Davis. [1] Soon after her arrest protests were arranged and groups (more than 200 local committees in the United States[2])were formed in defense of Davis. This became a massive movement and Davis became a well-known political figure in the U.S.[3] Davis was found not guilty of all charges against her in 1972. Davis is well-known as an activist in a variety of areas including human rights, civil rights, socialism and communism.

There are many more details about the trial and Angela Davis that I have not covered here. For more information about the incident and trial:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marin_County_courthouse_incident and

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angela_Davis#Arrest_and_trial

National United Committee to Free Angela Davis Cover (1971)

National United Committee to Free Angela Davis Back Cover (1971)

National United Committee to Free Angela Davis Inside (1971)

Today marks the 32-year anniversary of President Richard Nixon’s visit to China. To mark the occasion I have selected an item from The Committee of One Million Against the Admission of Communist China to the United Nations. The Committee of One Million Against the Admission of Communist China to the United Nations existed from 1953 until 1971. In 1971 China was admitted into the United Nations.[1] After its founding the organization later changed its name to the Committee of One Million in 1955. The group started with a petition that actually received one million signatures. The signatures included the following prominent politicians: Democrats Paul Douglas of Illinois, William Proxmire of Wisconsin, and Hubert H. Humphrey of Minnesota, and Republican Thomas H. Kuchel of California. [2] Generally speaking the group fit into a larger history of anti-communist groups that started after the Korean War, many of which focused on US-China relations.

The group was run by Marvin Liebman, who was involved in many anti-communist groups throughout the 1950s including The Marvin Liebman Associates, Inc. that was a fundraising and public relations group with a focus on anti-communism.  Liebman was a long time friend of William F. Buckley and later in life came out as homosexual and worked as a gay rights activist.[3]

Committee of One Million Declaration (Undated)

Operation Rescue, also known as Operation Rescue National and currently known as Operation Save America is a Pro-Life group started in Dallas, Texas, in 1986 by Randall Terry. The group’s slogan is “If you believe abortion is murder, act like it’s murder.” The group is known for extensive anti-abortion protests at political events and abortion clinics around the country that have resulted in thousands of arrests. In addition to abortion protests the group has also been involved in anti-gay demonstrations and anti-muslim demonstrations. The group has a large and active following which continues to this day.

Operation Rescue National Outside (1992)

Operation Rescue National Inside (1992)

In his efforts to gather information on extremism, Gordon Hall would often record audio interviews with the members of groups. The images in this weeks post show Gordon Hall interviewing a man named Richard Clerici in Walpole, Massachusetts.  It is very difficult to find any information about Richard Clerici, but in one photo there is a poster titled “Kidnapped” with a picture of Bobby Seale, one of the founders of the Black Panther Party (The poster is a reference to the time Bobby Seale was taken by U.S. Marshals from California to Chicago on charges related to the 1968 Democratic National Convention). So my guess is that Clerici was involved in some sort of left leaning group, but it would be hard to guess precisely which one. I chose these images for a few reasons. 1) I wanted to show some of the hands on work that Gordon Hall did, which is well documented in the collection. 2) It can be very difficult to classify a lot of this material because it is hard to find information about the people involved. This means that even after this project there will be a lot of material in the collection that remains unorganized. 3) It can be a lot of fun to spend time with this collection, because you never know what you will find. Although I could not find any information about Clerici being a member of an extremist group, he was a member of a little known band called The Fort Mudge Memorial Dump who formed in Walpole in the late 1960s. They have a few songs on YouTube. It is pretty good.

Gordon Hall and Richard Clerici, Marpole, MA (Late 1960s)

Richard Clerici, Marpole, MA (Late 1960s)

Richard Clerici and Friends, Marpole, MA (Late 1960s)