This site offers a general overview of the history of the Bursar’s Office Takeover. However, this is a complex story and the history presented here only scratches the surface. For more information about the Black experience at Northwestern University prior to the Takeover, the origins of the Takeover, and its legacy, please visit The Black Experience at Northwestern University Research Guide. The bibliography below offers additional sources relating to the history of the Takeover.

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• “Alumna Kathryn Ogletree Speaks About Bursar’s Office Takeover Experience,” by Amy Li.

• “The Anniversary of the Takeover: A Reflection on Protest and Progress,” by Charla Wilson.
• “Arts Performances Celebrate the Spirit of the Bursar’s Office Takeover,” by Stephanie Kulke.

• “Black Alumni, University Officials Gather for Symbolic Groundbreaking Ceremony at Black House,” by Alan Perez.

• “The Black Student Sit-in of 1968,” by Rebecca Lindell.
• “Coming of Age,” by Curtis Lawrence.
• “Daphne Maxwell Reid, ’70 Actress, Designer, Film Producer,” by Nancy Deneen.
• “Funding Announced for Events Commemorating 1968 Bursar’s Office Takeover,” by Storer Rowley.

• “In Focus: Fifty Years After Bursar’s Office Takeover, Northwestern Reconciles Continued Parallels in Black Student Concerns,” by Troy Closson.

• “It’s Like a Legend: Remembering the 1968 Bursar’s Office Sit-In,” by Jason Mast & Rosalie Chan.
• “Northwestern Commemorates 1968 Takeover of Bursar’s Office by Black Students” (NU Press Release).

• “Northwestern Commemorates 50th Anniversary of Bursar’s Office Takeover,” by Maddie Burakoff.

• “Northwestern Commemorates a Transformational Event, the Bursar’s Office Takeover of 1968,” by Northwestern Now.

• “Northwestern Black Alumni Association Plans Task Force for 50th Year Commemoration of Bursar’s Office Sit-In,” by Fathma Rahman.

• “NU Black Alumni Association Premieres Documentary on Bursar’s Office Takeover,” by Troy Closson.

• “NU Honors Evanston Community for 1968 Bursar’s Office Takeover Support,” by Elizabeth Byrne.

• “The Politicalization of Black Students,” by James Pitts.

• “Shepard Hall Opens Exhibit Highlighting Past, Contemporary Student Activism,” by Troy Closson.

• “Students Demand University Action on Black Student Experience, Departmentalization, Dining Transition,” by Troy Closson.

• “They Demanded Courageously: Exhibit Honors 1968 Black Student Protest,” Footnotes Magazine.

• Evening with Kathryn Ogletree, Reflections on the Bursar’s Office Takeover, March 5, 2018
• James Turner speaking on Bursar’s Office Takeover, May 9, 1968
• One Generation Ago: A Scrapbook: An Observance of an Era, by Cherilyn Wright and Barbara Perkins.
• How A 1968 Protest at Northwestern University Still Resonates (Interviews with Takeover activists Debra Hill, Adrianne Hayward, and Sandra Hill).
• The Takeover: The Revolution of the Black Experience at Northwestern University, Documentary
• Photographs from the Bursar’s Office Takeover, James Sweet, Photographer

Friends Disappear: The Battle for Racial Equality in Evanston, by Mary Barr 

Barr discusses school integration and fair housing in Evanston, Il from the 1960s-1970s. There is a brief inclusion of Black student life at Northwestern University and of the Takeover in relation to the city’s changing demographics.

 The Black Revolution on Campus, by Martha Biondi

Biondi offers a historical overview of the Black freedom struggle as it played out on college campuses. Chapter three focuses on the 1968  Takeover at Northwestern University and the creation of the African American Studies Department.

Where I Must Go: A Novel, by Angela Jackson 

Chicago poet and Northwestern University alumna, Angela Jackson, tells the story of the fictional midwestern Eden University, loosely based on Northwestern University. The story follows 17-year-old Magdalena ‘Maggie’ Grace as she leaves her African American Catholic family for the predominantly white school. Maggie experiences being an activist in the Takeover and recalls key figures and events associated with the event. Jackson enrolled at Northwestern University in the fall of 1968.

The End of Black Studies: Conceptual, Theoretical, and Empirical Concerns, by Clovis Semmes

In chapter three, Semmes “explores the problem of legitimacy facing Black Americans by analyzing the perceptions, experiences, and coping strategies of Black students at a White, elite university who sought careers as artists.” This sociological study focuses on students at Northwestern University students. The author was a Takeover activist and an officer in For Members Only (FMO).

