The Masterson Crisis exhibit
Sign worn during the Masterson protest
Last year, the Woodson submitted a proposal for the library’s Fondren Fellows program. We wanted someone to use our archives to tell the story of protesting at Rice University between April 1969 – April 1970 using an online exhibit. The students would specifically highlight the Masterson Crisis and the Abbie Hoffman incident / Allen Center occupation. These protests are uniquely Rice in nature, but also influenced by protest movements across college campuses.
Crowd protesting the Masterson appointment arriving in front of Lovett Hall on Saturday, February 22, 1969
For the past semester, our Fondren Fellow Emma Satterfield, has been hard at work tackling the Masterson Crisis. She spent many weeks reading through all of the William H. Masterson Controversy records, taking detailed notes, creating a thorough timeline, and understanding all of the important players. She met with Dr. Allen Matusow to discuss specifics with a historian who specialized in the time period, but also was there. Finally, she spent weeks creating the online exhibit. She selected photographs (digitizing new ones), fliers, Thresher articles, and KOWL audio, marrying all of this with a gripping narrative.
Whether you want to relive the action or learn about what happened for the first time, you should give it all a look and listen. Here’s the link.
In the fall, the project will be carried on by another Fellow who will focus on the events of April 1970. We will post that when it is available in December.
