Guide to the Sarah Elbert Papers,
1968-1976.

Collection Number: 2914

Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections
Cornell University Library

Contact Information:
Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections
2B Carl A. Kroch Library
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853
(607) 255-3530
Fax: (607) 255-9524
rareref@cornell.edu
http://rmc.library.cornell.edu
EAD encoding:
Martin Heggestad, April 2004
EAD last modified:
RMC Staff, May 2011

© 2003 Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library

DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY

Title:
Sarah Elbert papers, 1968-1976.
Collection Number:
2914
Creator:
Sarah Elbert.
Quantity:
4 cubic ft., 6 reels movie film, 5 VHS cassettes.
Forms of Material:
Film, videotapes, audiotapes, cd, articles, notes, clippings, and leaflets.
Repository:
Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library
Abstract:
Papers of Sarah Elbert (Cornell University Class of 1965), who initiated "The Streets Belong to the People" as a part of her study of student radicalism and counterculture.
Language:
Collection material in English

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

Sarah Elbert (Cornell University Class of 1965) initiated "The Streets Belong to the People" as a part of her study of student radicalism and counterculture. The film crew consisted of herself, Ralph Diamant (filmmaker), James Sheldon (Students for a Democratic Society member), Phyllis Black (Chicago student), Michael Wright (Chicago student and S.D.S. member), Phyllis Cutter, and Susan Schultze.
COLLECTION DESCRIPTION

"The Streets Belong to the People", 16 mm. film, videotapes (different versions) and unedited footage of movie film made in Chicago during the Democratic National Convention, August 1968. Also, articles, notes, clippings, leaflets, radical newspapers' tape recordings, movie film and documents related to the production of the film. Includes film, recorded interviews, and records related to the Democratic National Convention; the National Farm Workers and Cesar Chavez; the Starr King Divinity School; members of a Cambridge, Massachusetts commune; an S.D.S. meeting, study class, and rally; a meeting of Ithaca Housing; and the March 1967 confrontation at Willard Straight Hall (Cornell University) over draft card burning. Includes interviews with Jeff Jones, Paul Krassner, Robert Traill Spence Lowell, Jr., Rennie Davis, David Whitley Dellinger, Dick Gregory, Vic Bell, Allen Ginsberg, Ralph David Abernathy, Norman Mailer, Tom Hayden, David Burak, Bruce Dancis, Daniel Berrigan, Jerry Brown, and Eugene McCarthy. Also, Elbert's manuscript notes and correspondence concerning publication of Louisa May Alcott's previously unpublished novella Diana and Persis and Alcott's Work: A Story of Experience.
SUBJECTS

Names:
Elbert, Sarah.
Abernathy, Ralph, 1926-
Alcott, Louisa May, 1832-1888. -- Diana and Persis.
Alcott, Louisa May, 1832-1888. -- Work, a story of experience.
Bell, Vic.
Berrigan, Daniel.
Brown, Jerry, 1938-
Burak, David, 1945-
Chavez, Cesar, 1927-
Dancis, Bruce.
Davis, Rennie.
Dellinger, David W.
Ginsberg, Allen, 1926-
Gregory, Dick.
Hayden, Tom.
Jones, Jeff.
Krassner, Paul.
Lowell, Robert Traill Spence, 1917-
Mailer, Norman.
McCarthy, Eugene J., 1916-
Pecot, Marcelle.
National Farm Workers Association.
Starr King Divinity School.
Students for a Democratic Society (U.S.)

Titles:
Streets belong to the people.

Subjects:
Radicalism.
Students--Political activity.
Student movements.
Draft resisters.
Novelists, American.
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Protest movements.

Places:
United States--Politics and government,--1963-1969.

