George,

Paul Gaston is aware of so much of the activities of the Vietnam anti-war era at UVa. I hope he has time to share more of his memories with us.

Perhaps I can add something to the issue of the "half-dozen radicals" Downing Smith refers to.

The protests at UVa were internally driven by students and faculty and involved a considerable number of both. But as at many schools at that time, when word of the protests spread, organizations outside UVa sent observers and participants.

Among the observers were two agents from the local FBI office. After their picture appeared on the front page of the Prog, those two stopped coming.

Among the participants were members of Youth Against War and Fascism, a national group that sent a half-dozen members to attempt to influence the direction UVa's protest took. They were visible as the young men taunting the police at the corner of Emmet and Ivy by the tennis courts. They were the angry voices shouting behind me on the Shannon's front porch after the Kunstler-Rubin show. And they were the ones in the street taunting the cops the night the riot act was invoked. I took photos of them, photos now reposing in the archives at Kent State.

Perhaps Paul can confirm something an administrator related. He said that when Shannon met with students in front of Alderman Library, the YAWF crowd gathered in close around him and kicked his ankles when he spoke, trying to make Shannon sound angry and short-tempered when he addressed the students.

Did anyone hear that from Edgar himself?

Rey Barry (electronic mail, December 30, 2003)