Following are some preliminary findings from the surveys submitted so far for Project STAND.
98 collection assessment surveys have been submitted to date from 11 colleges and universities.
The majority of the submissions are manuscript materials including correspondence files, photographs, news clippings, publicity/event files, and publications.
Themes:
- 42 of the 98 collections relate to Vietnam anti-war demonstrations and reactions to the Kent State massacre on college campuses.
- The 2nd most represented group of collections are for African-American student groups and activism related to racial equality, represented in 32 collections.
By far these are the two most prevalent themes to emerge from the collection surveys.
- Another prevailing theme relates to span dates, as 50 of the submitted collections document activities from the late 60s through early 70’s, (due in large part to the degree of student activism during that era).
- Other subject areas represented include:
- Women’s rights (14 collections)
- International/ethnic community groups (12)
- Political advocacy groups (8)
- Environmental advocacy (5)
- LBGTQ (3)
- Academic freedom (3)
- Freedom of expression (3)
- Disability advocacy (2).
In terms of size, 44 of the collections are small collections (5 files or less), with some of the larger collections containing more than 20,000 photographs. In terms of format, while the majority of the collections are printed manuscript material, there are five digital collections and 6 audio-visual collections.
Please note findings are only preliminary, and some collections contain files on multiple advocacy topics. We will continue to provide updates as surveys from across the country are added to give insight into the broad landscape of student activism.