April 6, 1968-April 7, 1968

Download
- Rights
- Copyright Undetermined
  More Rights Info
- Files (1)
- MP3
- Please be patient with media downloads. They are often large files.
Share

Embed Code
<iframe src='//idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4sx65d9k?embed=true' height='125px' width='100%' frameborder='0' marginwidth='0' marginheight='0' scrolling='no' allowfullscreen></iframe>
Permalink

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4sx65d9k
Skip to Item Info

Loading the media player...

Files for this Item

Transcript

Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.

-	That we wouldn't stay here until	0:03
	the poor demands were settled.	0:05
	I was just kidding around and saying	0:09
	damn right they're gonna stay here.	0:11
	I say kidding around cautiously	0:14
	and the black bartender was standing there	0:15
	and he was sitting there the whole time	0:18
	and he said, "these people gotta stay there".	0:20
	This really opened up a lot, just wait a minute,	0:25
	just a second, we're not staying,	0:29
	we're leaving tomorrow at six.	0:30
-	According to the community, to the university,	0:32
	only if we come back.	0:35
-	The big thing is is, that in every college	0:40
	around the campus, the big time,	0:42
	the thing, that bothers me is,	0:46
	that this is the only place,	0:48
	that we had as much power as we have now.	0:49
	The whole community is interested,	0:52
	look at the food out there in the hall,	0:54
	that's huge amounts of food.	0:56
	Professors are working on the campus,	0:57
	you think they're gonna work on campus	0:59
	if we sit it out the building?	1:01
-	No!	1:03
-	No!
-	The other thing is this, the other thing is this,	1:05
	nobody's gonna agree.	1:09
	I think if president Knight is I'll,	1:12
	I really think, that he should not be here,	1:18
	I don't think, that we should move,	1:21
	because these people, the people, that we're here for,	1:23
	they've been exhausted too at low wages.	1:29
	I'm not trying to be,	1:33
	I think that we gotta really consider	1:38
	not leaving tomorrow at 6:30	1:40
	and I think in deference, not only because it is night,	1:43
	but to the people, that we're here for, we should stay here	1:46
	and as president Knight.	1:49
	(applause)	1:51
	with leaving this place with doctor Knight,	2:01
	that he can regain his health want for tonight.	2:03
	Tonight regarding in bed--	2:09
-	In wanna say one thing to you people.	2:11
-	Okay Dave, I'm John Kenny, I've been working	2:18
	with doctor Knight, I've seen the strain,	2:20
	even if he was not under the strain,	2:22
	which I have seen, I am under strain,	2:25
	I wouldn't be yelling at you if I wasn't.	2:27
	This man has more strain than us,	2:29
	I honestly believe, that when it's doctor,	2:30
	being as a medical school comes in here	2:32
	and tells a certain information about doctor,	2:35
	I believe, at any way, if we were to block.	2:37
-	The reason I'm not gonna apply is,	2:47
	that i don't think he's a bad guy,	2:50
	but just the way, that he can move	2:53
	to someone else's house tonight,	2:55
	why can't he do it some more for the rest of the week?	2:57
	Okay, so he's in bed in someone else's house,	3:00
	this is very important, that we stay here.	3:05
	I was out of the community most of the day	3:09
	and people, Charles Morgan, Atlanta form the ACOU	3:12
	at this conference, that I was at said,	3:17
	"Washington should be doing	3:19
	is being up in president's house right".	3:21
	The whole play just broke out a new cloth.	3:23
	The point is, this is a very beautiful thing right here	3:26
	and I'm applaud, it will be like a piece vigil.	3:29
	I'm just asking people to reconsider the possibility	3:35
	of staying here through tomorrow.	3:39
-	Can I something to response to that?	3:41
	I think one of the most attractive,	3:44
	one of the most destructive elements of radicalism,	3:46
	which is what in a sense you seem to be saying right now,	3:51
	attractive and deceptive and destructive radicalism,	3:53
	it's its tendency to oversimplify things.	3:57
	I think, that these people have had great success today,	4:00
	as I said, I am positive, that these four demands	4:03
	are gonna be met.	4:06
	Figure it out, these four demands are gonna be met	4:08
	I feel for one reason, because we have found a good friend,	4:11
	a man concerned with us, when we have negotiated	4:16
	with doctor Knight.	4:19
	It's very easy for you to say	4:21
	doctor Knight should go somewhere else	4:23
	and we keep his home, what we say,	4:26
	what these three men told us, when we came,	4:28
