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Vietnam Moratorium (1969)

Overview

On October 15, 1969, Hamilton and Kirkland students participated in the national Vietnam Moratorium — a coordinated day of anti-war action across American campuses. The Hamilton-Kirkland Moratorium Committee, one of the earliest documented joint political actions between the two coordinate colleges, organized canvassing across the Utica area, fundraising for newspaper advertising, and committee work that brought faculty and students together across both institutions.

The Moratorium did not emerge from a vacuum. The 1965–1968 period at Hamilton documented a steady escalation of campus anti-war activity — from the first timid picket in 1965 through teach-ins, off-campus marches, and a months-long institutional confrontation over military recruiting that lasted into spring 1968. Understanding the Moratorium requires tracing this arc.

Precursor: The Road to October 1969 (1965–1968)

The Character of Early Hamilton Protest

Hamilton’s anti-war movement started small and self-conscious about its own limits. The campus’s first documented anti-Vietnam protest — about 30 students picketing outside a State Department official’s lecture in October 1965 — prompted the Spectator to describe it as “orderly” and defend the protesters’ right to demonstrate. (The Spectator, October 22, 1965) A Spectator poll that December found most students and half of faculty favored escalation; only a handful supported withdrawal. (The Spectator, December 3, 1965)

By March 1966, a Spectator reporter could still write that Hamilton was “hardly what you could call a hotbed of student radicalism” and that Vietnam was “less than a burning question” there. (The Spectator, March 18, 1966) Yet in that same spring, an SDS chapter had formed — the first documented at Hamilton — and by fall 1966 it was running a Vietnam War study seminar on Sunday evenings. (The Spectator, May 6, 1966; The Spectator, October 21, 1966)

Teach-Ins, Fasts, and Off-Campus Action

The first organized, campus-wide anti-war actions came in winter 1967. In February, 53 Hamilton students fasted three days to raise approximately $300 for Vietnamese civilians through the American Friends Service Committee — the first action with broad multi-group participation (24 freshmen, 18 independents, at least one fraternity). (The Spectator, February 10, 1967) This was followed immediately by a faculty teach-in: four professors (Richardson, Adler, Ring, and Berek) led a teach-in on the war, while 40 faculty members signed a New York Times petition calling for an end to the bombing of North Vietnam. (The Spectator, February 17, 1967) Prof. Charles Adler — who would later serve on the 1969 Moratorium Committee — was among the teach-in faculty in 1967, indicating a continuity of faculty anti-war engagement across the two and a half years between teach-in and Moratorium.

In November 1966, 15 students and 2 faculty joined a Uticans for Peace march; in October 1967, approximately 15 students traveled to Washington for the national March on the Pentagon while others marched in a parallel demonstration in Oneonta. (The Spectator, November 4, 1966; The Spectator, October 20, 1967)

The Recruiter Crisis and Institutional Confrontation (Fall 1967–Spring 1968)

The most sustained and politically significant episode of the pre-Moratorium period was the military recruiting controversy that stretched from October 1967 through spring 1968. The sequence:

• October 1967: Gen. Lewis B. Hershey issued memoranda to local draft boards threatening to reclassify any student who interfered with military recruiters.
• November 1, 1967: About 13 SDS-affiliated students blocked Marine Captain Karl Ege’s car and surrounded his recruiting table in the Bristol Center in a silent protest; Alpha Delt counter-demonstrators physically shoved protesters. (The Spectator, November 3, 1967)
• November 17, 1967: Acting President Couper announced the College would continue hosting recruiters but condemned Hershey’s threat as “smacking of Civil War days.” Students Irving and Israel circulated a petition to bar recruiters until Hershey’s statements were rescinded. (The Spectator, November 17, 1967)
• December 1967: The Hamilton AAUP chapter voted to urge exclusion of military information officers while Hershey’s threat stood. The full faculty had tabled a similar motion three days earlier. (The Spectator, December 8, 1967)
• January 1968: The full faculty passed a resolution 48–13 calling for barring recruiters.
• February 2, 1968: The Board of Trustees, in one of President Chandler’s first official acts, unanimously rejected both the faculty and Senate resolutions. The Student Senate voted 14–2 to protest the Trustees’ decision as showing “a lack of concern for our welfare, and for the safety of free expression.” Two senators reported their own draft boards had already investigated their protest activities. (The Spectator, February 2, 1968)
• February–March 1968: The Army, Navy, and Air Force all refused to sign Hamilton’s statement promising not to report student demonstrators to draft boards, effectively banning themselves from campus for the rest of the year. (The Spectator, March 8, 1968) When Ege returned in late February, students held a sit-in in President Chandler’s office while Ege sat in an empty snack bar. (The Spectator, March 1, 1968)

