The Tom Hayden Papers largely consist of materials generated while Hayden was in the California State Assembly and Senate during the 1980s and 1990s as well as the research he conducted for many of his books.
FBI Files: The FBI files are files Hayden petitioned to be released through the Freedom of Information Act in the 1970s. The bound documents are not in strict chronological order with many dates overlapping, since many of the documents are reports from various field offices from different parts of the U.S. reporting to central headquarters in Washington D.C. Different types of source materials such as photocopies of newsletters, newspapers clippings, pamphlets or any other relevant information are attached to some reports. Some pages are redacted in the reports and not all files are complete with pages missing. Some pages are marked by Tom Hayden with Post-It notes and other notes possibly used for his writings.
Files of interest include a transcript of Hayden’s testimony before the House Committee on Un-American Activities in Washington, D.C. in regard to the Chicago riots during the Democratic National Convention in December 1968. Other documents of interest include reports on Tom Hayden’s first trip to Vietnam in 1965, and transcripts of phone calls between Hayden and Black Panther members during 1969-1971.
The FBI indexes contain a list of document numbers or pages generated in relation to Tom Hayden, a brief description of the document, a description of deletions made or information withheld from documents, exemptions to the deletions and cross references to other pages. The indexes do not match or list all the pages found in the archive. Referral documents means information or specific pages sent to other field offices or agencies such as the CIA.
In the Counter Intelligence Program and New Left folders the FBI the documents were generated either from headquarters (Washington D.C.) or different field offices. COINTELPRO and New Left locations are from different field offices throughout the US, and from Japan and Puerto Rico. The documents show the FBI’s monitoring and infiltrating of colleges and student organizations and their publications, activities and whereabouts. Included in the reports are examples of student publications and copies of articles in these publications and correspondence on how to counteract student organizations and their political activities from 1968-1971.
In the Jane Fonda FBI section, the Reports and Reactions folders contains reports from agents in regard to the Jane Fonda anti-Vietnam war FTA tour/show ( seen under various names such as Free Theater Associates or Free the Army and also the Peace Tour), which later became part of a larger peace tour in locations such as Okinawa, Japan and Manila, Philippines. Documents include reports of itineraries and names of people involved in the tour. Also included is correspondence received by the FBI from the public expressing negative reactions to Jane Fonda's FTA show and comments she made in public captured by the press.
The Freedom of Information Act folders include requests submitted by Tom Hayden and Jane Fonda’s lawyers for any government documents with information pertaining to them in the FBI, CIA, U.S. Department of Justice or NSA files. Subsequently, a lawsuit was filed in 1976 after certain documents were withheld by the CIA. Correspondence between their lawyers, Ira M. Lowe and Martin Echter and various government agencies can be found as well as correspondence addressing both Tom Hayden and Jane Fonda since they filed FOIA requests jointly. Any correspondence or law documents referring to both Tom Hayden and Jane Fonda have been filed under Tom Hayden and any documents referring only to Jane Fonda are in the Jane Fonda FBI section. Cases such as Joan C Baez v. U.S. Department of Justice and other cases are included.
1960s-1970s: The Writings folders contain articles written by Hayden in the 1960s-1970s. This is not a comprehensive list of all his articles written during this time period. The majority of the articles are not originals or drafts but photocopies.
The Notebooks section contains spiral bound notebooks of various sizes Hayden used to jot down notes, ideas, outlines for articles and meeting notes. Some of the notebooks outline his trips to North Vietnam. The notebooks are organized according to identifying information on each notebook such as year or location of when the notebook was initially used. Many of the notebooks include various loose sheets of paper or items such as stamps or business cards folded into the notebook. These items have been included in the same folder.
The Students for a Democratic Society section contains bulletins, reports, newsletters and publications under SDS from 1961-1964 and some undated documents. The Indochina Peace Project section has a selection of publications by the organization from 1972-1975 and some undated material.
Personal: The personal section reflects Hayden’s childhood, family, and interests. The files in this section include ancestry information, Royal Oak Dondero High School materials, University of Michigan materials, family greeting cards, and baseball clippings and photographs. The largest file in the Personal section includes ancestry reports Hayden had conducted in 1986 outlining and researching his family history and heritage.
Political Career: The Political Career section is organized according to year and type of campaign. In 1976 Hayden ran for U.S. Senate against John V. Tunney in the Democratic primary. He lost the Senate campaign, but later won the 44th State Assembly seat for the Santa Monica area in 1982. He later went on to serve 18 years in the California assembly and senate. Hayden served five terms in the California State Assembly from 1982-1992 and two terms in the California State Senate from 1992-2000. In 1997, he ran for Mayor of Los Angeles against Republican Richard Riordan and lost. In 2000, he considered a bid for the 42nd California State Assembly District Campaign, but reconsidered and instead ran unsuccessfully for City Council in Los Angeles. He also served as California’s first energy official.
As part of the California State Assembly, he served as Chair of the Assembly Subcommittee on Higher Education and Chair of the Assembly Committee on Labor. As part of the California State Senate, he served as Chair of the Senate Natural Resources Committee and member of the Senate Committee on Education, the Senate Budget Committee on Natural Resources and the Joint Committee for Review of the Master Plan.
