The Blockade of Euclid Avenue
For those of you tuning in from my piece in The Observer, this is actually part of one of two in a series about activism at Case Western Reserve. And without further ado...
A typical day on Euclid Avenue will see hundreds of students crossing to and from the Main Quad. These miniature mobs can hold up traffic coming from Adelbert Road, but only briefly. This was not the case on May 5th of 1970, when over 2,000 people blockaded the intersection. This was not people trying to get somewhere on time; this was a message. This was protest.
To understand what happened in May of 1970s, one must also understand also what was happening at the time. The United States was embroiled in the Vietnam War, and rumors of U.S. involvement in Cambodia were reaching the surface. At home, protests sprung up all over the nation, and were sometimes met with violence. Around the newly federated Case Western Reserve University, there was also local unrest, stemming from racial conflict as well as the Vietnam War.
Protest began on May 2, 1970, beginning with the ROTC Air Force Program on campus. For anti-Vietnam protestors, the presence of ROTC was seen as the administration’s approval of the Vietnam War. On May 2nd, over 50 students performed a sit-in at the ROTC’s office in the basement of Yost Hall, flying a peace banner out the window as a signal of their occupation. Another 300 students stood outside, showing their support for this act of civil disobedience. Eventually the police managed to evict the protestors after many hours of standoff and the threat of legal and academic repercussions for those who did not submit to authority.
The next three days proved to be very eventful. The invasion in May of 1970 sparked uproar on college campuses nation-wide. The most notorious was the tragically-fated Kent State University protest of May 4th. The National Guard was called in, and after several misunderstandings violence ensued and four students died. This in turn would have implications for other college protests, including those at Case.
On May 5th, a core group of 30 students sat down in Euclid Avenue traffic at rush hour, forming a spontaneous sit-in. However, within hours this grew to over 2000 students as news spread by word of mouth. This literal sea of students blocked traffic for three hours. While some students did leave at the request of President Morse and the Cleveland police, a large zealous group remained into the evening.
Allegedly, several unknown officers removed their badges, so that the protestors would not know who the officer was in the soon to follow violence. Unpleasantries were traded; eventually police on horseback used riot batons to clear students off the road, severely wounding several protestors. However, later that night a candlelight procession was organized consisting of 5,000 participants. With uneasy cooperation from the police, four empty but symbolic coffins were buried in front of Severance Hall, symbolizing what had happened at Kent.
The next day an organization calling itself the Community on Strike organized approximately 1,500 participants into forming a formal protest group. The Community then made five demands of the administration and the then-current President Morse:
1. President Morse was to declare the University on Strike.
2. President Morse was to publically condemn the war in Southeast Asia, and help facilitate protest.
3. President Morse was to publically condemn political repression and internal violence of the country.
4. The end of the University compliance to war efforts through ROTC and military research.
5. Amnesty for all participants of the Strike Community.
Ultimately, only the last two demands would come to fruition, and not until the fall, several months after these protest actions. The Strike Community would prove instrumental over the summer in maintaining organization to the protest. There were no further protests that ended in violence, but the first show of force was sufficient. This eventually sparked the Board of Trustees into calling for the resignation of President Morse and a complete revisal of University policy.
The crisis of the Vietnam War has passed, and the public unrest of the 1960s and ‘70s seems to be mostly absent in today’s war in the Middle East. However, it is important to remember that Case students, in a time not so long ago, could be stirred into mass actions of protest and political statement.
THE END... or is it? Sequel to follow.
Comments
Posted by: Richard Baznik
Posted on: April 28, 2009 09:52 AM
As someone who was here in 1970 and who now serves as university historian, I would argue with some elements of your post. There never were 2,000 people involved in the protest (as opposed to those who gathered to watch it), for example, and the departure of Robert Morse as president was not primarily a result of the trustees' view of his actions in this situation. The decision to discontinue the Air Force ROTC program was mutual -- CWRU student participation had dropped below DOD minimum levels. "Amnesty" for the student protesters was certainly granted in terms of any university sanctions.
All that said, there is no question that the Euclid Avenue sit-down was the most visible of the on-campus demonstrations during that era. It has since taken on a kind of "Woodstock" flavor, both in the numbers of area residents who claim that they were among the motorists blockaded on Euclid and the numbers of CWRU alumni and employees who claim to have been among the protesters. This isn't bad. It's just part of the event's legendary status.
Let me also compliment you on your choise of the university's history as the subject of your senior project. One of our former presidents was fond of saying that "this university has more opportunities than most to celebrate its history." You have given us an excellent illustration of this.