The Lipscomb Collection: Democratic National Convention: 1968 NIU Student Life, The DNC, & Riots in Chicago
The 1968 Democratic National Convention (DNC) was held in Chicago and drew large crowds in support and resistance to presidential political stances. This DNC followed several historic and difficult moments in United States history, such as The Civil Rights Movement, the Vietnam War, and the presidential race was between Richard Nixon and Hubert Humphrey. Due to social, political, and societal unrest, various student and political organizations made their way to Chicago and, by extension, Northern Illinois University.
NIU sent library Field Representative, H. Alan Lipscomb, to the 1968 DNC to document and report on the week-long event. Lipscomb was granted access to all convention activities and provided in-depth documentation of them. Thanks to his work, NIU now has a six-box collection relating to the 1968 DNC. Examples of artifacts in the collection are flyers, brochures, and books. Topics range from information relating to the presidential nominees and plans for riots/protests at the DNC.
Amid the Civil Rights Movement, the United States youth population protested various issues, one of the most vocalized was the 1968 election. While these organizations were well-documented in the United States, they also had international branches and even charters at NIU. Among the six archive boxes that Lipscomb crafted, he managed to preserve documents showcasing the connection between NIU’s student involvement and greater societal movements.
- Young Socialist Alliance (YSA): The YSA was formed in 1960 and took part in various political and social conflicts from the 1960s to the 1980s, such as protesting the Vietnam War and supporting the Black Power Movement. At NIU, the YSA branch demanded: A politically aware and socially relevant campus, student-faculty control of the academic community, university facilities made available for the Third World liberation struggle, and immediate end of all university complicity with war and oppression.
- Young Americans for Freedom (YAF): A conservative activism organization that was founded in 1960 as a coalition between traditional conservatives and libertarians on American college campuses, including NIU. Liberalism and radicalism dominated campuses from the mid-1960s until the early 1970s because of the civil rights movements and the Vietnam War. Though outnumbered, YAF went on to protest radical left-wing organizations by challenging and rebutting groups like the Afro-American Society as well as groups like the SDS in support of a U.S. victory in Vietnam.
- Students for a Democratic Society (SDS): SDS, founded in 1959, flourished in the mid-to-late 1960s on American higher education campuses. Initially, SDS chapters nationwide were involved in the Civil Rights Movement, but since April 1965, after organizing a national march in Washington D.C., they became increasingly militant. Their tactics consisted of occupying spaces on university and college campuses, such as administration buildings. At NIU, the Student Committee for Peace evolved from the SDS movement as the SDS organization heavily influenced the NIU campus at the time.
In true NIU student fashion, on-campus activism has not stopped in contemporary days. Students have been and continue to be politically and socially active. NIU is not an exemption from campuses that have student unrest due to social injustice. In recent years, NIU has experienced student protests in relation to several movements including Black Lives Matter, #MeToo Movement, and the Free Gaza Movement. Students today are fighting for issues that echo the past and what the students in 1968 were fighting for and against.
Authors
- Jennifer Agyeman
- Sophie Miller
- Amanda Susana Quiñónez