Michael Rossman was active in the New Left from its beginning, and was a leader of the Berkeley Free Speech Movement in 1964. He spent the next eight years as a Movement organizer and photo-journalist, becoming a critical spokesman for the deeper politics of the counterculture. His chronicle of the Sixties, "The Wedding Within the War" (Doubleday/Anchor, 1971) remains unique as a participant account from the key stations of this era. Its perspectives are extended in "On Learning and Social Change" (Random House, 1972). In "New Age Blues" (E.P. Dutton, 1979), he follows the further development of one face of the counterculture.
Since then, Rossman's work as a social historian has led him to gather the nation's most comprehensive collection of posters from contemporary political and social movements. The AOUON Archive now holds nearly 10,000 designs from the domestic political poster renaissance, from its beginning in 1965 to recent work. The Archive's holdings include 900 posters illustrating The political and social faces of the counterculture; as many each from the Anti-Vietnam War, Black Liberation, and Women's Movements; and strong coverage of all other movements since. Some slide sets are available, and CDs are planned. Loans, rentals, and sales may be arranged. Scholars, illustrators, and others interested in this resource may contact Rossman c/o Csicsery Posters, Box 2833, Oakland, CA 94618; or through the publisher of this CD-ROM. Donations of posters to the Archive will be treasured.
Rossman's work on this CD-ROM is drawn from an archive of 10,000 photos (mostly b/w) taken during 1965-72, recording an insider's perspective on S.F./Berkeley and national activism as the anti-war and other movements and the counterculture developed. Though these images are less accessible than the poster archives, inquiries are invited.
