User:Asumatt/Portland State University Student Strike of 1970

See main article Student Strike of 1970 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Student_strike_of_1970

Cambodian Invasion

When President Nixon ordered the invasion of Cambodia on April 30, 1970 protests broke out through out the country. College campuses were especially affected and our May 2, 1970 a mass meeting on the Yale campus called for a student strike. The National Strike Information Center was set up at Brandeis University and students at Kent State burned down the school’s ROTC center. On May 4, National Guardsmen at Kent State fired on students who had been chanting and throwing a few rocks. Four died. At the time of the Kent State shootings there were about a hundred student strikes in progress in the U.S. As news of the shooting spread strikes broke out at 750 of the U.S.’s 2500 campuses. The White House fearing demonstrations was surrounded by 60 buses. During the first week in May, 30 ROTC buildings were burned or bombed. At Jackson State College in Mississippi the police opened fire on a women’s dormitory killing two students and injuring nine. All this was occurring with very little central leadership. Factional infighting had destroyed SDS almost a year before and nothing had taken its place. Some SDS chapters, such as at Portland State, had continued, while others changed their names. The student strikes were significant because for the first time “moderate” students who had never demonstrated before were joining in.

At Portland State news of the Kent State shooting spread quickly Monday afternoon May 4th. Forty to fifty People gathered on the fourth floor of Smith Center which housed student government offices, the Vanguard and the SDS office. The group was split in three directions. On group, mainly SDS, wanted to have a program and organize students to support it. A group of liberals wanted people to sign petitions for Hatfield and McGovern. The majority wanted to express their outrage in spontaneous actions. That group prevailed and the strike suffered from lack of organization from that point until the end. Kevin Mulligan took on the role as the Chairman of the loosely put together Strike Committee. Various tasks were assigned ranging from picket sign making to first aid. The fourth floor remained occupied 24 hours a day for the balance of the strike.

The committee united around four issues for the strike: to protest 1) the shooting and four deaths at Kent State; 2) the Cambodian invasion and escalation of the Vietnam War; 3) the imprisonment of Black Panther Chairman Bobby Seale; and 4) the shipments of nerve gas into Oregon. Why Nerve Gas Demand?

  Nerve gas had been an issue since the previous July.  A nerve gas leak had occurred in Okinawa and 24 Americans were hospitalized.  The people on Okinawa demanded its removal and the Army agreed.  The Army proposed to move the gas by ship to Bangor, Washington and then move the gas by rail to the Umatilla Army Depot at Hermiston, Oregon which is 150 miles east of Portland.  The gas was very lethal with only 1/50 of a drop being needed to kill a human.  The Army was planning to use up to 750 railroad cars to transport three million pounds of the gas.  This would be enough to kill 675 billion people.  Governor McCall and the Oregon congressional delegation demanded it be detoxified in Okinawa.  Although not as a result of the strike this was one demand that was satisfied.  On May 23, 1970 the Army announced they would ship the gas to a Naval Station in Alaska for storage.

The Strike Takes Off

  On Tuesday May 5, a meeting was held in the Smith Center ballroom with 2000 students in attendance.  Bill Nygren of SDS chaired the meeting.  The issues and tactics of the strike were debated.  Tuesday night all 735 faculty members were called at home and asked to support the strike.  In the end 134 agreed to do so.  Some of those not willing to cancel classes for the duration agreed to have the issues discussed in class or to dismiss classes for the Wednesday rally beginning the strike.  Wolfe released a statement saying the University would remain open
     On Wednesday morning May 6, John Heade of SDS put in a request for the use of 20 tables from Educational Activities.  Those tables were taken to the Park Blocks and eventually were used in many of the barricades around the University.  There was a rally in the morning with speakers.  One of the speakers, Gary Waller, questioned why the food service should remain open in Smith Center.  Others said it should provide free food during the strike.  About 150 to 200 students rushed into the cafeteria on the first floor of Smith Center and began “liberating” food.  Other students tried to stop them and a food fight started.  The cafeteria closed.  

