Interview with Dave Ransom : The Movement Oral History Project
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- David Ransom shares memories of his graduate student days at Stanford, his involvement with the anti-Vietnam War movement, and publishing the Peninsula Observer underground newspaper. Ransom describes his East Coast upbringing and education and reflects on how his family’s history influenced his life journey. He talks about his path to Stanford as a graduate student in the Department of English and describes how he became involved with anti-war activism, including publishing the Vietnam Newsletter, protesting through the Stanford Committee for Peace in Vietnam, and researching Stanford’s involvement in the war through The Experiment as part of the research-your-university movement. He also describes his post-Stanford career and activism, including efforts to organize unions, working as a writer for labor unions, and organizing for fair housing and against development in the Bay Area.
- Childhood memories of moving up and down the East Coast due to father’s job with Dupont • Early influences: exposure to racial segregation in the South and politically-oriented comics like Scrooge McDuck and Pogo • Mother’s abolitionist family background and relation to Helen Hunt Jackson • Relation to Madame Demorest • Memories of the segregated South and black housekeeper Eunice Brown • Thoughts on the shared culture of the post-WWII years • Level of political awareness as a young person and student at Exeter • Memories of atomic bomb images and drills at school • “Paying attention” to politics and world events at Harvard • Father’s job as a PhD chemist for Dupont working on textile fiber production issues • Grandfather’s ownership of the Niagra Textile Company and move of northern textile mills to the South and later overseas • Reflections on how moving around as a child and his father’s employment for a big corporation shaped his outlook • Being in Paris during a terrorist bombing related to the conflict in Algeria; reflections on living in an antagonistic environment in the South • Decision to attend graduate school at Stanford • Reputation of the Stanford Department of English • Memories of Ivor Winters • First impressions of Stanford and the dynamics of a changing student body • Early political involvement, including precinct work • Teaching at Menlo College and efforts to engage the students, including a debate on the Vietnam War • Beginnings of the Stanford Committee for Peace in Vietnam • Publishing the Vietnam Newsletter with help from activist printer Forrest Crumpley • Political education, including the writings of Harry Magdoff, Paul Sweezy, and I.F. Stone’s Weekly • The Experiment at Stanford • Influence of Mike Klare and the research- your-university movement; beginning to research Stanford’s relationship to the Vietnam War • Contrasting memories of the approach of older faculty and the politicized readings graduate students were teaching in freshman English • Draft and conscientious objector status • The Resistance newspaper at The Experiment • Using strategies learned in graduate English courses to research Stanford’s involvement in the war and resulting analysis • Stanford’s “movement” in relation to the larger “movement” • Ira Arlook, Barry Greenberg, and the “We Accuse” posters • Additional research efforts with Steve Weisman • Physical location of The Experiment and description of TA offices and equipment available to them • Shifts in thinking and varying outlooks on the Vietnam War, including an anti-imperialist view espoused by radical foreign students • Process of self- education • Strategy of using resident assistants to educate incoming freshman about the Vietnam War • Organizing a march to the post office in Palo Alto in February 1966 to protest resumed bombing in North Vietnam • Memories of demonstrations, including a protest at the 20th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations in San Francisco • Making a statement with respectable dress at protests • Protesting manufacture of napalm by United Technologies in Redwood City • Involvement of Palo Alto high school students in anti-war movement • Kepler’s bookstore • Citizen involvement in the anti-war movement • Extending power structure analysis to local issues; organizing against the Willow Expressway in Palo Alto • Reflections on the influence of the Bay Area Council • Origins of The Peninsula Observer (aka The Mid-Peninsula Observer); underground press in the Bay Area • Getting the paper out • The Peninsula Observer newspaper (continued) – logistics, funding, advertising • FBI and police infiltrators • Coverage of community events, including Stanford • Memories of student meeting with Board of Trustees in 1969 and protesting SRI • Concerts at Lytton Plaza in Palo Alto and police mistreatment • Shutting down The Peninsula Observer as the mainstream press began more critical coverage of Vietnam • Communications with Vietnamese people; US troops’ resistance to the war • Post-Vietnam War efforts to organize the working class in factories • Jobs writing for Service Employees Union and Carpenter’s Union; labor organizing • Communist Labor Party of North America • Family history revisited • Family’s support for his path • Connection with working-class kids growing up • Fluid and dynamic organization structure in Stanford movement • Reflections on participatory democracy • Leadership of Stanford movement • Gender dynamics in movement • Racial/ethnic makeup of movement; impact of international students • Connections with Bay Area activists • Stanford Committee for War in Vietnam satire troop • Connections with San Jose State, high schools, and community colleges • Connections with the Black Panthers • Reflections on the term “the movement” • Thoughts on tactics • Memories of a protest against CIA recruiting, the AEL sit-in, conflicts with fraternities, and the Hubert Humphrey protest • Thoughts on the culture of the time, including Catch-22, labor history, and films • Liberation News Service • Performance by folk musician Tom Scribner at a student sit-in • Organizing against development in Palo Alto and Menlo Park • The lasting impact of his research experiences • Memories of calling square dances • Collegiality in the movement • Reflections on how the movement changed as the war ended • Advice to future activists: “Know as much or more as the people that you’re up against” and hone your research skills • Importance of collectivity • Present-day involvement in the Sonoma United Methodist Church • Running for Congress on the Peace and Freedom Party ticket • Demonstration against racially discriminatory hiring practices at a Palo Alto restaurant in the 1960s • Lessons learned about community organizing
Description
| Type of resource | sound recording-nonmusical, text |
|---|---|
| Extent | 7 audio files; 1 text file |
| Place | Stanford (Calif.) |
| Publisher | Stanford Historical Society |
| Date created | March 8, 2019 - March 29, 2019 |
| Language | English |
| Digital origin | born digital |
Creators/Contributors
| Interviewee | Ransom, Dave | |
|---|---|---|
| Creator | Ransom, Dave | |
| Interviewer | Marine-Street, Natalie | |
| Publisher | Stanford Historical Society |
Subjects
| Subject | Stanford University. English Department |
|---|---|
| Subject | College Students > Political Activity > United States |
| Subject | Vietnam War, 1961-1975 > Protest Movements |
| Subject | Anti-war demonstrations |
| Genre | Interview |
Bibliographic information
| Transcript |
|
|---|---|
| Finding Aid | |
| Location | https://purl.stanford.edu/md026fb1695 |
| Location | SC1432 |
| Repository | Stanford University. Libraries. Department of Special Collections and University Archives |
Access conditions
- Use and reproduction
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, PO Box 1866, Mountain View, CA 94042, USA
For commercial permission requests, please contact the Stanford University Archives (universityarchives@stanford.edu).- Copyright
- Copyright © Dave Ransom, 2021.
Collection
The Movement oral history project, 2018
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