The Dow Chemical protest in 1967, was an incident at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where student protesters blocked people from accessing job interviews with Dow Chemical Company, who were recruiting on campus. The protesters were frustrated with Dow Chemical, because they were manufacturers of the napalm used by American forces in the Vietnam War. The student protesters were forcibly removed by police, and the incident became the first Vietnam War related protest at a university, to end in police violence. The incident only inpsired further Anti-war protests at the University of Wisconsin, which continued for years to come.[1][2][3]
Events
editIn February of 1967, student protestors held a sit-in, as an attempt to protest Dow Chemical's connections to the U.S. military.[4]
The second round of anti-Dow protests began on October 17, 1967. After Dow recruiters arrived on campus in the early morning, around 200 student protestors gather in the Commerce Building to disrupt and block the recruiter's interviews. By mid-day the students became disorderly and pushed an interviewee, causing a police intervention. Around 200 more students arrived, and the police called for more officers. Police inform the protestors the assembly is unlawful, but only more students join the crowd. The police attempted to negotiate with the protestors but these talks failed. There are differing accounts as to how the melee started, but eventually police and protestors began to battle. By the afternoon, an overwhelming police presence dispersed the crowd.[5]
Legacy
editMany in the university faculty were shocked by the battle and voted for a resolution to ban calls for police to intervene in campus protests. Three days after the melee, students marched on the state capitol to protest the Vietnam War, Dow Chemical on campus, and police violence.[6]
The university chancellor posted bail for all those arrested at the protest.[7] The Wisconsin state assembly eventually passed an ordinance demanding that all protestors be expelled.[8]
The Dow Chemical protest is remembered by many alumni who witnessed it, as the moment that accelerated student protests at the University of Wisconsin. Many previous apathetic students, claimed to have become much more politically engaged after the protest.[9]
After the Dow protest, protests at the University of Wisconsin campuses became more violent, with protesters often carrying clubs and smashing nearby windows.[10]
References
edit- ^ "A Turning Point Six stories from the Dow chemical protests on campus". 1967.wisc.edu. University of Wisconsin.
- ^ "Dow Riot (1967)". wisconsinhistory.org. Wisconsin Historical Society. 3 August 2012.
- ^ "The University of Illinois in the Cold War Era 1945-1975: 1967 Protest-Sit-In against DOW Chemical". guides.library.illinois.edu. University of Illinois.
- ^ Herman, Jennifer (2008). Wisconsin Encyclopedia. State History Publications. p. 129-130. ISBN 978-1-878592-61-3.
- ^ "A Turning Point Timeline". 1967.wisc.edu. University of Wisconsin.
- ^ Wynkoop, Mary Ann (2017). Dissent in the Heartland The Sixties at Indiana University. Indiana University Press. p. 54. ISBN 9780253026743.
- ^ Small, Melvin (2002). Antiwarriors The Vietnam War and the Battle for America's Hearts and Minds. Scholarly Resources. p. 56. ISBN 9780842028967.
- ^ Anderson, Terry (2024). The Sixties. Taylor and Francis. ISBN 9781040045367.
- ^ "The "Dow Day" Protests, 50 Years On". wpr.org. Wisconsin Public Radio. 18 October 2017.
- ^ Heineman, Kenneth (1994). Campus Wars The Peace Movement At American State Universities in the Vietnam Era. NYU Press. p. 130. ISBN 9780814735121.