Columbia University and the Berkeley Free Speech Movement

under construction
zoom in to read!

FSM Campus Press

SUMMARY: Mario Savio and Steve Weissman visit funded by ABC Les Crane Show travel stipend; Tom Hayden keynotes advance support;

Jo Freeman, "At Berkeley in the Sixties," (Indiana University Press, 2004), p223
"Mario, Bettina, Steve and Suzanne went east on a speaking tour of college campuses. The ABC television network paid their fare to New York City so that they could appear on a TV show, and they used the opportunity to talk about the FSM at several campuses. The press generally reported this trip as a flop because only hundreds, not thousands, of students came to hear them speak. But for hundreds to turn out for anything political on most campuses was a lot, especially the last week of classes before the Christmas break, which was also exam week for some. They left the evening of December 9th and spoke at Michigan, Wisconsin, Brandeis, Columbia, and of course Queens College, where Mario had once been a student. All but Steve were from New York."

New York Times
July 15, 2008

Les Crane, Talk-Show Host, Dies at 74
By Bruce Weber


December 11, 1964: New York: Les Crane interviews Mario Savio on ABC TV. UPI photo

The Les Crane Show Episode Guide


December 11, 1964: New York Times: Les Crane Show


December 10, 1964: Columbia Daily Spectator: Tom Hayden, keynote speaker


December 10, 1964: Columbia Daily Spectator: Editorial
"The remarkable feature of the Free Speech Movement, however, is that it has not overstepped the bounds of peaceful and orderly protest."


December 11, 1964: Columbia Daily Spectator: Savio Will Speak


December 11, 1964: New York Times: Mario Savio will speak at Columbia.


December 11, 1964: noon: Handbill: Mario Savio Speech and Rally at Columbia University: QCA #32210761
Art Gatti Collection of Queens College Archives


December 11, 1964: Mario Savio Speaking at Columbia. Photo by Arthur Gatti, QC Archives #32491658.
Lightly edited by Barbara Toby Stack
Art Gatti Collection of Queens College Archives


December 12, 1964: New York Times: Berkeley Youth Leader Warns Of Protests at Other Campuses, Thomas Buckley
"... they addressed rallies at Columbia and Queens College."


December 14, 1964: Columbia Daily Spectator: Kirk Contrasts CU to Univ. of Cal.
Huh?


December 14, 1964: Columbia Daily Spectator: Savio Says Berkeley Is Run Arbitrarily


December 14, 1964: Columbia Daily Spectator: Purge of Ideology Strengthens Berkeley FSM: An Analysis [opinion]


December 16, 1964: Columbia Daily Spectator: Ad for Free Speech Movement Students Demonstrations


December 18, 1964: Columbia Daily Spectator: Regents In Calif Will Meet Today
notice political science grad students survey. FSM Participant Studies


December 18, 1964: Columbia Daily Spectator: Conflict at Berkeley: An Inside Story
Blistering reportage from the only professional reporter inside occupied Sproul Hall, Columbia grad, former Spectator Features Editor, and San Francisco Chronicle Associate Editor Joel Pimsleur.

Peter Franck, J.D., Columbia University School of Law

Oct. 1 1964 Atty Peter Franck consults with Jack Weinberg
Oct. 1 1964 Atty Peter Franck consults with Jack Weinberg. Photo by Mike Friedman

Peter, UCB 1958, SLATE co-founder, and also legal advisor to Mario Savio. Oct. 17, 1964 Interview about the FSM.

Peter Franck: SLATE, Law, and Politics on the Berkeley Campus
SLATE Oral History Project, Bancroft Library, Interviews conducted by Martin Meeker in 2017 and 2018
"Well, one day I was there observing, and Mario was on the police car and saw me and asked me to come up and give the crowd legal advice about what their rights were if the police came. So I spoke to the crowd, giving them legal advice about what their rights were. And that was a very powerful moment for me because, I was on top of the police car, I was looking around, and seeing the massed power of 5,000 people all on one side."



Columbia Spectator Archive

If you'd like to use my research, please ask.

Contact me