The Barricades

  As the food fight progressed Lester Lamm took to the stage in the Park Blocks and said the school needed to be shut down immediately because of Kent State.  He said “The loss of freedom of speech and assembly at Kent State is far more important than ripping off a hamburger.”  In 1970 Portland State still had traffic moving through the campus and the Park Blocks.  He ran down to SW Broadway and Mill and with others began to barricade the intersection.  Soon all the intersections were closed off.  
  The barricades were all named.  One was “Fort Tricia Nixon” named because there had been an article in the paper about how the President’s daughter could not understand why college students did not support her father.  Another was named the “Bobby Seale Memorial” and manned by the White Panthers.  One barricade at SW Harrison and West Park got its name when a women looking for a friend, Alan Peterson, asked those at the fortification if he was there.  He wasn’t but the barricade became known as “Alan Peterson.”  In all there were ten barricades and they were manned 24 hours a day.  Fifty five gallon trash barrels were used to burn wood and garbage to keep people warm.  In one incident on Saturday May 9, at 2:45 a.m., a garbage truck rammed into the “Pentagon” barricade.  The garbage truck driver told police he was on his normal route and did not know the barricade was there.  Members of the barricade surrounded his truck and were screaming at him.  He decided to ram though the barricade “to protect the safety of the tuck.” No one was injured and the barricade was renamed “Wipe-Out Alley.”  
  In the afternoon of May 6, 1500 marchers left the campus and went to the induction center in downtown Portland.  There were 24 arrests for blocking traffic.  That night there was a party and dance in the Ballroom.  The crowd reached 900 people many of whom were young high school students who according to observers were drinking and using drugs. There was some damage to the Center as younger people were vomiting because of alcohol and drug abuse.  

Wolfe Takes Over the Strike

  Wednesday night Wolfe decided to close the University.  He decided he would rather do it than have a student movement do it.  He ordered PSU closed until the following Monday.  He said he based his decision on the following factors: 1) The size and mood of the crowd that had developed in and around the PSU campus; 2) The large numbers of non-students who had joined the student activities in the strike movement; 3) The violence which had occurred and had resulted in the closure of the cafeteria; and 4) The development of organized opposition to the continuance of classes at PSU.  

Strike Activities

  Thursday morning a group from Reed College came over to PSU and gathered some supporters to go down to the docks to picket and try to gain support for their strike action.  Terminals 1, 2 and 4 were picketed by 10-20 student pickets each.  Although a few longshoreman asked to be replaced most work continued at the docks.  
  Liberation schools were set up for students to attend.  Most occurred outside but some used PSU buildings since they remained open.  Some of the subjects included “Imperialism” taught by Professors Frank Giese, David Horowitz and Barbara Vatter.  “Women’s Liberation” taught by women’s liberation groups.  “This Summer in Portland” taught by Maurice Isserman and Jeff Bakely. “High Schools” taught by Gary Waller.  The afternoon of May 6 almost 4,000 people marched from PSU to City Hall demanded that Mayor Schrunk speak to the group.  He came out and addressed the group.  He was interrupted by catcalls and after a short time had the microphone taken from him by a student who said, “We have listened to the Mayor and it is all a bunch of bullshit.”  
  Another party took place in Smith Center Thursday night.  This time the attendance was about twice as many as the night before with 1500 to 2000 attending.  Again there were many high school students present, some as young as 14 or 15, using drugs and alcohol.  The next morning maintenance personnel from the school found human and dog feces, vomit, urine and vandalism.  One person was hospitalized when he walked onto a skylight and crashed through to the floor below.  After the strike was over PSU calculated $12,000 in damage and $2,000 in missing property.
  The Strike Committee published a strike newsletter each day called The PSU Barricade giving news from PSU and around the country.  Another group based at Reed College published an occasional poster called The Wallposter giving strike news. 
     
  Shortly after the strike started a number of radio engineers started Radio Free Portland.  They generally broadcast strike news twice an hour for 15 minutes each on 850 on the AM dial.  They operated their technically illegal station from a mobile van.  They intended to place 25 wire antenna ($5 each) locations around the city so they could be completely mobile.     
  On Friday, May 8 a tent was erected in the Park Blocks opposite Smith Center.  It was decided it would be a first aid tent and supplies were placed inside.  Another march was made to the docks to attempt to get support from the Longshoremen Union which publicly was anti-war.  Alternative liberation classes continued at PSU and in the Park Blocks.