	these three people, when we came into talk with them is,	4:31
	that doctor Knight needs to get well,	4:34
	doctor Knight needs to talk to us	4:37
	and doctor Knight is a man, who is gonna help us	4:39
	and get these four things, this is my belief.	4:42
	There are other elements you see working	4:47
	against some of us.	4:49
	I don't believe doctor Knight is one of those,	4:51
	doctor Knight stands very strongly in sympathy	4:53
	with racial justice.	4:56
	With your deceptive radicalism,	4:58
	it's your deceptive radicalism since you fight	5:00
	against doctor Knight, who can be a source,	5:05
	that will help us, I wanna get these four demands	5:07
	and I wanna get them met and I wanna get them met soon.	5:10
	I believe and I've been convinced by these three people,	5:13
	that's the most effective way to do that	5:16
	at the same time the most effective way	5:18
	to support a union strike and at the same	5:20
	the most effective way to help radicalize	5:22
	the entire Duke student body is to stand day and night	5:25
	on that choir.	5:28
	(applause)	5:29
-	Come on, let's keep it one at a time, people.	5:33
-	Come out here, where I can see him.	5:36
-	Tonight we came one step closer	5:39
	to getting nation wide press coverage on this march	5:41
	or on this thing.	5:44
	When we move out to the quad, are we gonna lose it?	5:46
Crowd	No!	5:50
-	People, keep it down, Dave, keep it down,	5:59
	when you're called on answer and don't before,	6:03
	that goes for everybody in here.	6:05
	We can't run a discussion	6:07
	when we've got 30 people talking at once,	6:08
	one at a time, yes?	6:10
-	Peter Brendan, would you please say,	6:13
	what you think is best, this is the labor union	6:15
	we're out for, I think it's up to you.	6:17
-	I have a problem and I'm afraid,	6:23
	that my comments are gonna be irrelevant	6:27
	or they're not gonna help,	6:33
	because there are two very well shaped up size,	6:38
	that have a great deal of emotional content.	6:44
	I can tell you a couple of things.	6:50
	Are we operating under a time deadline	6:53
	to make a decision, is that what the sense	6:56
	of catastrophe is about?	6:58
-	We have till morning.	7:01
-	We have till morning, is that right?	7:02
	I have the impression just coming in here,	7:05
	that the decision has to be made in 10 minutes,	7:07
	people are going up and running around,	7:09
	and if it's all night, then I just suggest,	7:11
	that you unwind a little bit, it's an important strategic	7:16
	decision, just take it cool.	7:20
	Let me give you a couple of thoughts,	7:28
	they're not terribly coherent,	7:31
	cuz I didn't sleep last night,	7:32
	I've been running around all day,	7:34
	preparing for a strike,	7:36
	based on a certain set of assumptions.	7:38
	The assumption or the underlying assumption was,	7:43
	that students have taken upon themselves	7:47
	the right to assume a type of power,	7:53
	that they had not so far Duke	7:55
	by literally in a polite way seizing	7:58
	a key installation on the Duke campus.	8:04
	At that time we, I believe, started out meeting	8:09
	on the quadrangle on the grass.	8:12
	I don't recall anybody considering	8:15
	that a key installation or the number of people,	8:18
	that were there numbering about this amount	8:21
	as a constituting a certain amount of power.	8:24
	I remember us debating very much where to go	8:29
	to achieve power, but it seemed to me	8:33
	it was all leading away from the grass,	8:35
	where we were on.	8:37
	Maybe that was because it was raining, I don't know.	8:39
	I hesitate, because I've been told,	8:44
	that there are things, that I don't know,	8:47
	I've been told, that there are things going on	8:49
	in the negotiating sections,	8:52
	that bare on this decision, I don't know them	8:54
	and I hate to speak against a position,	8:59
	that I might, if i knew that information uphold.	9:02
	It seems to me, that that's one of the dangers	9:06
	of carrying on a participatory activity	9:08
	in such a secretive manner,	9:11
	but I'm not arguing that point.	9:13
	I say this to you, you have had	9:17
	and a number of people have said very profound impact,	9:20
	not only because of your numbers	9:26
	and not only because of your genuine feelings,	9:29
	that the negro community, the black community can sense,	9:34
	but because you dare to take and hold a key installation.	9:40
	I can tell you one thing, that it will be judged	9:46
	or retrieved, I got low amounts the negro see.	9:50
	It'll be judged and retrieved by the people,	10:02
	that I sought to, which were Duke employees,	10:06
	unless you seize an equivalent key installation.	10:10
