Document Type
Article
Publication Date
Spring 2015
Keywords
Civil rights, anti-war, Northside Cooperative Ministry, Northwest Youth Outreach, Flat Tire, YMCA, Presbyterian Church USA, Illinois, Chicago, Lakeview, substance abuse programs, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Democratic National Convention, Chicago, Illinois, Segregation, Civil rights demonstrations, Civil rights movements
Disciplines
Cultural History | History | Political History | Political Science | Religion | Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion | Social History | United States History
Abstract
Length: 50 minutes
Interview with William Southwick by Nancy Salto
Rev. Southwick begins by recalling the start of his activism work, running Northside Cooperative Ministry coffeehouse while serving as a minister. He explains how he first became involved in the anti-war protests through acquaintances in the Japanese-American community. He recalls the impact that both the DNC and Dr. King’s assassination had on Chicago and the effect it had on the more militant elements in the movement, like the Weather Underground. He compares the student protests in Chicago to other demonstrations and anti-war movements around the country. He describes the kind of surveillance he and other activist clergy were subjected to by the FBI and Red Squad prior to the DNC. He details the night of the DNC demonstrations, the police violence, and providing aid to the beaten protesters at his “triage” center. He recalls his later work providing substance abuse treatment through the YMCA. He concludes by reflecting on the aftermath of 1968 and the parallels between those events and today.
Recommended Citation
Salto, Nancy. "Interview with William Southwick" (Spring 2015). Oral Histories, Department of Humanities, History & Social Sciences, College Archives & Special Collections, Columbia College Chicago. http://digitalcommons.colum.edu/chicago1968/9
Streaming Media
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Included in
Cultural History Commons, Political History Commons, Political Science Commons, Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons, Social History Commons, United States History Commons
Biography and Comments
Bill Southwick was active in the civil rights and anti-war movements in the 1960s. He helped set up the Northside Cooperative Ministry coffeehouse in Lakeview, an organization that worked on issues such as racial discrimination in housing, day care and mental health services, and the anti-Vietnam movement. He then worked in the YMCA program, Northwest Youth Outreach, that assisted young people with substance abuse issues and established a treatment center called Flat Tire on Halsted, north of Broadway, in Chicago. He is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church USA.
The interviewer conducted this oral history as part of his/her coursework for the Spring 2015 class, Oral History: The Art of the Interview. This project was completed in collaboration with the Council of Religious Leaders of Metropolitan Chicago and the College Archives & Special Collections department at Columbia College Chicago. Contact archives@colum.edu for more information.