From 1955 to 1962, Michigan State University "played an active role in the American-led effort to build a stable non-communist state in the Republic of Vietnam (better known as South Vietnam)." (1)
American military forces were committed to assist South Vietnam in the conflict with its northern neighbor, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. By 1967, anti-war and anti-draft protests were widespread in the United States, including the MSU campus.
This resource guide identifies primary sources in Special Collections at the Main Library. Our holdings include material on MSU's involvement in Vietnam and campus activism against the war. Related sources describing other anti-war activism, especially in Michigan, are included.
This page covers material in the Special Collections catalog.
(1) MSU Vietnam Group Archive website.
This page identifies some significant titles or groups of material in Special Collections, which have individual catalog records.
For comprehensive results, do a keyword search for (vietnam or vietnamese) and limit to 1955-1975.
Special Collections has many of the key publications of the Vietnam Advisory Group, the administrative home for the various assistance projects staffed by MSU faculty.
Broken Arrow (Mount Clemens)
Red Times (Detroit)
Root (Grand Rapids)
Up Against the Wall Journal (Ann Arbor)
US (Ann Arbor)
Venceremos (Ann Arbor)
About Face! The U.S. Servicemen's Fund Newsletter (New York)
Next Step (Germany; G.I. newspaper)
Partisan (New York)
Resistance (Boston)
Second City (Chicago)
Vietnam G.I. (Chicago)
Vietnam Summer News (Cambridge MA)
Washington Peace Center Newsletter (Washington DC)
This list is limited to protest newsletters specifically focused on the Vietnam War. A broader search for protest and periodicals will identify more titles. Even if the Vietnam War is not specifically mentioned in the subject headings, any newsletter on protests published during the war years will surely include anti-Vietnam War activism.
Vertical files are a way for libraries to organize uncataloged materials by subject. Contents of a vertical file may range from just a few sheets to a folder six inches thick, and may include newspaper clippings, pamphlets, flyers, resource lists, etc.
Black man's stake in Vietnam (unfolds to poster "To My Black Brothers in Vietnam")
Black marines against the brass
Blacks in the military: the myth of equal opportunity (undated, believed to be 1970s)
Kangaroo court martial... Two black marines who got 6 and 10 years for opposing the Vietnam War
The Black Man's Stake in Vietnam (unfolds to poster "To My Black Brothers in Vietnam")
The Conspiracy Stomp: A Benefit for the Chicago Eight (Chicago)
Fight for Aztlan, not Vietnam! (California, La Raza Unida Party)
Vietnam (poetry broadside, 1968)
Black student activism at Michigan State University, September 1967 to June 30, 1972: the university's response. (PhD dissertation)
Lt. Calley: guilty or not? the first complete, exclusive story. Reprint of widely read article about William Calley, the ranking officer present at the My Lai massacre.
Mayday Scrapbook. Hand-assembled scrapbook of posters, leaflets, buttons, etc. documenting Vietnam War protests.
Playboy. A recent New York Times article describes the popularity of Playboy among U.S. troops in Vietnam. The magazine also supported protesters: for example, in February 1971, it accepted a full page ad from the group Vietnam Veterans Against the War.
Ramparts. As the Johnson administration debated involvement in the Vietnamese conflict, Ramparts magazine published an article about MSU's Vietnam Project.
Students for a Democratic Society at Michigan State University, 1968-1969: a case study. (Masters degree thesis)