Form and Genre Terms:
Motion pictures.
Interviews.
INFORMATION FOR USERS

Access Restrictions:
Masters of "The Streets Belong to the People" not to be used
Cite As:
Sarah Elbert papers, #2914. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library.
RELATED MATERIALS

Includes collection #2964, New Left and underground periodicals.
NOTES

Includes collection #2964, New Left and underground periodicals.
Videocassette provided by Marcelle Pecot of out-takes of "The Streets Belong to the People."
Videocassette "Chicago 1968" also includes scenes from "The Streets Belong to the People."
Videodisc copied from Reels F-159, F-160, F161 and F162.
CONTAINER LIST

Description
Container
Series I. Source file
Contains articles, clippings, leaflets, and drawings on radicalism
Berman, Maddey. (Students for McCarthy) "Alienation and Music: Simon and Garfunckel."
Box 1 Folder 1
The Black University Rept. of June 9, 1968 to the National Conference of the Association of Afro-American Educators; Poussaint, Alfred F. "The Negro American: His Self-Image and Integration."
Box 1 Folder 2
Blumenthal, Ralph. "Berliner Student Commune." N.Y. Times clipping.
Box 1 Folder 3
Cornell Activism articles.
 Box 1 Folder 4
Dylan.
 Box 1 Folder 5
Encounter, T-Groups, Esalen.
 Box 1 Folder 6
The Family, clippings and photocopy.
 Box 1 Folder 7
Goldstein, Vic. (S.D.S.) 'Arch '69 drawings, inc. Radical's notebook.
Box 1 Folder 8
Goodman, Paul. "Freedom and Learning: The Need for Choice," "The New Aristocrats."
Box 1 Folder 9
Heckman, J. Cambridge Commune clipping from The Justice, Nov. 13, 1968.
Box 1 Folder 10
Heintz, Jeff. "Norman Mailor: A Polemical."
 Box 1 Folder 11
Kelsey, Herb. "Going to the Army is some Real Serious Shit."
Box 1 Folder 12
Lefebre, Ludwig B. "Human and Extrahuman Partnership," Psychology Today, Nov. 1968.
Box 1 Folder 13
May Day Tactical Manual.
 Box 1 Folder 14
Marshall, Chip. "Our Children Have Come Home."
 Box 1 Folder 15
Nowogrodzki, Richard. "Cornell Authors."
 Box 1 Folder 16
Oglesby, Carl. "World Revolution and the American Containment."
Box 1 Folder 17
Slater, R. Guiseppi. "Canadian Crisis: A Descriptive Evaluation of Quebec Student Unrest."
Box 1 Folder 18
Speiser, R. "Geschichte des Nachtwächters - Overview Cornell."
Box 1 Folder 19
Student Activism Photocopies.
 Box 1 Folder 20
S.D.S. article. U.S. News and World Report.
Box 1 Folder 21
Students for Educational Transformation proposal.
 Box 1 Folder 22
"Student Revolutionaries Unite."
 Box 1 Folder 23
"The Streets Belong to the People."
 Box 1 Folder 24
Village Voice, Paris Revolt, June 6.
Box 1 Folder 25
Why Those Students are Protesting," May 3, 1968.
Box 1 Folder 26
Series II. Periodicals
Avatar, American Colony Press, ca. June 1968.
Box 1 Folder 27
April 24, Washington, D.C., Spring 1971.
Box 1 Folder 28
The Chicago Maroon, Vol. 77 no. 5, Aug. 30, 1968.
Box 1 Folder 29
The Chicago Seed, n.d.
Box 1 Folder 30
(Note: Chicago Tribune, Section 1A, Aug. 25, 1968 was discarded from the collection.)
Date-Line-Ithaca, Glad Day Press, June 26-July 31, 1968 , nos. 46-47, 49-51.
Box 1 Folder 31
Free Student, no. 5.
Box 1 Folder 32
New Left Notes, Chicago, Aug. 5, 12, 1968 , Vol. 3 nos. 24, 25.
Box 1 Folder 33
The Old Mole, Cambridge, MA, Nov. 16, 1968 Vol. 1, no. 4.
Box 1 Folder 34
Peace and Freedom National Organizer, n.d.
Box 1 Folder 35
Quicksilver Times Vol. III, Jan. 16-26, 1971.
