Springfield College Black Student Protests: Black Student Protests 1969-70

Explore this collection

This collection documents events surrounding the student protests on the Springfield College campus in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The Springfield College student body was shaken up in May 1969 after Black students took over the Administration building in response to a denial of demands made of the school administration. Another group of students took over Massasoit Hall, a coed dormitory building, on March 10, 1970 forcing out the students who lived there, as a protest of the college administration. The students who participated in this takeover were arrested and charged with civil contempt, with 47 of the 49 students charged serving jail time. This collection includes letters and documents from the Black student group and the college administrators, as well as press clippings detailing the events at Springfield College and on campuses across the nation that experienced student-led civil rights protests.