FBI File on the Students for a Democratic Society and the Weatherman Underground Association
Microform Collection
Location: Microfilm LB 3610 .F35
Scope: Covering the years1962-1977, this file
provides descriptions of anti-war rallies and materials produced by the Students
for a Democratic Society. It also has detailed information on the protests
at the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago, a "defining moment" of the SDS.
"The Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), a progressive,
radical reformist student group, grew from the ranks of the League for
Industrial Democracy (LID), whose own student group, the Student League for
Industrial Democracy (SLID) had become all but defunct by the end of the 1950s.
. .Under new Field Secretary Robert Alan Haber, University of Michigan
graduate student, SDS established a national office in New York and began to
organize itself as a fringe political group within American academe by the end
of the 1961-62 school year."
"SDS had been monitored by the Federal Bureau of
Investigation as early as 1962, but SDS involvement in the April 1965 Student
March on Washington against the Vietnam War caught the Johnson administration
off guard and the order to monitor SDS activities followed swiftly. The
Bureau investigation centered in Chicago, where SDS had established its national
office at 1103 E. 63rd Street, in the heart of the ghetto."
"The FBI could find no hard evidence of outside influence or
control of SDS, even though many of its leaders were espousing the radical
thinking of Marx, Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Castro and Che Guevara. Because SDS
had none of the traditional hall marks of foreign control or influence, they
were classified as part of what became known as the 'New Left.'"
From the Introduction of the Guide to the collection
This collection also includes information on the Weatherman
Underground Organization, a faction that came out of the SDS and was of interest
to the FBI. The guide to the collection also provides some information on
this group.
How to Search the Collection:
This collection is contained on 8 rolls of microfilm and is accompanied by a
print guide that includes "Roll Notes." The documents come from the
Washington files of the FBI and have been released under the Freedom of
Information Act. The documents were filmed in the order they were
received from the FBI and are in approximate chronological order. (The FBI did
not index documents). The collection is divided into seventy-five
sections arranged in approximate chronological order. Documents include
FBI memorandums, teletypes, airtels and newspaper clippings. SDS materials
including copies of New Left Notes (the SDS's newsletter) and the Weather
Underground magazine known as Osawatomie, are also included.
The Roll Notes, while not a complete inventory of the
collection, provide some information to the researcher using this file.
The materials in the Roll Notes follow the following format:
* Type of document
(e.g. memo, press release, copy of New Left
Notes, teletype, etc.)
* Date of document
* Sender and
Recipient (where applicable)
* Subject of the
document
excerpt from Roll Notes:
Section 38
Roll 3, 1544-END Roll 3
October 1968
Report 10/17/68 from Chicago to Director summarizing recent SDS
activities in the Chicago area
Memo 10/23/68 from Director to SAC, Chicago regarding growing
factional dispute within SDS
Teletype 10/24/68 from SAC, Chicago to Director regarding SDS-
planned demonstrations for the elections, 10/5/68
Guides: Guide to the Microfilm Edition of
the FBI File on the Students for a Democratic Society and the Weatherman
Underground Organization. Wilmington, Del. : Scholarly Resources,
1991. (Microfilm LB 3610 .F35 1991 Guide)
Subject Categories: To find more information on this topic in our
library, search under these subject headings in the Library Catalog:
Students for a Democratic Society (U.S.)
Students for a Democratic Society (U.S.) -- History
Weatherman (Organization)
Student movements -- United States
Student movements -- United States -- History -- 20th century -- Sources
Time Period: 20th Century
Subject keywords: FBI Documents, U. S. Politics
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