This arc — from abstract dissent to direct confrontation with trustees and the new president over the draft’s use as a political weapon — created the institutional memory and student leadership networks that would organize the 1969 Moratorium.

The October 15, 1969 Moratorium Day

Lead-Up and Organization

The October 15 Moratorium was announced at Hamilton as early as September 26, 1969, when the Spectator printed the full text of the organizing petition and listed nineteen initial faculty and student signers, including Austin Briggs Jr., Lisa B. Kaye, Leonard Kornberg, Geoffrey Precourt, Philip Pearle, George Newman, James W. Ring, and Charles C. Adler. (The Spectator, September 26, 1969) The following week the petition was reprinted prominently on the front page. (The Spectator, October 4, 1969) By October 10, the Spectator confirmed co-chairs Steve Feldman ‘70 (Hamilton) and Lisa Kaye ‘72 (Kirkland), with Finance Chair James Ring having raised $450 of the $900 needed for newspaper advertising, and the Student Senate under President Bruce Weiss having formally endorsed the Moratorium. (The Spectator, October 10, 1969)

The Day Itself: October 14–15, 1969

The Hamilton-Kirkland Moratorium unfolded over two days. On Tuesday evening, October 14, approximately 400 faculty and students crowded into the Chapel for a rally. New York Congressman Jonathan Bingham (23rd Congressional District, the Bronx) and Hamilton Speech Professor Warren Wright addressed the audience. Wright asked, “How much longer can this beleaguered nation stand enforcement of its beliefs by violence?” Bingham urged students not to let Nixon think he wouldn’t be influenced by their actions the next day. (The Spectator, October 17, 1969)

On the morning of October 15, approximately 350 Hamilton and Kirkland students assembled at 9 A.M. and canvassed house-to-house through South Utica, New Hartford, and Whitesboro until late afternoon. Canvassers averaged about 20 signatures per forty-house area. The opposition was less hostile than anticipated; a few incidents included a car stealing petitions with about 100 signatures, and students being called “dirty bastards” and warned of bombs on their heads. But, co-chair Feldman reported, “The people of Utica were most willing to open their doors to us, whether they agreed with our efforts or not.” (The Spectator, October 17, 1969)

On the evening of October 15, approximately 250 people attended a solemn memorial service in the Chapel. John M. Garrison ‘72 opened the service by playing guitar while community members entered. The service ended with a prayer by Reverend Alan Peabody: “May we never lose sight of our goals, falter in our idealism, or stumble in our zeal.” At 4 A.M. the following morning, the Moratorium Committee sent a telegram to the National Committee in Washington. (The Spectator, October 17, 1969)

Petition Results

The final count of Moratorium petition signatures from the Utica community alone reached approximately 3,700; combined with on-Hill signers (over 900 students, faculty, administrators, and staff), the total exceeded 4,500 signatures. (The Spectator, October 17, 1969)

The Recruiter Conflict Continues

Two weeks after the Moratorium, on October 30, twelve students — six from Hamilton and six from Kirkland — linked arms and formed a human chain across College Street to block a Marine recruiter’s entry to Bristol Center. Associate Dean Hadley DePuy had warned them moments before that such action would place their college careers in jeopardy. The Hamilton students faced the Judiciary Board; the six Kirkland students were tried by the Kirkland Student Life Committee, found guilty, and given letters of reprimand. The Hamilton students received disciplinary probation until February 1, 1970. (The Spectator, October 31, 1969; The Spectator, November 7, 1969; The Spectator, November 21, 1969) The administration maintained its policy of open recruiting; President Chandler stated that “before a person can be refused entrance to the campus, there must be evidence that the aims of that person are subversive or detrimental to the operation of the college.” (The Spectator, October 24, 1969)