A Redlight Woman Who Knows How to Sing the Blues, by Mary Sisney

In this memoir, Sisney discusses her experience as a Black woman attending white institutions. Sisney, an alumna of Northwestern University and Takeover activist, also describes the events of the Takeover.

Northwestern University: A History, 1850-1975, by Harold F. Williamson and Payson S. Wild

A history of Northwestern University was written in 1975 by Payson Wild, Northwestern Provost, and a key figure in the Takeover, and Harold Williamson, Professor of American and European economic history at Northwestern University. This history of the University briefly discusses the Bursar’s Office Takeover and related events.

The Takeover 1968: Campus Politics, Student Protest, And The Experiences of Black Students At Northwestern University, 1969-1969, by Jenny Thompson

The Takeover 1968 draws from contemporaneous accounts, archival and primary sources, and interviews with several of the takeover’s key players, including Kathryn Ogletree, undergraduate leader of the takeover; Eva Jefferson Paterson, takeover activist and later president of Northwestern’s student government; John H. Bracey, Jr. and James Turner, graduate student leaders of the takeover; and Jack Hinz, former Northwestern vice president for student affairs and dean of students, who served as the chief negotiator for the university during the takeover. It also draws from interviews with Roger Friedman and Ellis Pines, two former Northwestern students who both played prominent roles in progressive politics on campus in the late 1960s. The book pieces together the events of May 3-4, 1968 as they unfolded, and it also takes a broader view, stepping back from those two crucial days to examine what led to the takeover and what transpired in its aftermath.

Voices and Visions: The Evolution of the Black Experience at Northwestern University, by Jeffrey Sterling and Lauren Lowery

A history of the Black experience at Northwestern University, including interviews with Takeover activists.

• Records of the Bursar’s Office Takeover, May 1968
• Records of the Department of African American Student Affairs, 1966-2001
• Student Protests and Strikes at Northwestern University, 1965-1979
• Serial Files: FMO (and affiliated groups)
• Daphne Maxwell Reid Papers 

• Records of the Associated Student Government, 1960-2008

• Records of the Student Senate, 1960-1969

• University Presidents J. Roscoe Miller Papers, 1949-1970

• Franklin M. Kreml (1907-1998) Papers, 1928-1998
• Robert H. Strotz (1922-1994) Papers, 1970-1986

• University Provost Payson S. Wild, General Files, 1949-1974

The African American/Black Experience Final Report, Summer 2016, by Black Student Experience Task Force.

“A thorough review of existing Black satisfaction data and reach an understanding of its contributing factors and generate recommended strategies and systems Northwestern can employ to improve the satisfaction of the Black undergraduate student community.” The report contextualizes its analysis with the history of the Takeover as it also responds to the fall 2015 demands presented to the University by Northwestern University students.

Blackbeat, 1984-2003 (Not complete)

Blackbeat is a biweekly newsletter aimed to supplement the quarterly Blackboard magazine, the official publication of For Members Only (FMO). It includes editorials, poetry, cartoons, and announcements to Black students at Northwestern University.

Blackboard, 1971-2011 

Blackboard is the official publication of For Members Only (FMO). It provides Black students at Northwestern University with news and relevant campus editorials. Currently, the publication is digitized up to 2011. However, publications from 2012 to the present are available in print at University Archives.

Black Student Handbook, 1973-2009 (Not complete)

The Black Student Handbook includes on and off-campus resources for Black students at Northwestern University. It also has a brief history of the Black experience at Northwestern and the leadership structure of For Members Only (FMO). Additionally, it features a calendar of events for the academic year, a list of contact information for Black faculty, administrators, staff, and offices, Black businesses and churches in Evanston.

Daily Northwestern

This database has digitized issues of The Daily Northwestern to 2016. To locate articles related to the Bursar’s Office Takeover, search keywords, names, and specify the dates to narrow your search. For those who are not affiliated with Northwestern and do not have a campus ID, visit the Guest NETID  to access the newspaper articles:                    

http://www.library.northwestern.edu/visit/visitor-privileges/guest-netids.html

Pamoja People, 1972-1973

Publication of For Members Only (FMO).

Syllabus, 1969

The 1969 edition of Syllabus, Northwestern University’s yearbook, has a spread on the Bursar’s Office Takeover. It includes a description of the Takeover, photographs, and poetry.

Uhuru, 1968-1969

First official publication of For Members Only (FMO), a precursor to Blackboard.

View additional Black Student Life Publications here.