Box 1 Folder 36
Rat Subterranean News, Vol. 1, no. 14, annotated.
Box 1 Folder 37
The Realist, Sept. 1968 , No. 82.
Box 1 Folder 38
Record, Antioch College, Vol. 23 nos. 25, 27-28, 30-33, 35-36, 38, 41, 44.
Box 1 Folder 39
Record, Antioch College, Vol. 24 nos. 1-5, 16-18.
Box 1 Folder 40
The Scimitar, Ithaca N.Y., Vol. 1 no. 1.
Box 1 Folder 41
Spring Movement, Wash. D.C., Apr. 8, 1971.
Box 1 Folder 42
Viet Report, Oct. 1965.
Box 1 Folder 43
Series III. Film documents
Project proposal.
 Box 1 Folder 44
Chicago notes.
 Box 1 Folder 45
Film screenplay.
 Box 1 Folder 46
Report, grace notes.
 Box 1 Folder 47
Questionnaire from the Feb. 20 showing of the film.
 Box 1 Folder 48-51
Clippings.
 Box 1 Folder 52
Lerner crit. on draft of Work intro. for Schocken, Oct. 1976.
Box 1 Folder 53
Intro to Work, Schocken ed.
Box 1 Folder 54
Diana & Persis orig. mss.
Box 1 Folder 55
Diana & Persis first draft.
Box 1 Folder 56
Diana & Persis.
Box 1 Folder 57-58
Work: Domestic Feminism & the Problem of Cultural Hegemony.
Box 1 Folder 59
Dissertation prospectus copy & notes, 1972.
Box 1 Folder 60
Work
Box 1 Folder 61
Chapter on Work: A Story of Experience.
Box 1 Folder 62
Intro. to Schocken ed. Work
Box 1 Folder 63
Diana & Persis mss. by Louisa A. Alcott.
Box 1 Folder 64-66
"Moods" [?] - mss.
 Box 1 Folder 67
Series IV. Tape recordings
Subseries 1. Tapes made at the Chicago Democratic Convention, Aug. 25-29, 1968
1st half com. 7 - lost, 5 1/2 minutes. Continuation on 6B...
Box 2 Tape1
2nd half Gov. bot tape (...) no identification number recorded by Gray.
Box 2 Tape1
1. 18th & Michigan.
2. Negotiation between Peck & Reardon, Elrod on 8/28/68 at 5:15.
Tape B and Thurs. afternoon SYNC Br. Jonathan, Jeff Jones, Paul Krassner, Tom Hayden.
Box 2 Tape2
Vic Bell, McCarthy, Robert Lowell, Poem on Columbia. Side 2: R. Diamant account of "Battle of Michigan Ave."
Box 2 Tape3
Shirley Lens, Aug. 27, 1969 (1968) , interview: Phylis Cutter, immediate recall of events in Grant Park.
Box 2 Tape4
Bacia Gordon, Aug. 27, 1969 (1968) Susan Schultze, interviewer. Immediate recall of events in Grant Park.
Box 2 Tape5
David Spzek, John Levy, Ken McMillan, interviewer: Susan Schultze, Aug. 1968.
Box 2 Tape6
Susan Roupp, Father Daniel Turner, Jerry Dean Schmidt, interviewer, Susan Schultze, Aug. 1968
Box 2 Tape7
Tape #5, Hayden, SYNC, Rennie David, SYNC, Delinger, Create many Chi's, etc.
Box 2 Tape8
2nd half of Reel 3 (202) Grand Park Wed. 28th.
 Box 2 Tape9
32 can 4 very (end of Barrdell?) Aug. 1968.
Box 2 Tape10
Aug. 1968
Box 2 Tape10
31. McC. Campaign 17 sec.
32. Mob, Yippies want Rev.
Aug. 1968 rubber band thumps, deadened thumps, peabody modulated, bridge drones, Free Hayden, etc.
Box 2 Tape12
Tape #1 Steve Simmons for H.H.H. McCarthy headquarters, 2 interviews Aug. 25, 1968.
Box 2 Tape13
Tape #2 Park & Demo. Sunday afternoon. Chicago McCarthy interview, several good chants. SYNC park music (DU).
Box 2 Tape14
Tape #3 Night - Yippies, Lincoln Park, Sunday night, Aug. 1968.
Box 2 Tape15
Side #1, Box R, Early Riot, SYNC Sound, Tape #1, Steve Simmons, McCarthy Headquarters, James Butler, Side 2 tape 3 Sunday night, Yippie Lincoln Park Sunday Afternoon Demo. Aug. 25, 1968.
Box 2 Tape16
