Free Speech Movement

In 1964, student activists that attended University of California, Berkeley returned to school after a summer of civil rights protests in the south to a rude awakening. They came into conflict with administration over their right to use the University's facilities for their protests and campaigns. This confrontation marked the beginning of civil protests that took the backseat to the anti-war movement.

In December 1964 over 800 students were arrested for occupying the UC Administration Building. This was the largest mass arrest if students up to that time. The arrests started at three o'clock in the morning. Among those arrested were Jackie Goldberg, then a student activist and a member of the FSM Steering Committee. She later became a teacher, and was elected to the Los Angeles, California City Council.

The leader of the Free Speech movement, or FSM, was Mario Savio. In a speech given before the occupation of the Administration building in December of 64 he invoked classic labor-management themes from he past. He said: "There is a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, you can't take part, you can't even tacitly take part, and you've got to put your bodies upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you've got to indicate to the people who own it, to the people who run it, that unless you're free, the machine will be prevented from working at all."

[ Mario Savio ]

The protest caused a political backlash when the voters saw the students shutting down the state-funded University. It carries into the campaign for governor in 1966, and helped him to be elected as a conservative who vowed to "clean up" the university. This governor was Ronald Reagan.

Works Cited:

Enfield, Ron. "Berkeley Free Speech Movement." 10 Dec. 1997. Free Speech Online Blue Ribbon Campaign. 16 Apr. 2007 <http://home.att.net/~enfield/fsmhist1.html>.

Burner, David. "Berkeley Free Speech Movement, 1963-64:." A Narrative Summary by David Burner. 2 Aug. 2004. University of Pennsylvania. 16 Apr. 2007 <http://writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/50s/berkeley.html>.