Finding Aid for the LOS ANGELES RESISTANCE COLLECTION Los Angeles Public Library Digitization and Special Collections OVERVIEW Identifier/Call No.: LA MSS 0001 Creator: Los Angeles Resistance. Title: Los Angeles Resistance collection. Dates: 1960-2015 (bulk 1967-1969). Language: Materials in English. Scope and Content: Consists of papers, correspondence, writings, legal records, newsletters, news clippings, datebooks, prints, photographs, digital still and moving images, audiotapes, and ephemera chronicling the non-violent anti-draft activities of the Los Angeles chapter of the Resistance. The collection includes documents related to the national Resistance movement, as well as other local chapters. Also includes materials related to collaborations with other anti-war organizations. Materials date from the founding of the L.A. Resistance in 1967 to the screening of L.A. resistance documentaries at the 2015 Monaco Charity Film Festival. Most of the materials are concentrated between the years 1967-1969, when the group was most active. Quantity: 3.336 cubic feet (8 boxes). Location: Rare Books, North Stacks. Photographs in Photo Collection, Closed Stacks. Some moving image materials in cold storage. ADMINISTRATIVE/BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY The Resistance was an organization dedicated to non-violent non-cooperation with the federal Selective Service System, the federal government agency which administered the Vietnam War draft. The first Resistance chapter was founded in Palo Alto by David Harris, a former Stanford University Student Body President, in 1967. The Los Angeles Resistance was founded in Westwood in 1967 by Donald “Don” Kalish, the former Chair of the UCLA Philosophy Department. It was part of a national network of local Resistance chapters which coordinated their efforts to stop the draft. From 1967 to 1968, the L.A. Resistance regularly held peaceful protests outside of the downtown L.A. Selective Service office, where busloads of young men were taken for induction into the armed services. Members of the L.A. Resistance worked with the national Resistance network to organize four national draft card turn-in events. After many resisters were imprisoned for refusing induction, various national Resistance groups worked together to form the Resistance Prison Project, in order to aid and advocate for those imprisoned for noncompliance. This collection chronicles the activities of L.A. Resistance and the anti-war organizations they collaborated with such as: the Orange Grove Friends (Quaker) Sanctuary, (Quaker) Friends of the Resistance, Clergy and Laymen Concerned About Vietnam, Peace Action Council of Southern California, San Francisco Resistance, Palo Alto Resistance, Alpha House Resistance Commune, Westside Committee of Concern on Vietnam, the Quaker Action Group, Committee for Draft Resistance, and the War Resisters League of Southern California. 1 ARRANGEMENT These documents are organized into the following series: Organizational Papers Los Angeles Resistance Chapter National Resistance Other Local Resistance Chapters Biographical Information Correspondence Writings Legal Records Prison Records Project Files Resistance Prison Project Inglewood Community Project Miscellaneous Projects Subject Files Clergy and the Resistance War Resisters League Blacks Against the Draft Women’s Groups Presidio 27 Mutiny Trial Peace Action Council of Southern California Research Files Anti-war publications Pro-war publications Government Documents Photographs Audiovisual Materials News Clippings Ephemera ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION Access Restrictions: This collection is open for research on an appointment basis. Video and audio footage created by Neil Reichline, Norman Witty, and Charles Domokos are restricted. Use Restrictions: There is no fee to use collection materials for research and educational purposes. All requests to reproduce, publish, quote or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the Department Manager of the Los Angeles Public Library Digitization and Special Collections Department. The Copyright Law of the United States (U.S. Code, Title 17) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. The user or publisher must also secure permission to publish from the copyright owner. Additionally, all photographs/graphics are furnished with the understanding that the City of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Public Library have no authority to waive the privacy rights of individuals shown in the photographs/graphics. Information and forms for requesting access to collection materials can be found at: http://www.lapl.org/branches/central-library/departments/rare-books. 