Black student activism, 1969-2001
The series Black student activism, 1969-2001 (5.5 linear feet) contains four alphabetically arranged subseries relating to the Black Action Movements (BAM) on the University of Michigan campus: BAM I, 1969-1987 (0.4 linear feet), BAM II, 1974-1975 (0.1 linear feet), BAM III, 1985-1995 (0.5 linear feet) and Conferences and Scholarship about BAM, 1970-2001 (0.1 linear feet). These records include correspondence, newspaper clippings, minutes and other records of the United Coalition Against Racism (UCAR), and they address both the movements themselves and reactions to them within the university community. There are also documents concerning incidents of racial harassment that had a part in inspiring the movements.
In 2014 the Bentley Historical Library digitized select archival records relating to BAM I, II and III housed in other University collections. Finding aid to Black Action Movement select documents, 1970-1987 digital collection is available online and contains links to the digitized files.
A fifth subseries, Other activism,1966-2000 (3.9 linear feet), includes newspaper clippings about the civil rights movement; and the anti-apartheid and divestment movements of the 1980s, as well as records of several activist organizations, particularly the Free South Africa Coordinating Committee (FSACC), and the Washtenaw County Coalition Against Apartheid (WCCAA). Some of these records pertain to activities on campus, but most are concerned with political and civil rights causes that are national or international in scope. The Washtenaw County Coalition Against Apartheid (WCCAA) records document that organization's efforts to encourage the University of Michigan and Ann Arbor banks to divest their holdings in South Africa.
More records relating to UCAR and the Baker -Mandela Center (BMC) are presented in the "Other activism" subseries, and pertain to activism and events at the University of Michigan during the 1980s and 1990s. Though UCAR and the BMC were separate entities, their records have been arranged together as a result of their frequent and close collaboration.