Oral History Center, The Bancroft Library, University of California Berkeley
Oral History Center University of California The Bancroft Library Berkeley, California
Michael Tigar
Mike Tigar: From SLATE Leader to Civil Liberties Attorney
The SLATE Oral History Project
Interviews conducted by Martin Meeker in 2018
Public Domain Oral History Center, The Bancroft Library, University of California Berkeley ii
Since 1954 the Oral History Center of the Bancroft Library, formerly the Regional Oral History Office, has been interviewing leading participants in or well-placed witnesses to major events in the development of Northern California, the West, and the nation. Oral History is a method of collecting historical information through tape-recorded interviews between a narrator with firsthand knowledge of historically significant events and a well-informed interviewer, with the goal of preserving substantive additions to the historical record. The tape recording is transcribed, lightly edited for continuity and clarity, and reviewed by the interviewee. The corrected manuscript is bound with photographs and illustrative materials and placed in The Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley, and in other research collections for scholarly use. Because it is primary material, oral history is not intended to present the final, verified, or complete narrative of events. It is a spoken account, offered by the interviewee in response to questioning, and as such it is reflective, partisan, deeply involved, and irreplaceable.
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This oral history recording and transcript have been placed in the public domain by its creator in a document signed June 30, 2018.
It is recommended that this oral history be cited as follows:
Michael Tigar, “Mike Tigar: From SLATE Leader to Civil Liberties Attorney,” SLATE Oral History Project, conducted by Martin Meeker in 2018, Oral History Center, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 2018.
Oral History Center, The Bancroft Library, University of California Berkeley iii
Michael Tigar
Photograph courtesy University of Michigan Law School
Oral History Center, The Bancroft Library, University of California Berkeley iv
Michael Tigar attended UC Berkeley as an undergraduate between 1958 and 1962; he returned to Berkeley to earn his degree in law in 1966. While an undergraduate, Tigar was active in the student political organization SLATE. He was elected for a term to the Associated Students of the University of California senate as a SLATE candidate. While a student at Berkeley, Tigar worked at KPFA radio station. In this interview, Tigar discusses the following topics: the context surrounding student activism and the role of SLATE in giving student activists a voice; KPFA and progressive radio; and the relationship between law and civil liberties advocacy. Note that Michael Tigar also was interviewed as part of the Free Speech Movement Oral History Project and his transcript for that project is also available from the Oral History Center.
Oral History Center, The Bancroft Library, University of California Berkeley v
Table of Contents — Michael Tigar
Interview 1: January 12, 2018
Hour 1 1
Born on January 18, 1941 — Father as the Executive Secretary of Machinists’ Union at Lockheed in 1937 — Jacobus tenBroek — Attending UC Berkeley in 1958 — Volunteering at KPFA, the Pacifica station — Editor-in-Chief of the Law Review — SLATE’s issue-oriented appeal — Free Speech Movement — SLATE as male-dominated — “Zero consciousness of what we now understand to be LGBT issues” — City Lights Bookstore — Clark Kerr’s response to Dave Armor’s election — “Falling out of love with the Navy” — Roommate Aryay Lenske (Kalaki) — Students for Civil Liberties — House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) — Beat Movement — Liti