Tape #4 Aug. 26, 1968 Mon. afternoon demonstration to protest arrest of Tom Hayden. Mob marshall Mon. afternoon, #5 Robert Greenblatt, #T Grape Striker, black panthers Side II Several black interviews, good; Tues. afternoon march (pacifist Student Caucus (Conrad Hilton) Linda King, etc. Jackson St. bridge confrontation, mace and gas. Vic Bell Army deserter.
Box 2 Tape16
Tape #4 Demo. Mon. afternoon, Aug. 1968.
Box 2 Tape18
Tape #5 Demo. Mon. afternoon, Aug. 1968.
Box 2 Tape19
Tape #T Grant Park, Aug. 1968.
Box 2 Tape20
Box 10, kneeling in streets, Prayer, Aug. 1968.
Box 2 Tape21
Hayden: "Streets Belong to the People" Aug. 1968.
Box 2 Tape22
Chicago Aug. 1968 T.V. and Radio coverage of Chicago...
Box 2 Tape23
Aug. 1968 Chicago Democratic Convention.
Box 2 Tape24
Friday, noon, Chicago, Aug. 1968 ...
Box 2 Tape25
Tue. afternoon, Minnesota minister, park, Hare Krishna, etc. Aug. 1968.
Box 2 Tape26
Red. riot 1. 22 sec. Prep to violence, 2. 25 sec. middle part ... 3 to 15
Box 2 Tape27
Thurs. speakers Aug. 1968.
Box 2 Tape28
#B side 1: Grant Park, Tues. night, side 2 Grant Park, Wed. Yippie, Black.
Box 2 Tape29
Tape T Grant Park, Dick Gregory, Tom Hayden ... Aug. 1968.
Box 2 Tape30
#A Lincoln Park ... Aug. 1968.
Box 2 Tape31
#10 Bridge, Mace, and Poor Peoples Wagon ... Aug. 1968.
Box 2 Tape32
Tape #5 Wed. night Thurs. morning Aug. 28-29. Voting Humphrey wins (Penn) Report from floor news (good) Priest on Humphrey, U.S.A., goodness and God; Good stuff on lake Wed., (montage) "Army man barking"; Mark Sommer, Galbraith, montage citizen from Minnesota, N.Y. delegate who refused to show pass, Mother supporting daughter who pissed at jail. Vic Stone, Lowenstein, N.Y. leader for convention, Gore Vidal, postponement, & N.Y. withdraw 1, Cal. delegate, Alabama. Side II, Sonos, O'Dwyer, Norman Mailer, Monique Dyer (Daughter of peace candidate in S. Vietnam), Tom Hayden, Thur. McCarthy's daughter, Ralph Abernathy, Thurs. noon.
Box 2 Tape33
background.
 Box 2 Tape34
labeled copy Sidney Lens, Old Union, Hare Krishna, (led by Alan Ginsberg) Jonathan, Northside Ministry and Hippie Priest.
Box 2 Tape35
#9 Student Caucus (Hilton) Linda King On the bridge mace and gas, (DU)
Box 2 Tape36
(cassette) Tape of various aspects and action of the Chicago Convention. Very poor quality. Most about Grant Park happenings. Aug. 25, 1968.
Box 2 Tape37
Subseries 2. Student Radicalism
Nov. 5, 1968 S.D.S. Election Day Rally Willard Straight Hall, Cornell U., Ithaca, N.Y. Bruce Dancis, Douglas Downd, Dave Burak, Alan Snitow. (Side 1 7/8 ips).
Box 2 Tape38
Nov. 17, 1968 Cambridge Commune, John Heckman, Bob Pearlman, Al Graubner, Abe?, Hiliary Putnam. 1 hr. 30 min.
Box 2 Tape39
Nov. 17, 1968 Cambridge Commune. Bob Pearlman, David Heckman (1st speaker), Libby Heckman, Alan Graubard (2nd speaker). Interviewer: Sarah Diamant.
Box 2 Tape40
Mike Rotkin "Talking Cornell Blues" Ithaca Housing Meeting.
Box 2 Tape41
S.D.S. meeting, May 9, 1969 , R.O.T.C. discussion Tactics raison d'etre.
Box 2 Tape42
S.D.S. study group with Harry Magdoff, Aug. 22, 1968 at Magdoff's, Taugannock Blvd.
Box 2 Tape43
(7" reel) Mar. 1967 Straight confrontation over draft card burning.
Box 2 Tape44
Subseries 3. Delano, California interviews
Mar. 17, 1969 , Delano, CA. Sarah Diamant, Jerry Brown, N.F.W.A. organizer.
Box 2 Tape45
School Board Meeting Mar. 17, 1969 . Delano.
Box 2 Tape46
Mar. 17, 1969 , "Picnic House" Delano Cal. June Brown, Boycott chairman, Elaine Ellenson.
Box 2 Tape47
Mar. 17, 1969 , Delano CA, David Fishlow Malcriado Editor, V.F.W.A. Fred Chavez, Caesar Chavez's nephew, Sr. clas President, Delano H.S., suspended.
