UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN ARCHIVES
ORAL HISTORY PROJECT

Interview #302
PETERSON, FRANKLYNN

PETERSON, Franklynn (1938- )
Undergraduate Student
At UW: 1956-1960

Interviewed: 1985	
Interviewer: Laura Smail
Length: 2.5 hours

Background; Courses; Housing; Committee on discrimination in fraternities; Wisconsin Socialist Club; Other leftist organizations; Bringing leftist speakers to campus; Involvement in civil rights issues; Student factions on campus; Hometown scholarship; Race relations on campus; National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP); Black fraternity; News of picketing in North Carolina; Picket of Madison Woolworth's store and those involved; NAACP reaction; Lack of faculty involvement; Northern Student Movement; Fund raising in classrooms for southern black students; Hostile reception; Green Lantern Co-op and its membership; Frank Lloyd Wright's offer to design Co-op building; Peterson's career; Syndicated column on computers.

NOTE: Peterson volunteered to do this interview to record the beginnings of the civil rights movement here and the organization of the Northern Student Movement, which later became SDS.

Tape 1/Side 1

00:00:20	Involvement in early civil rights movement.

00:00:32	Classic working class family background.  Born end of depression in Phillips, Wisconsin.  Describes family and paper mill town.

00:03:24	Receives scholarship from paper mill to attend UW in chemistry.  Describes his life at UW, his boarding house and roommates.

00:08:29	Describes chemistry program and the work involved.  Really fortunate that he had to do so much work, because he realized it was not what he wanted.  Took many different courses.  Got interested in sociology.

00:11:34	Speaks of leftist youth organizations on campus.

00:13:30	Joins group on campus, Human Relations Committee.  Met many leftists on campus, including president of Labor Youth League.  FP made chairman of group looking at discrimination practices of fraternities on campus, a 1960 decision.

00:18:14	FP discovers fraternities are not complying with anti-discrimination codes, tells UW president.  Immense trouble for him and fraternities.

00:24:10	Really hadn't much experience with civil rights.  Family not political, and very conservative part of country. Obtaining conscientious objector status. 

00:28:04	His experiences really opened his mind.  Made him see things differently, especially regarding people of color.

00:29:13	Speaks of high school paper he edited; his editorials and opinions.  How they influenced his college career.

00:32:05	Wanted to study and change society, what he did in college.  Speaks of research and writing, his interest in Socialist Party.

00:36:38	By sophomore year in college, considered himself a socialist.  Dean Luberg did not approve of Wisconsin Socialist Club, which he was in.  Karl Paul Link was advisor.  Luberg sat on paperwork for Socialist Club, didn't like it.  FP second or third president of group, which never did very much.  Brought in some speakers.

00:43:25	End of side.

Tape 1/Side 2

00:43:30	More on speakers, human rights and civil rights.  Clark Foreman, writer for New York Times, was expelled from ACLU.  FP had tough time getting permission for him to speak.  Huge turnout when he did.

00:46:15	Did not consider himself a socialist--really didn't know what that meant.  Speaks of various student factions, i.e., foreign, fraternities and sororities, off campus, and how they interacted.  How different it was thirty years ago.

00:50:08	Speaks of McCarthy, how naive he was regarding communism and what was happening at this time.  How this affected his high school forensics career.  By junior year in college, feels he is staunch socialist.

00:55:33	Worked summers at Enzyme Institute under Henry Lardy and also received $500 per semester from scholarship committee in Port Edwards.  Committee saw FP on TV speaking about communism and questioned him regarding his ideas and activities.  They left scholarship intact.

01:01:35	Had to continue to file activity sheet with committee.

01:04:00	Speaks of race relations on campus.  Much discrimination.  Blacks roomed together and so did whites.

01:05:54	What situation was like in rest of state.  Meeting with governor's assistant.  His speech on situation in Madison and state, view on racism.

01:09:51	Question regarding filming of housing discrimination.  FP heard of film, but came later after his graduation.

01:10:53	Knew black students through human relations committee.  Led FP to join campus NAACP, which had been expelled from the national NAACP because of "red" leanings.

01:13:00	Relates incident involving leader of national NAACP.

01:15:54	How black students felt about the on-campus NAACP and why they did not become involved.

01:17:12	Involvement of leftist movement with black causes.  FP kept both movements going because of his interest.  Did not use blacks to advance their leftist causes, he felt.

01:18:30	FP felt he was emotionally and theoretically involved.  Needs to learn about something and do something about problems.

01:19:58	Black fraternity on campus at this time.  Black students really weren't interested in joining other fraternities, even though they could.  So, FP didn't worry about it anymore.  Anecdote about black graduate student who sang in night clubs.

01:22:10	Question regarding picketing spoken of by FP--early '59-'60, FP's senior year, he married, and was president of Socialist Club.  Heard about happenings in North Carolina that were not reported in press.

01:23:57	End of side. End of tape.

Tape 2/Side 1

00:00:10	Black students were beaten up in North Carolina at Woolworth's for refusing to give up seats.  FP decided to picket the Woolworth's in Madison to protest.  Students protested and people responded.  Other stores were picketed later.

00:03:15	More on picketers.  Many people involved.  Reaction of NAACP.

00:07:44	FP stayed out of most of this because he was president of the Socialist Club.  Much too busy being married and father to be active all the time.

00:10:00	No faculty joined in protests.  FP feels this was due to McCarthy era.

00:11:03	Question regarding whether Bill Williams or Bill Rice participated.  They were involved somewhat.  Williams spoke at one rally, Rice advised.

00:12:25	Story regarding Mosse and police.

00:13:38	1956-60.  FP and friends pictured themselves as Angry Young Men from Silent Generation.

00:15:00	Story regarding Martha Peterson and student curfews.

00:16:14	Formation of ad hoc committee so administration would not stifle what FP and friends were trying to do with demonstrations.  Northern student movement really support group for Southern students.

00:19:30	Speaks of fund raising for black students in South.  Pitch for money in classes.  Very unpopular with other students.

00:21:08	Bill Steiger in one of his classes.  He was Republican and FP a socialist.

00:22:00	Students in classes hissed and booed when FP presented pitch for money for human and civil rights.  Very frightening.  Realized morality of cause doesn't always make people believe it.

00:25:00	Brought up bus loads of people from South to speak.  Late '50s and early '60s.

00:26:37	Green Lantern was place where students from left went.  Where Chemistry building is now; donated by economics professor.  Really working laboratory, run by students.  Upper story was female dorm.  Basement was Green Lantern.

00:28:15	Student politicians went to Green Lantern for speeches.  Green Lantern crew was hostile to all student government.  Very non-discriminatory, foreign students liked it.  Finally stopped.

00:31:22	Students went to Frank Lloyd Wright to go over ideas on building.  Wright thought the architecture on UW campus disgusting.  Even though the students were poor, he said he would design building for them.  Then, Wright died a few months later.

00:34:31	FP graduated summer of 1960.  Went to NYC.  Since then has written 22 books, on just about everything.  Has syndicated column which reaches 25 million people, on computers, which he taught himself.

00:38:46	Still a socialist, but not the same as in the '50s.

00:40:18	Most enjoyment from upsetting people, and taking the opposite stance in a situation.

00:41:05	End of interview.

END