	That any of those employees	10:19
	would consider the grass to backstory	10:20
	to the institution, they will respect your sentiments	10:23
	for wanting to sit there, but they will not consider	10:27
	that the acquisition of the power.	10:29
	On one hand you are confronted	10:34
	with a situation.	10:36
-	People, keep it quiet.	10:38
-	I'm gonna take just a second more,	10:39
	on one hand you're confronted with the situation,	10:41
	where if you are to keep the sentiment,	10:46
	that you develop among the polite people,	10:49
	the people, who are very sensitive	10:54
	and hold respect for the president,	10:56
	because they've worked with him, so they respect him,	10:59
	you will lose that respect or a certain good will	11:05
	if you continue to hold this installation.	11:10
-	How about the Duke student body?	11:14
-	I would include them and that group,	11:17
	which you will lose a certain type of sentiment about it	11:20
	and that's a very real problem,	11:23
	I'm not minimizing it, I'm saying, however,	11:24
	you have to think, that other people have some relation	11:33
	to you, such, that you have power now	11:39
	and they don't have that relationship to you,	11:43
	such that you didn't have power two days ago.	11:46
-	We're here in the living room at the university house	11:50
	first thing this morning	11:52
	and everybody's kind of bushed,	11:54
	some people are sitting around still trying to sleep	11:57
	and some people are talking, some people studying,	11:59
	reading form doctor Knight's library.	12:02
	Some people are discussing rather loudly outside	12:05
	where we were trying to sleep before we got woken up	12:08
	by the discussion.	12:12
	Chris, how did you sleep last night?	12:14
-	Well, Bob, I slept in three different places,	12:17
	it was hectic, people were, do you want me to keep talking?	12:19
	People were discussing.	12:24
	As I was saying, most groups were discussing	12:30
	what policy of action this group, as a unit, should take	12:33
	and it was rather noisy.	12:38
	Many of the people here stayed up all night	12:42
	and I wondered around trying to get 40 wings where I could	12:46
	and now it's 6:30 and everybody's up	12:52
	and still discussing.	12:56
	I guess there'll be a policy statement,	12:59
	but at least some of the leaders fairly soon.	13:03
	That's all I could say on that.	13:08
-	What did you say?	13:10
-	I said that's all I have to say on.	13:11
-	Talking with Chris Talleni in hall,	13:14
	that leads off living room here.	13:18
	Chris, do you think,	13:26
	that perhaps if doctor Knight	13:31
	had signed the statement Friday night,	13:33
	that the trouble in dorm could have been prevented?	13:37
-	You know, Bob, it's only since what happened last night.	13:42
	The fact, that there was evidence of trouble in dorm,	13:45
	that I've taken a positive stand against Knight's in action.	13:48
	I first felt, that if he could act in a few days,	13:54
	it wouldn't make much different,	13:56
	but I, like a lot of other people didn't realize	13:58
	just how serious the situation is.	14:01
	The fact, that we did have	14:05
	some definite signs of trouble last night,	14:07
	maybe if he hadn't made a definite statement,	14:11
	especially on the wages and the idea	14:14
	of setting up a board, including the employees,	14:17
	it might have made some benefit in expressing	14:21
	our view as white students and I think	14:28
	this is one of the few positive things we can do	14:31
	and it's extremely important	14:34
	just to show the black people, that we do care.	14:36
	I am rather against his policy of inaction.	14:43
	In fact, as time goes on and a few are decided and all	14:48
	become increasingly more of a vying about it	14:51
	and I don't know what step size a person will take.	14:55
	Think I can assure you, that this group,	14:58
	we're fairly committed now	15:00
	and we just can't sit back anymore,	15:03
	we gotta get action right now in terms of a few hours.	15:04
-	What about the students back on the campus,	15:09
	who may not	15:13
	be doing anything either,	15:16
	not Friday night, not last night,	15:17
	not today, what would you say to them?	15:22
-	I don't know exactly what the situation is	15:26
	back on campus, some people say,	15:28
	that a lot of people will give us support.	15:30
	I would say and what i hope would happen,	15:33
	I think the events in the city and the country,	15:36
	and the possibility of what could happen	15:39
	make it increasingly clear,	15:41
	that Duke students, as a student body,	15:43
	as many people as possible have to stand up now,	15:46
