NYU Security Film 1968 Dow Chemical Protest

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NYU Security Film - 1968Dow Chemical Protest

• Stefan Elnabli Shira Peltzman Craig Savino

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Provenance

• John G. Mason Collection
• Obtained from Student Affairs Office
• Editor and location of original Unknown

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About the Film - Tech Specs

• DVD transfer from VHS
• 22 mins.
• Black and White
• Silent

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• On March 6, 1968, members of the N.Y.U.
  community marched to protest the presence of
  recruiters from Dow Chemical Corporation, a
  supplier of chemical weapons used in the Vietnam
  War.
• The marchers crossed Washington Square Park
  ending in front of Vanderbilt Hall which housed
  University Administration at the time.
• This film was taken by N.Y.U. Protection Services
  and is part of the University Archives
  Collection.

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Content of the Film

• Protest begins at Mercer Street and West Third
  Street
• Students and faculty march to the Main Building
  (Silver Center)
• Through Washington Square Park
• End at Vanderbilt Hall to engage the issue with
  Chancellor Cartter

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Historical Context - National

• Dow manufactured chemical weapon napalm-b for US
  military purposes in Vietnam
• Dow conducted recruitment and placement
  interviews at various university campuses
  nationally
• Dows presence on university campuses was a
  contentious issue that incited hundreds of
  student protests between November 1966 and May
  1969

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Washington Square East, Main Building (Silver
Center)
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Historical Context - Local

• Students For A Democratic Society (SDS)
• Student-Faculty Committee
• directly profiting from war-fare which
  menaces the very source of the intellect life
  itself. -- Irving Sarnoff, NYU Professor of
  Psychology
• First NYU Dow protest November 29, 1967
• Chancellor Cartter reveals plans to review
  on-campus job recruitment

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Washington Square Journal. Vol.13, No. 19,
Thursday, November 30, 1967. Front Page.
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Cultural Significance

• Only known comprehensive moving image material
  documenting the entire NYU March 1968 protest
• Represents both national and NYU history from the
  Vietnam war era
• Rough precursor to surveillance video

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Flyer obtained from Leslie Cagans Papers
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Recommendations for Preservation

• The footage should be kept because it provides
  an accurate historical record of what we did and
  how we did it. - Leslie Cagan, Chair of NYU
  Committee to End the War in Vietnam, Protest
  Participant
• No original carrier, essence is preserved in
  digital format
• With the permission of University Archives,
  digital copy could be sent to various internet
  based archive projects

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Archives

• The Internet Archive (internetarchive.org)
• The Vietnam Center and Archive at Texas Tech
  University (vietnam.ttu.edu)
• To support and encourage research and education
  regarding all aspects of the American Vietnam
  experience

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Works Cited

• The Papers of John G. Mason, NYU University
  Archives
• The Papers of Leslie Cagan, Tamiment
  Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
• Washington Square Journal, Microfilm Roll 3
  (courtesy of University Archives)
• 1968 Revisited, Online exhibit, NYU University
  Archives http//www.nyu.edu/library/bobst/collect
  ions/exhibits/arch/Homepg/index.html
• Student Power Crushes Dow. Students for Bhopal.
  http//www.studentsforbhopal.org/DowVietnam.htm