2 Preferred Citation: [item and/or series name]. Los Angeles Resistance collection, LA MSS 0001. Digitization and Special Collections Department, Los Angeles Public Library. Processing Information: Processed by: Xochitl Oliva and Suzanne Im, January 2017. Updated by: Suzanne Im, December 2017. Substantial portions of the papers were reorganized in 2016 into a more coherent arrangement, and new series were created to bring similar material together. Item descriptions provided by Los Angeles Resistance members. CONTAINER LIST ORGANIZATIONAL PAPERS Series comprises primarily newsletters, leaflets, statements, lists, planning notes, press releases, and correspondence related to the anti-war and anti-draft mobilization efforts of the Los Angeles Resistance, the national Resistance, and other Resistance chapters. Bulk dates from 1967-1969 and 2009. Los Angeles Resistance Original order maintained where possible. Location Box : Folder Description Rare Books 1 : 1 Emergency contact list (1967 October 30) North Stacks Lists contacts in Berkeley, Los Angeles, Chicago, New England, New York, Ohio, and San Francisco Resistance offices. 1 : 2 Resister newsletters (1967-1969) Color silkscreened graphics. 1 : 3 Leaflets (1967-1971) Leaflets announcing meetings and other Resistance actions. Includes a few Peace Press leaflet drafts on film and foil. 1 : 4 Southern California Supporters of the Resistance (1967) Leaflets, newsletters, correspondence. 1 : 5 Alpha House Resistance Commune (1970, undated) Newsletters from the Alpha House Resistance Commune located at 443 S. Virgil in Los Angeles. 1 : 6 First national draft card turn-in (1967 October 16) List of participants. 1 : 7 Thanksgiving Day fast (1967 November 25) Leaflet, drafts and press release. 1 : 8 Second national draft card turn-in (1967 December 4) 3 Service of conscience and march to federal building. Planning notes and a full transcript of the service titled “Beginnings and Becoming: The Story of the Chalice of Blood” by the Reverend Roy. A. Ockert. Benediction by Rev. Wayne C. Hartmire. Sermon at the Service of Draft Card Turning In, Federal Building, by Robert McAfee Brown. Original paste-ups for a booklet with photos documenting the service and march. The booklet was never published. 1 : 9 Third national draft card turn-in at UCLA Meyerhoff Park (1968 April 3) Program. 1 : 10 Hiroshima Day commemoration in Inglewood, CA (1968 August 6) Planning documents, leaflets, and newspaper articles. Copy of letter to Setsuo Yamada, Mayor of Hiroshima, Japan, dated July 27, 1968. Original response telegram from Mayor Yamada dated August 5, 1968. 1 : 11 Greg Nelson sanctuary at Grace Episcopal Church (1968 October 1) Leaflet for refusal event. 1 : 12 A Call to Resist – Drafts (1967) Various unsigned versions of the statement of complicity, which was illegal to sign. Dr. Ben Spock was prosecuted for signing. Includes a press release titled “A Call to Our Russian Brothers to Resist." 1 : 13 A Call to Resist – Signed statements of support (1967) Original signed copies of “A Call to Resist.” Selective Service System antidraft certificates. 1 : 14-15 A Call to Resist – Signed statements of support (1968 January 5) Original signed copies of “A Call to Resist.” (2 folders.) Location Box : Folder Description Rare Books 2 : 1-3 A Call to Resist – Signed statements of support (1968 January 8 – 1968 June 24) North Stacks Original signed copies of “A Call to Resist.” (3 folders.) 2 : 4 A Call to Resist – Lists of signatories (1967 October 16 – 1968 January 29) 2 : 5 Peace award of the War Resisters League (1968 April 9) Awarded to members of the Resistance at St. Marks Church in New York City on the day of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s funeral. 2 : 6 L.A. Resistance reunion (2009 October) Invitation leaflets, schedule and film program notes. 2 : 7 Stories of the L.A. Resistance (2009) 4 “Stories of the L.A. Resistance: What we did; what it meant; and who we are now,” 29 personal accounts compiled at 2009 Reunion. Contributors include: Michael “Mike” Agron, David Chapple, Jim Conn, Winter Karen Dellenbach, Dennis Durby, Geoff Fishman, Jan Gealer, Richard Gould, Chris Hartmire, Howard Ingber, Christopher Jones, Ted Kogon, Rosa Lucas, Joe Maizlish, Dan Malone, Peter Marx, Jerry Palmer, Michael Pancer, Robert Pike, Richard Profumo, Neil Reichline, Tom Robischon, P’nina (Frankie) Shames, Lynn Shoemaker, Don Strachan, Michael Zebulon Swartz, Norman Witty, Art Zack and Bob Zaugh. 2 : 8 Chronology of L.A. Resistance (2009) Collaborative chronology compiled by former members of the L.A. Resistance during the 2009 reunion. 2 : 9 Monaco Charity Film Festival (2015 May 6) Program notes for the screening in Monte Carlo, Monaco of two documentaries about the L.A. Resistance, David Harris, Political Prisoner and The Resister. Both films are in the Video series of the L.A. Resistance Collection.