	right now, we can't put it off	15:49
	and this is gonna call for action,	15:52
	which Duke hasn't done before.	15:55
	This time, if any, should certainly	15:58
	advocate this cause, we just can't sit back	16:02
	and say, maybe the Durham city council	16:07
	will pass along open house.	16:10
	We have to give our support as concerned Duke students	16:12
	to show, that there is concern in the white community,	16:16
	positive concern as a group, tangible,	16:20
	which the black people can understand.	16:23
	That should answer that.	16:28
-	Thanks a lot, Chris.	16:30
-	I thought we'd talk with Liz Hastings for a while.	16:34
-	Today we will expand our expression of concern,	16:46
	the problems.	16:48
-	Today we expand our expression of concern	17:04
	about the problems of human dignity at Duke,	17:06
	we are now moving from university house	17:09
	to the main quadrangle of west campus.	17:11
	President Knight is totally exhausted at the present time	17:14
	and will not be able to resume deliberations	17:17
	and negotiations until Monday afternoon at four o'clock pm.	17:20
	We will maintain a vigil on the quadrangle today.	17:24
	10 students have remained at the president's house	17:27
	to assist in cleaning the premises.	17:30
	The request, that we are awaiting response on	17:33
	are the following.	17:36
	One, that president Knight sign an advertisement	17:38
	to be carried in the Durham morning herald,	17:40
	calling for day of mourning	17:43
	for doctor Martin Luther King junior	17:45
	and asking all citizens of Durham to do all they can	17:47
	to bring about racial equality and freedom.	17:49
	Two, the doctor Knight press	17:53
	for a dollar and 60 minimum wage	17:54
	for all Duke employees.	17:56
	Three, the doctor Knight resign	17:59
	from the segregated hub valley country club.	18:02
	Four, that president Knight appoint a committee	18:05
	of students, faculty and workers	18:08
	to make recommendations, considering collective bargaining	18:10
	and union recognition at Duke.	18:15
	All of the measures, which we embark upon today	18:18
	and those, which we have embarked upon in the past are	18:20
	those tactics, which were advocated	18:27
	by doctor Martin Luther King's philosophy of non violence.	18:30
	All of those activities have been conducted	18:35
	in the area of peaceful protest.	18:38
	We ask and urge all those, who would join our vigil	18:42
	on the main quadrangle to come stand with us,	18:46
	as we reaffirm out commitment to attain	18:49
	these four objectives we have set forth.	18:52
	We shall overcome.	18:55
	Let me just say this,	19:03
	assist group assemble here	19:07
	and the group, which was assembled on what?	19:11
	Thursday night, I forgotten the day, Friday night	19:14
	and the group, which assembled here yesterday afternoon	19:18
	are all determined, that we shall	19:22
	achieve these four points, which we have requested.	19:25
	As we expand our base of operations to west campus today	19:29
	and as we seek to give all of those	19:35
	in the university community a chance	19:38
	to participate with us in this request	19:40
	for action now by the university.	19:43
	We shall, as a group, remain determined and convinced.	19:47
	And we shall remain	19:55
	as a group solid.	20:00
	Whatever our particular strategy at the moment may be,	20:04
	until we do achieve the four requests,	20:09
	which we set forward.	20:12
	I think that's the spirit in which	20:14
	we are expanding our operation,	20:16
	the spirit in which we are developing our strategy	20:20
	and the spirit in which we have identified	20:25
	and set forth our concern.	20:29
	Again, let me express to you my great admiration	20:32
	for your courage and your willingness to stick together	20:37
	and to operate as a group,	20:44
	and to make these demands and to stay	20:46
	until we do achieve the response,	20:49
	that we have requested, thank you.	20:53
-	Installation, as they have over the past couple of days,	21:10
	so if we can just lunch it over here.	21:13
	As you see, more sandwiches coming over,	21:15
	get some for yourself.	21:18
	One break will be for a half an hour	21:19
	and during this half hour period those students	21:22
	on wet campus, who would like to return to their rooms,	21:25
	get some books for studying rest of the afternoon,	21:28
	they do so, just go to your rooms and get your books,	21:31
	and come back and we do a vigil at one o'clock.	21:34
-	Come on back and sit down, that it don't wander around.	21:46
	Get your sandwiches, get the water we have there	21:50
	and then come back and sit down	21:53