The November 15, 1969 Washington March

Nassau County Executive Eugene Nickerson visited Hamilton on November 5 and strongly urged the Moratorium Steering Committee to direct its efforts to the Washington March on November 14–15. He called Nixon’s televised address to the nation that week “pitiful” and predicted that unless Nixon announced an unconditional end to the American presence in Vietnam, “the tidal wave of protest which is the peace movement must continue.” The Steering Committee rented two buses; tickets cost $15. Buses left Hamilton Thursday night (November 13). (The Spectator, October 31, 1969; The Spectator, November 7, 1969)

The Spectator’s November 21 issue devoted pages 5 through 8 entirely to coverage of the Washington March. Its editorial described the crowd of 500,000 as united by “one common interest: Peace Now,” and noted that no more than 2,000 of them participated in violence — “one five-hundredth of the mass assembled.” The editorial concluded: “All we are saying is that all of us must give peace a chance.” (The Spectator, November 21, 1969)

The April 1970 Moratorium

The Moratorium movement was briefly dormant over winter and early spring 1970; the October committee had dissolved by January and co-chair Feldman was in Florida. (The Spectator, January 9, 1970) In January 1970, meanwhile, a new Student Mobilization Committee (SMC) organized an anti-war demonstration on January 15 at Bristol during a visit from five military recruiters and a draft counselor. The morning group staged a simulated battle with “blood-smeared” snowballs; the afternoon group held a rally with speakers. (The Spectator, January 23, 1970)

In March, the Student Mobilization Committee organized a Regional Anti-War Conference on campus (March 7), drawing students from Hamilton, Kirkland, Colgate, and Utica high schools, to plan for a National April Moratorium (April 13–18). (The Spectator, March 6, 1970) Congressman Allard K. Lowenstein spoke in the Chapel on April 15 on behalf of the revived Hamilton-Kirkland Vietnam Moratorium Committee. The April 15 Moratorium combined a three-day “Peace Fast” (April 13–15) with taxpayer rallies protesting military spending. Moratorium Coordinator Steve Feldman returned to lead this effort. (The Spectator, April 10, 1970)

The Kent State/Cambodia Crisis and Spring Strike (May 1970)

The Trigger

On Monday evening, May 4, 1970, news of the Kent State massacre — four students killed by National Guardsmen at Kent State University in Ohio — reached Hamilton as President Nixon announced the invasion of Cambodia. That evening, almost 300 students gathered in McEwen Dining Hall at 7:30 P.M. to discuss the possibilities of a strike. A five-member Strike Referendum Committee (SRC) — Kenneth Seidberg ‘70 (acting chair), Mark Kahn ‘70, Bruce Nichols ‘70, Leonard Green ‘71, and Ted Leinwand ‘73 — was elected within hours to coordinate action. (The Spectator, May 5, 1970)

The Chapel Vote

That same evening, approximately 800 people crowded into the Chapel — the largest anti-war gathering at Hamilton on record — and voted nearly unanimously to boycott classes the next day. Student Senate President Steve Baker ‘71 spoke in favor on behalf of the Senate. The Kirkland Assembly simultaneously passed a straw-vote proposal supporting “a program of community action and concern” beginning May 4, with Kirkland President Babbitt urging the community to consider how to continue both their programs and their personal lives meaningfully. (The Spectator, May 5, 1970)

The Strike and Faculty Response

Within 48 hours, seven workshops produced action proposals covering local activities, mass media, campus complicity (stock proxies and US Savings Bond redemption), draft resistance, draft counseling, and academic accommodations. The Hamilton faculty met May 6 and adopted a policy allowing students to request credit without grades based on work to date, with extended deadlines for papers and exams through June 15. The Kirkland faculty went further, voting on May 6–7 to suspend all formal classes for the remainder of the academic year — a decision that was controversial and reversed its position from 24 hours earlier. (The Spectator, May 6, 1970; The Spectator, May 7, 1970)

The Hamilton Strike Committee’s Campus Complicity Committee gained national recognition for initiating the use of stock proxies and US Savings Bond redemptions as anti-war protest tools; the National Student Mobilization Committee credited Hamilton with originating the idea. Over 130 students signed up to travel to Washington that weekend at $10 per student. The Strike Fund raised $1,675 within 24 hours — more than the Campus Fund Drive had raised in three months. (The Spectator, May 7, 1970)