The correspondence folders contain letters sent to Jane Fonda in regard to Hayden’s campaign which she supported through various fundraisers and campaigning. Also included are "thank you" notes addressed to Tom Hayden and a folder on business cards.The general correspondence section has various letters from constituents and from his political networks throughout the United States. Highlights include correspondence with Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter. Each campaign has a folder labelled propaganda which refers to campaign propaganda such as flyers, pamphlets and mailers used for each campaign.
Of note is the Campaign for Economic Democracy folders, an independent political movement started by Tom Hayden that led the way in progressive issues such as environmental protections, solar energy and renters rights. CED led the campaign for Proposition 65 in 1986 requiring labels on cancer causing products.
The press clippings sections includes clippings Hayden and his staff were reading or collecting during each campaign to research and measure public opinion.
Legislation: This section is divided into general correspondence, budgets, press releases and different types of bills. The Education, Environment and the the Metropolitan Transportation Authority(MTA) sections are three areas in which the archive has the most documents in which Hayden actively researched, authored or co-authored bills. The Senate and Assembly bills folders are legislation that Hayden authored or co-authored while in the Assembly and Senate. The folders are arranged alphabetically according to topic and some single subject folders contain several bills for that one topic. At the end of the alphabetical section the bills are organized by year.
Education: The education section contains correspondence, bills and drafts, and clippings about California’s education system. The higher education section focuses on the University of California and California State University systems as well as independent and community colleges. Admissions contains information about affirmative action across California’s higher education institutions as well as accusations of favoritism at UCLA. Other notable topics include governance, the cost of higher education and legislation aimed at making college more affordable, and the enrollment crisis, which documents how California’s higher education system struggled to handle an increase in the college-aged population. K-12 contains information about the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). Notable topics include the potential breakup of LAUSD into multiple districts as well as the Equal Opportunity to Succeed initiative. Information on Toxic Schools and the Belmont Learning Center can be found in the environment section of legislation.
Environment: The environment section contains correspondence, clippings, bills, booklets, and notes about environmental legislation in Califorinia. One of the major issues Hayden tackled in the 1990s was toxic schools, which demonstates his concern for both the environment and education. Materials are arranged by theme, and the themes are then organized alphabetically. The six boxes are comprised of smaller bills that are arranged alphabetically. While there are no subheadings on the folders, materials within boxes are futher grouped by format, and the clippings and correspondence are in chronological order. There are materials in both English and Spanish.
MTA: These files contain information of multiple bills associated with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). The files contain correspondence, general information, bill information, and clippings regarding MTA legislation. The files are organized by date with undated materials at the end of each section.
Publications: The Publications folders contain correspondence, drafts, book tour schedules and reviews of Hayden’s books. This section is not a comprehensive listing of all of Hayden’s book publications or articles. He contributed to a variety of newspapers and journals from 1980-2000 (please see the 1960s-1970s section for writings from that decade).
In the articles section folder sections are organized alphabetically according to topic and another group of folders are organized by year. These folders and their headings are topics created by Hayden and his staff for reference files much like the name and topical files.
International Interests: This section includes other countries Hayden was involved with or interested in besides Vietnam. Hayden’s Vietnam War activism can be found in the 1960s-1970s section.
One of the largest sections, Ireland, includes correspondence, clippings, and notebooks of notes he took while on several trips to Ireland. Please refer to the Publication section to see a section on his writings about Ireland as well.
The El Salvador section contains general information on El Salvador as well as folders on the Alexander Sanchez case. Alexander Sanchez is an ex-gang member from Los Angeles with ties to El Salvador and accused of racketeering and conspiracy to commit murder. Charges against him were dismissed. Documents in this section include court documents, court transcripts and notes on the case.
Name and Topical Files: These files contain Hayden’s reference files for people and topics around the world. Several of the topics in this section were later referenced in his writing and legislation. Included in these files are newspaper clippings, reports, and correspondence. Notable topics are President Bill Clinton correspondence and Chicago 7 Trial newspaper clippings. Particularly well documented topics include Kosovo, Corcoran State Prison, and salmon protection.
Los Angeles Name and Topical Files: These files contain Hayden's reference files for people and topics in the Los Angeles area. Files include newspaper clippings, reports, and brief correspondence on people, administrative bodies and various topics relevant to LA. The construction of new buildings in the LA area is particularly well-documented, including especially sports stadiums and arenas such as the Coliseum. Other topics that receive substantial coverage include earthquakes, water policy and the riots and subsequent Rebuild LA effort following the Rodney King police brutality incident.
Photographs: The photographs contain Hayden's family photos and trips and pictures with various political figures including Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter, John Kerry and Jerry Brown. Many of the pictures depict Hayden's involvement in social justice and environmentalist movements including his participation with Students for a Democratic Society and trips to Ireland and Vietnam. The unidentified folders contain more pictures of political events and protests between the 1960s and 1980s. Clippings: The clippings include articles from 1965 to 2009 that document Hayden's political career, literary pursuits,personal life, and interests. Many of the clippings contend with themes such as reflections on his time as a radical activist, political campaigns, environmentalism, and the MTA strike. There are also articles that pertain to general news events. Several of the clippings are in Spanish and one is in Japanese.