	and we don't need this to be a 30 minute break,	21:54
	that you can wander all over.	21:55
	But like far, get your sandwiched and sit back down.	21:58
-	Jack Bogger has just announced to crowd,	22:04
	that some kind of negotiations will be beginning	22:07
	this afternoon between the representatives	22:09
	of the group and university official,	22:12
	doctor John Strange, the political science department	22:15
	and John Kenny and Jack Bogger and Bunny Small,	22:18
	other people will be negotiating with university officials	22:22
	during the afternoon.	22:25
	A group now consists of about 200 people	22:27
	sitting on the main quad directly in front	22:31
	of the James B. Duke statue.	22:34
	They're sitting quietly, it is a silent vigil,	22:38
	there are many signs, that have readings stack now.	22:41
	It is a large group, approximately 15 to 20	22:44
	athletic looking individuals, who are somewhat	22:49
	making self conscious nuisances of themselves	22:53
	and are heckling, this is only over a minor consideration	22:55
	at the moment.	22:59
	We're speaking now with Mark Caplin,	23:02
	who is manning the information desk	23:04
	here in front of approximately 200 demonstrators,	23:05
	who are sitting in on the front lawn.	23:08
	Mark, could you tell us exactly	23:10
	what you're doing today?	23:12
-	We're trying on our commitment,	23:16
	that we started on Friday until we feel,	23:17
	that doctor Knight and the university	23:21
	has responded to the four demands,	23:23
	that we have made upon the university	23:25
	and by staying here the rest of the afternoon	23:28
	and probably this evening until four o'clock	23:30
	tomorrow afternoon, when the negotiations continue,	23:32
	we are demonstrating the fact,	23:35
	that we expect the university to deal in good faith with us	23:36
	as they have committed themselves too.	23:40
-	What specifically are your activities	23:43
	at this table today?	23:45
-	We're passing on information, telling about our rationale	23:46
	for being out here this afternoon,	23:51
	explaining about the rally this afternoon,	23:53
	which we held too and pass information	23:55
	concerning the general demand,	23:58
	that we are making upon the university.	24:01
-	Fine, thank you very much, Mark Caplin.	24:04
	Speaking now with mister Pete Brendan,	24:07
	representing the local 77.	24:08
	We're just a few minutes away from the scheduled	24:10
	rally here on the main quad,	24:12
	could you give us some idea of what	24:14
	is going to happen for us local 77	24:15
	and the possibility of a strike?	24:17
-	The rally has been called by students	24:20
	and it's my understanding from them,	24:24
	that at this rally, a question of their support	24:27
	for a possible strike of dining hall employees	24:34
	will be decided and that they will be asked	24:37
	to support a boycott movement of the dining halls,	24:40
	if the strike begins.	24:46
	We feel, that if tomorrow a settlement	24:49
	cannot be reached between the students	24:55
	negotiating committee and the administration,	24:57
	that probably a strike of the dining halls	25:02
	will be unavoidable beginning Tuesday	25:06
	and that we will ask all students to aid	25:11
	the strike in dining hall workers	25:16
	by not making purchases by boycotting the dining halls.	25:18
-	Pete, do you have any specific grievances	25:26
	with he dining halls or what is the purpose	25:28
	of a strike and boycott at the dining halls?	25:30
-	The underlying issue,	25:35
	the key issue will be collective bargaining	25:38
	and the other issue, which has a co-priority	25:42
	with collective bargaining will be	25:48
	the dollar 60 minimum wage.	25:51
-	Thank you very much, Pete Brandon.	25:54
	Speaking now with mister William Griffith.	26:07
	Mister Griffith, do you have any comment on the rally?	26:09
-	I'm just very much impressed with the manner	26:12
	in which those, who are participating	26:15
	are expressing themselves and I'm very moved	26:18
	by the expression myself.	26:21
-	Do you think there's a chance for real	26:23
	substantial negotiations tomorrow?	26:24
-	As far as I'm concerned, I don't see	26:27
	the word negotiation as being the question,	26:31
	I think the university already is making moves	26:35
	and in the same direction, that many of these students are	26:37
	and I don't look upon it as a negotiating concept.	26:42
	Negotiating implies, that there are great differences,	26:47
	that exist and I don't, personally speaking	26:51
	from myself, see these great divisions.	26:53
-	Fine, thank you very much, mister Griffith.	26:57

