Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Social Action Coordinating Committee records
Scope and Contents
The collection contains administrative records and subject files about SACC's political activities between 1969 and 1975. Included are 1969 steering committee minutes; mailing lists; SACC information sheets for the March 4, 1969, action; anti-war leaflets from Students for a Democratic Society; faculty position papers on the Institute's relationship with special laboratories; and sound recordings of the National Conference on Social and Economic Conversion (December 3-5, 1969), co-sponsored by SACC; and information about the Black Panthers Party, and the Kent State University protests and killing of students in May 1970.
Dates
- 1965 - 1976
Creator
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open.
Digital Access Note
Some parts of this collection are available online. Links to specific online digital items are found within their entry in this finding aid.
Conditions Governing Use
Condition of media needs to be reviewed. There may be restrictions on use.
Conditions Governing Use
Access to collections in the Department of Distinctive Collections is not authorization to publish. Please see the MIT Libraries Permissions Policy for permission information. Copyright of some items in this collection may be held by respective creators, not by the donor of the collection or MIT.
Historical Note
The Science Action Coordinating Committee (SACC) was founded in early 1969 by a small group of physics and biology graduate students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to work for radical economic and political change within MIT and the country through education and symbolic protest. SACC's members were undergraduate and graduate students; Noam Chomsky was the group's faculty advisor. Between 1969 and 1973 SACC participated in many anti-military research and anti-war protests. Together with the MIT faculty chapter of the Union of Concerned Scientists, SACC co-sponsored a research work stoppage and teach-in on March 4, 1969, to "devise a means for turning the application of research from military uses and toward the solution of environmental and social problems." Late in 1970 SACC changed its name to the Social Action Coordinating Committee and became involved in a broader range of causes, including local tenants' issues, workers' job actions, preventing the deportation of Vietnamese students at MIT, and opposing the training of Iranian nuclear engineers. SACC ceased in 1977.
Extent
3.6 Cubic Feet (3 record cartons, 1 manuscript box, 1 oversize box)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
The Science Action Coordinating Committee (SACC) , founded at MIT, was active between 1969 and 1973 in protests against the Vietnam war and military research on campus. In 1970 SACC changed its name to the Social Action Coordinating Committee and became involved in a broader range of social causes. Records in the collection include minutes, anti-war leaflets, information about the work stoppage and teach in on March 4, 1969, faculty position papers on the Institute’s relationship with special laboratories, and sound recordings of the 1969 National Conference on Social and Economic Conversion.
Physical Location
Materials are stored off-site. Advance notice is required for use.
Processing Information note
Some collection descriptions are based on legacy data and may be incomplete or contain inaccuracies. Description may change pending verification. Please contact the MIT Department of Distinctive Collections if you notice any errors or discrepancies.
- Civil rights demonstrations -- Massachusetts -- 1969-1974 Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Draft Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology -- History Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Social Action Coordinating Committee
- National Conference on Social and Economic Conversion (1969: Cambridge, Mass.)
- November Action Coalition
- Science Action Coordinating Committee
- Shrobe, Howard E.
- Vietnam War, 1961-1975 -- Protest movements Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- advisory bodies Subject Source: Thesaurus for Use in College and University Archives
- campus activities and participatory groups Subject Source: Thesaurus for Use in College and University Archives
- student unrest Subject Source: Thesaurus for Use in College and University Archives
- students' societies Subject Source: Thesaurus for Use in College and University Archives
Creator
- Title
- Guide to the Records of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Social Action Coordinating Committee, 1965-1976
- Status
- Ready For Review
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Libraries. Department of Distinctive Collections Repository
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Libraries
Building 14N-118
77 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge MA 02139-4307 US
distinctive-collections@mit.edu