The Free Speech Movement

at the University of California, Berkeley

"We are here to make a better world. No amount of rationalization or blaming can preempt the moment of choice each of us brings to our situation here on this planet. The lesson of the '60s is that people who cared enough to do right could change history. We didn't end racism but we ended legal segregation. We ended the idea that you could send half-a-million soldiers around the world to fight a war that people do not support. We ended the idea that women are second-class citizens. We made the environment an issue that couldn't be avoided. The big battles that we won cannot be reversed. We were young, self-righteous, reckless, hypocritical, brave, silly, headstrong and scared half to death.  And we were right."
-Abbie Hoffman 

     During the Vietnam War, there were many protests both in Vietnam and in the United States.  The most influential protest in the United States was the Free Speech movement at the University of California, Berkeley in Berkeley, California near San Francisco.  The Free Speech Movement gave Berkeley a name in history books and will be remembered for years to come.  Here are some links with valuable information about the Free Speech Movement and Berkeley:

The Free Speech Movement Digital Archive:  This website is connected to the University of California, Berkeley, which makes it a very credible and acknowledged source with a comprehensive bibliography with a plethora of various sources.  The Free Speech Movement Chronology is also linked from this website.  This website is very thorough and has descriptions of all events mentioned on the timeline.

What Followed from FSM On the Berkeley Campus:  This website is a very brief and simplified timeline listing the events that happened at Berkeley which directly coincide with the Free Speech Movement.  The Free Speech Movement Archives (which this link is affiliated with) has been cited  as one of the most excellent sources of information available for learning about Social Movements of the 1960s.

Narratives of the Free Speech Movement:  This website is also closely affiliated with the Free Speech Movement Archives and contains links to narratives about the Free Speech Movement, first hand accounts of the events and the motives behind the Free Speech Movement.  On this site is a link to an especially informative document, the Pimsleur Narrative, an account of the Free Speech Movement written by a reporter who attended events but was not allowed to report the truth.

Berkeley Free Speech Movement Photography:  This website is a wonderful website with photographs that allow a viewer to place themselves in the midst of the chaos that was the Free Speech Movement.

Hippyland:  Because this is the coolest website ever.  Ever.  To find a Hippy Name that suits your personality, click here.

This Website Was Composed by:  Lori, Meredith, James, and Stacey in March of 2005  If you wish to use this website as a source for a research paper, the bibliography is the following:

 Free Speech Movement. Lori B. Richardson, et al.  March 2005. Mid-Carolina High School. Date Accessed Month Accessed. Year Accessed. <http://www.newberry.k12.sc.us/mchs/freespeech.htm>.