Item Info

Title:

April 6, 1968-April 7, 1968

Date:

April 6, 1968 to April 7, 1968

Description:

Dave Hunt, John Kinney, Jack Boger, Peter Brandon for Local 77, Paul Conroy, interview with Chris Dulaney, John Strange "move to the quad." Sunday: Bunny Small on the quad, Bill Veatch interviews with Marc Kaplan, Peter Brandon, Griffith.

Subject:

Format:

Extent:

0:26:59

Digital Collection:

Silent Vigil (1968) and Allen Building Takeover (1969) Audio Recordings

Source Collection:

Duke Vigil collection, 1968 - 1988

Series:

WDBS Tapes of the Duke Vigil

Rights:

Rights Note:

Duke has not determined the copyright status of this item. Regardless of its status, we have made a good faith determination that online access through the Duke Digital Repository is an acceptable fair use and otherwise permitted under U.S. copyright law. For more information, see our page on copyright and citations: https://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/research/citations-and-permissions.

Identifier:

UA01100001-RR-0011
ref81_yky
uavigil
duke:372805
silau001011
ark:/87924/r4sx65d9k
9e7102c5-0fb1-457e-8563-39b266a84767

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4sx65d9k

Sponsor:

Sponsor this Digital Collection

April 6, 1968-April 7, 1968

Transcript

Item Info

Duke University Archives

More Info & Options