A joint demonstration at Griffiss Air Force Base in Rome, New York, was organized on May 8, drawing students from Hamilton, Kirkland, Colgate, Syracuse, Utica College, Mohawk Valley Community College, Le Moyne College, and Kirkland Community College. The Black Union issued a statement noting that “the war in Indo-China is but another extension of the larger process of oppression taking place within the United States” and proposed its own parallel committee work. (The Spectator, May 8, 1970)

Several Class of 1970 seniors donated their cap-and-gown rental money ($7.50 each) to the Strike Fund and received their degrees in suits or armbands at Commencement on May 31. (The Spectator, May 31, 1970)

Aftermath: Fall 1970 and Spring 1971

The Strike Committee reorganized as the Hamilton-Kirkland Steering Committee for Political Action in fall 1970. At an October 6 meeting, the Committee adopted a three-point platform: ending American involvement in Southeast Asia, ending repression of political prisoners, and removing military presence from college campuses. Attendance, however, was “fairly light compared to the overflowing crowd in the Chapel during the first weeks of last May.” (The Spectator, October 9, 1970) The faculty decided in fall 1970 not to alter the academic calendar to allow campaign work for peace candidates in the November elections, though it said students with genuine need could seek “sympathetic personal consideration.” (The Spectator, September 25, 1970)

By February 1971, the Steering Committee was planning a Peace Week in May 1971 and a March on Washington tentatively scheduled for May 25, and was exploring affiliation with John Gardner’s Common Cause citizen lobby. Committee members included Dave London ‘71, Carol Conover ‘72, Ted Leinwand ‘73, Paul Weischelbaum ‘74, and Maria Zammit ‘74. (The Spectator, February 12, 1971)

Key Points

• Date: October 15, 1969 — national Vietnam Moratorium day
• Joint organizing: Hamilton and Kirkland formed a joint Moratorium Committee — one of the earliest documented Hamilton-Kirkland joint political actions in the Spectator corpus
• Co-chairs: Steve Feldman ‘70 (Hamilton) and Lisa Kaye ‘72 (Kirkland)
• Petition signers: 19 initial faculty and student signers on September 26, 1969; total reached 4,500+ signatures including Utica community canvass
• October 14 rally: ~400 attended Chapel rally with Congressman Jonathan Bingham and Prof. Warren Wright as speakers
• October 15 canvass: ~350 students canvassed South Utica, New Hartford, and Whitesboro; gathered ~3,700 community signatures
• October 15 memorial: ~250 attended evening memorial service in Chapel; committee sent midnight telegram to national committee in Washington
• Faculty involvement: Hamilton Physics professor James Ring served as Finance Chair; History professor Charles Adler was also a committee member; 33+ faculty had pledged personal financial support for protesters as early as fall 1968
• November 15 Washington March: Steering Committee organized two buses ($15/student) to the national march; Spectator devoted pages 5–8 to coverage; estimated 500,000 national attendees
• The Moratorium was answered locally by opposition: Barbara Crane of Clinton founded the national “I Support America” counter-movement from her Clinton home in response to the Moratorium
• January 1970 dissolution: The October Moratorium Committee dissolved over winter; a new Student Mobilization Committee (SMC) took over anti-war organizing
• Spring Strike, May 1970: Kent State and Cambodia invasion triggered an 800-person Chapel vote, class boycott, seven action workshops, and a national first in stock-proxy anti-war protest; the Hamilton faculty adopted flexible academic completion policies; Kirkland suspended all formal classes
• Legacy: The Moratorium and Spring Strike transformed Hamilton from what one graduating senior described as a campus defined by “the Hamilton cool” and non-involvement into a community that had “taken a position of not only community, but national leadership”

Open Questions

• Did the Moratorium Committee reach its $900 newspaper advertising goal?
• What was the content of the midnight telegram sent to the national Moratorium Committee in Washington?
• Were there specific outcomes from the 4,500+ signatures gathered from the Utica community?

Sources

Related Topics

• Student Activism and Social Movements
• The 1970 Spring Strike
• Coeducation and Kirkland College

Related Entities

• Hamilton College