Box 2 Tape48
Mar. 18, 1969 Caesar Chavez with Sarah Diamant. National Farm Workers, Jerry Brown, Antioch, Cornell, Farm Workers, Mar. 19, 1969.
Box 2 Tape49
Mar. 20, 1969 . Berkley Cal. Sarah Diamant interviewer. Peter Hunt respondent, lawyer, Antioch, Berkeley.
Box 2 Tape50
All School Meeting, Starr King Divinity School, Berkeley, (Unitarian Universalist, Mar. 20, 1969 , 10-12 a.m. at Starr King, 21 Le Comte Ave., Berkeley, CA.
Box 2 Tape51
Starr King Divinity School All School Meeting, Mar. 22, 1969 , decision making.
Box 2 Tape52
Series V. Transcripts
Interview with Sidney Lens at the Democratic Convention by Sarah Diamant
Box 2 tr 268 no.2
Brother Jonathan & unid. interview
 Box 2 tr 268 no. 2
Steve Simmons outside of the Young Citizens for Humphrey Headquarters by Sarah Diamant, August 25, 1968
Box 2 tr 268 no. 13
Interview with an unidentified person at McCarthy Headquarters by Sarah Diamant, August 25, 1968
Box 2 tr 268 no. 13
James Butler at McCarthy Headquarters by Sarah Diamant, August 25, 1968
Box 2 tr 268 no. 13
Chicago Democratic Convention, August 28-29, 1968
 Box 2 tr 268 no. 24
Interview with an unidentified person by Sarah Diamant and Robert Greenblatt, August 26, 1968
Box 2 tr 268 no. 32
S.D.S. Election Day Rally, Willard Straight Hall, Cornell University with Douglas Dowd, David Burak, Bruce Dancis, and Alan Snitow, November 5, 1968
Box 2 tr 268 no. 38
Cambridge Commune, with Bob Pearlman, David Heckman, Libby Heckman, Alan Graubard by Sarah Diamant
Box 2 tr 268 no. 40
Series VI. Film (masters - not to be used)
 Box 3
Reels 1 and 2, 35 mm footage was shot by Ralph and Sarah Diamant and James Sheldon in the streets of Chicago at the time of the Democratic Convention, 1968, in connection with Sarah Diamant's Ph.D. thesis, a case study of student activism at Cornell. This footage has been cut in produing the film "The Streets Belong to the People" (reels 3 and 4).
Reel 1 16 mm film: Views of Chicago immediately before the riots. About thirty feet showing National Guard at the bridges as seen from both sides of the barricade (quick cuts).
Series VII. Videoscassettes
VHS "The Streets Belong to the People"
 V-49
Videocassette of "The Streets Belong to the People," made from footage shot by Ralph and Sarah Diamant and James Sheldon in the Streets of Chicago during th 1968 Democratic National Convention, in connection with Sarah Diamant's Ph.D. thesis. Includes footage of anti-war protestors speaking about the Vietnam War, non-violent protest, the American political system, Democratic nominees Hubert Humphrey and Eugene McCarthy, and more. Also footage of the resulting clashes between the protestors and the Chicago Police Department and National Guard.
VHS "The Streets Belong to the People" (Copy)
 V-49
VHS "The Streets Belong to the People" Out takes, no sound
 V-208
VHS "The American Experience: Chicago 1968"
 V-238
Videocassette of "The American Experience: Chicago 1968," a narrated story of the 1968 Democratic National Convention and related demonstrations and riots by the "Yippies." Footage includes Democratic National Convention, protestors at the "Festival of Life" (Grant and Lincoln Parks), and resulting riots. Includes scenes from "The Streets Belong to the People."
Beta "The Streets Belong to the People" (Copy)
 V-441
Series VIII. CD
CD #21