The Battle at the Tent

  Monday morning May 11 a group of 50 or so athletes and business students gathered at an auto dealer near campus.  They were members of a newly formed “University Club.”  They were opposed to the strike and decided to tear down the barricades.  They marched to a barricade at S.W. Park and Mill St. and proceeded to tear it down without incident.  They then went to S.W. Park and Hall St.  They met resistance and one of the athletes received a minor knife wound.  A couple of older people who were with them persuaded them to go down to City Hall and take it up with the Mayor.  The Mayor agreed to see them and told them the city was planning a definite action to resolve the problem.  They returned to the campus.  Greg Wolfe had re-opened the campus on Monday.  At 10 am the city dispatched garbage trucks and work crews to remove the barricades.  Captain Norman Reiter, who was in command of police in the area, contacted some of the strike leaders to tell them the situation.  They told him there no longer was any centralized control as far as the barricades were concerned and each barricade would decide whether to resist or not.  Although there were minor acts of resistance most of the barricades were taken down by noon.  
  While the barricades were being taken down Cynthia Raley who had been in charge of the tent called Assistant Park Superintendent Robert Gustafson and asked permission to keep the tent for 24 more hours and then the strikers would take it down themselves.  Gustafson agreed.  Gustafson’s supervisor Commissioner Francis Ivancie found out about the conversations and counter-manned the order.  This information was not communicated to the strikers.  
  Although most of the barricades had been taken down human barricades took their place.  People would continuously walk in the cross walks where the barricades had been.  The campus remained inaccessible.  A decision was made to clear park benches and other debris that could be used to reform new barricades from the Park Blocks.  The Police, including the TAC squad, gathered at the south end of the blocks.  The crowd increased in size to at least 2,000 and possibly larger.  There was a last minute flurry of phone calls between the police commanders, City Hall, Greg Wolfe and the Park District.  Greg Wolfe called the Mayor’s office asking for the tent to remain.  The call went unanswered and the Mayor consulting with Ivancie ordered the tent removed.  Ivancie said, “Its time someone shut up those kids.”  Wolfe then offered to remove the tent to campus property.  Strikers in front of the tent rejected the offer and elected to stand their ground and defend the tent.  

  Police announced people who did not disperse would be arrested.  The police moved in and did not try and arrest anyone but swung their 42 inch batons hitting people on the head.  They also attacked the tent in the same manner.  The angry crowd began throwing rocks and taunting the police with shouts of “Seig Heil!”  Gradually the crowd dispersed with most going into the Smith Center strike headquarters to make further plans.  Thirty one people were hospitalized.  Of those one third were PSU students and the rest were high school students, non-students or students from another school.  Those hospitalized were Doug Hamilton, Robert Sherwood, Maureen Gray, Robert Kolaks, Janice Bakely, Bill Nygren, Rosemary Chesterman, Doug Weiskopf, Linda Rudnick, Anne Lafreniere, Thomas Baldwin, Leas Averill, Edward Matin, Steven Cook, Jeffrey Bakly, G. Bruce Windrem, Charles Hamann, Ursula Smith, Jerry Powell, Phil Youngman, Shelly Christensen, Curt Cuffle, Erma Sample, Toni DeMelio and Joanne Lemman.     

The Day After

  The police attack outraged and united all segments of the university community.  At a strike meeting that evening Greg Wolfe condemned it and said he had tried to keep the police away.  The meeting set forward five demands: 1) a full investigation of Monday’s clash at the tent; 2) The abolition of the TAC squad; 3) the resignation of city officials responsible for calling the police to   the campus; 4) the prosecution of police found guilty of “abuse of public power”; and 5) Mayor Schrunk address strike demonstrators.   

  A new form of organization was created to run the strike from that point forward.  Small groups of people who knew and trusted one another formed collectives for a common purpose.  Each collective selected a member or two to be representatives for the strike Steering Committee.  In reality the Steering Committee was the beginning of the end of the strike.  It had no chairman and made no plans.  Different people came each time to the meetings so there was no continuity in leadership.   
  A march on City Hall was set for Tuesday.  University officials got a permit for it and it became “Faculty up front.”  Greg Wolfe collapsed in his office that morning and was hospitalized.  The march was well attended with 3,500 marching but it was a University march not a strike march.  The issues of the strike, including the Vietnam War, Nerve Gas and the attack on the Black Panthers were put on the back burner.  The sole issue became the beating of students by the police.  
  By Thursday night May 14 the University administration had enough and ordered everyone out of Smith Center by midnight.  Not wishing another police confrontation the Steering Committee collected its materials and left.  May 20 had been designated as a National Strike Day across the country.  The business sponsored University Organization distributed thousands of buttons which said “Just Keep Cool, Keep Open.”  The Steering Committee put on a skit in the Park Blocks about the attack on the tent and strikers.  There was a march of about 1,500 people from PSU to downtown.  A “die-in” was staged to illustrate the nerve gas issue.  Otherwise the march was anti climatic.
  There was a Grand Jury investigation of the strike violence in the summer. Many subpoenas were issued to strike participants.  Some people were able to evade them and others refused to testify.  The Grand Jury closed its investigation with no findings.  The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit charging the police with “using unreasonable force in dispersing the student strike crowd on May 11.”  The suit was dismissed when the Portland City Council passed an ordinance requiring the Police Department to revise its operations manual to describe precisely chain of command decisions for dispersal of crowds.

The Seventh Day

  A group of film students filmed footage of many of the strike activities.  It is called The Seventh Day and runs for 29 minutes.  It is currently available online at:  http://vimeo.com/23653888 

Fiftieth Anniversary A group of former students and faculty members united to commerate the 50th anniversary of the strike on May 11, 2020. The Covid pandemic caused a cancelation and the ceremony was moved to May 11, 2022. A plaque will be installed near the site of the tent battle.

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