Archives #2

(Sorry this is late, I wanted to include everything that I found and it took a while.)

May 1970 Sit-in

This sit-in lasted for 5 days in May 1970. They called themselves The Students Are Revolting (sometimes shortened S.A.R), and were protesting against the Vietnam War. The students blocked the main doors, but kept the windows open and encouraged other people to come inside. Other students came in and out, and staff and the Dean came in some point during the sit-in. They communicated with the school by typing on the Associate Dean’s stationary paper and we still have the archives of many of those messages (some pictured below). When I first saw these pictures, I was shocked and kind of proud of the previous Knox students. This archive with the sit-in specifically really made me realize that each generation has good people that fight for what is right. Even though they weren’t protesting Civil Rights or the treatment of black people in America, they were fighting against racism internationally and America’s imperial actions. I have a lot of respect for these students, more so than I did before seeing the archives. I think the students of Knox College need to take some inspiration from these events that happened all the way back in 1970. It is our responsibility to keep protesting, to keep fighting for what we know is right. America has far bigger issues than we can tackle at one college, but if we revolt, if we stick to our guns and send a message, real progress can start to be made. We could all benefit from taking the advice from the Students Are Revolting and learning how to “Dig it.”

Black Power Forum

There was a Black Panther forum at Monmouth College in 1968, that included Fred Hampton. Hampton was a Civil Rights activist, and deputy chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party. He was a Marxist and fought strongly against fascism in America and everywhere. He founded the Rainbow Coalition, which united the Black Panthers, and foundations for poor white people (Young Patriots) and Hispanics (Young Lords). Hampton was sadly murdered by the U.S. government for being too progressive for their liking. When I saw these pictures, I was blown away. Although it wasn’t at Knox it was incredibly close to our campus. To see Hampton so close to our college, engaging with students of Monmouth and likely students from Knox is so powerful. I think of the activists on our campus today, the people who speak out against injustice and wonder how many of them will be political leaders in the future. We are cultivating great minds at Knox today, and these archives make it obvious that we have been doing this for years.

I’m sure that Hampton would have been proud to see the revolt on Knox campus in 1970 (if he had been alive). And I am sure he would be fighting for another student revolution now if he could. Palestinians are being slaughtered in a genocide outside our borders (funded by our government) and people of color and other minorities are being killed and oppressed within our borders. This is just a blog post that no one will really see, but it is a call to action in honor of Fred Hampton and every other activist who has lost their lives through the violence of our government.

Fun at Knox College

Not everything in the late 60s at Knox was centered around revolution and heavy topics, the students had fun too! I found many photos from 1967-1969 that showed Knox students engaging in student life. These first two are of Orientation and some students goofing around and playing football. I think it’s important to at least point out that most of the students pictured from this time are white. Even so, it is very interesting to get a glimpse into what was happening at Knox leading up to the Students Are Revolting. Many things are different now, but college kids having fun at college seems to be the same through every generation.

This above picture shows a Party during the Spring term in 1968. The band that is playing is Seven Sons, which was marked on the back of the photograph. I thought it was fascinating that this student’s name is not known, but the band that was playing that night is. The larger aspects of Knox are immortalized in documents and flyers, but the pictures really show us a glimpse into the lives of individual students. The student pictured is having a great time, dancing and smiling at this party. What stands out to be the most in this picture is the seeming influence from the Black Arts Movement. The girl in this photograph looks like she could be doing the twist, and other photos of different dances make me come to the same conclusion. The band playing onstage is likely a jazz band, which is just another influence of the Black Arts Movement on Knox campus. Seeing this influence at Knox (a place where jazz is still so active now) makes me think about the impact of black culture across America. So many art styles and music were originally inspired or done by black creators. I think it’s beautiful to see these students rocking out to jazz music at a party, just like students on campus now rock out to rap or R&B at parties.