COMMUNITY REMEMBRANCES IN DELAWARE
WILMINGTON 1968 is a community-wide coordination of information related to events and remembrances of the local and state response to the events of April 4, 1968, and after. Led by the Delaware Art Museum and the Delaware Historical Society, this site includes information from more than 20 organizations that are sponsoring events and programs, so check for updates through 2018 and 2019.
Search #Wilmington1968 to find additional resources and events commemorating 1968 in Delaware.
UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE LIBRARY
As noted in the introduction, this project highlights a need for more resources to better understand the events of 1968 in Delaware.
This exhibition draws mostly from the print and archival collections in Special Collections at Morris Library. A few items were borrowed from UD Archives and Records Management. Of note in the printed sources are Carol Hoffecker's history of 20th century Wilmington and Andreas Schneider's thorough study of Delaware's urban unrest, written when he was a Governor's Summer Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs Scholars Program in 1970. The Library's copy of Schneider's scarce volume was inscribed by the author to Governor Russell Peterson, in 1973, "In an era when gubernatorial and presidential power is often abused by those who wield it, your tenure in office displayed an uncharacteristically high regard for the principle of executive accountability. This to me is the mark of a true statesman."
For additional research, The Review and The Blue Hen, both of which are available in the Library's digital collections, provide excellent reflections of the student issues and activities in 1968. Two documentaries in the Library's Film and Video Collections are available: 1968: the Siege of Wilmington (WHYY, 1989) and A Dream deferred: remembering the 1968 occupation: the National Guard in Wilmington, DE (Teleduction, 2007).
It is worth noting that all of the archival collections used for research on this project were gifts to the Library from individuals who preserved the history around them. We are grateful to these donors who have so generously supported the Library and shared their Delaware history.
For reference assistance, please contact Special Collections
Special Collections print collection
The Blue Hen 1968. University of Delaware.
Davis, Ned. Charles L. Terry Jr. WIlmington, DE: Delaware Heritage Commission, 2000. Print.
Histories of Newark, 1758-2008: seventy-five stories about Newark, Delaware, and its citizens. Newark (Del.): Wallflowers Press, 2007. Print.
Hoffecker, Carol E. Corporate Capital: Wilmington in the Twentieth Century. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1983. Print.
Leech, Steven. “Pass the meatballs, hold the bullets.” Out & About, 1999 August. Volume 12, number 6, pages 18-30.
Peterson, Russell W. and Christopher L. Perry. Russell W. Peterson. Wilmington, DE: Delaware Heritage Commission. 1999. Print.
Race and Residence in Wilmington, Delaware. Bureau of Publications, Teachers College, Columbia University, 1965
Schneider, Andreas George. Delaware: The Politics of Urban Unrest, July 1967-January 1969. Diss. Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, 1971. Print.
The Review. University of Delaware.
Manuscript and Archival Collections
MSS 0127, Senator John J. Williams papers, Special Collections, University of Delaware Library, Newark, Delaware
MSS 0342, Papers of Dr. Allston Morris related to Southbridge Medical Advisory Council, Special Collections, University of Delaware Library, Newark, Delaware.
MSS 0471, Chris Oakley collection of alternative press, Special Collections, University of Delaware Library, Newark, Delaware.
MSS 0528, Gwynne P. Smith papers, Special Collections, University of Delaware Library, Newark, Delaware.
MSS 0629, Littleton and Jane Mitchell papers, Special Collections, University of Delaware Library, Newark, Delaware.
MSS 0653, Shaun D. Mullen journalism papers, Special Collections, University of Delaware Library, Newark, Delaware.
MSS 0697, George Wolkind papers, Special Collections, University of Delaware Library, Newark, Delaware.
MSS 0745, Russell W. Peterson papers, Special Collections, University of Delaware Library, Newark, Delaware.
UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE ARCHIVES & RECORDS MANAGEMENT
For reference assistance with institutional history of UD, please contact UD Archives
WVUD: THE VOICE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE
The curators of this exhibition were interviewed for the May 17, 2018 episode of Campus Voices, a weekly public affaris program hosted by University of Delaware students and airing Thursday mornings on 91.3, WVUD in the Newark, DE area. The interview discussed the creation and content of the exhibition, as well as highlighting the Voices of 1968 oral history project. An archived version of this interview can be accessed here.
