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“It was at the University of Michigan in March 1965 and soon thereafter at Berkeley, Columbia, Harvard and other universities that the antiwar ‘teach-ins’ began, almost simultaneously with Washington's escalation of the war in Vietnam. Within a few years the growing protests had helped generate a mass movement which made unacceptable the cost of continued war and contributed to the liberation of Indochina.

“It was not however at America's elite universities, but at places like Kent State, Jackson State, and Southern Illinois University (SIU) at Carbondale, that many of the most bitter and protracted struggles were waged and in many instances crucial victories won.”

—Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars, 1976

Spring 1972. Dr. C. Harvey Gardiner, professor of history, addresses antiwar protesters at SIU's "Free Forum" area. Background: Dr. Jonathan Seldin, SIU professor of mathematics, Maury Richards, Southern Illinois Peace Committee.

Photo: Lawrence Roth

SIU antiwar activists occupy campus "Free Forum" area the evening of May 11. Over 1,000 students would rally here. After a small group of students split off from the main rally and attempted to enter the SIU Student Center where an ROTC banquet was being held, only to be met at the door by a police contingent, the group moved to block the nearby state highway for a time before finally returning to the rally site. When students defied a city curfew (originally 10:30 p.m., but pushed back several times) and a police order to disperse, helmeted police attacked the crowd shortly after midnight, clubbing students and firing smoke bombs and later tear gas as students were chased across campus and arrested. Some students sought to escape police by swimming across Thompson Lake on the far west side of campus. They were picked up by police in boats.

Photo: Lawrence Roth

April 27, 1972. Antiwar Vietnamese rally with SIU students and faculty in front of Vietnam Studies Center.

Photo: Lawrence Roth

Spring 1972. President Nixon hangs in effigy at "Free Forum" war protest.

Photo: Lawrence Roth