Vietnam Era Oral History Project: Interview with Evan Stark

Titles: Vietnam Era Oral History Project: Interview with Evan Stark (Supplied title)

Description: BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION: Evan Stark was born on March 10, 1942, in the Bronx, New York City. He was one of two children born to his Jewish parents. His mother was active in the trade union and Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, his father a writer and high school teacher. Though both she and her husband were liberal, perhaps socialist, they were also anti-communist, as was Stark in his young years. He graduated from high school in 1959, then attended Brandeis University where he earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology. He started graduate studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madison in the fall of 1963, then quickly transferred to Washington University in St. Louis for a short time. Stark was back in Madison by the spring of 1964 pursuing a PhD in sociology. He became very active in the anti-Vietnam War movement at Madison, becoming one of the student leaders in the 1967 protests against Dow Chemical. These activities ran himafoul of the law, so he left school and moved to Canada for a short time. Stark got married in January 1968 in Illinois, honeymooned in Wisconsin, then came to the University of Minnesota in February 1968 to continue his graduate work. In Minneapolis, he met Marv Davidov and became centrally involved in the Honeywell Project. Though he played an important role in the Project, it was only one of his activities as a community organizer. Stark earned a master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin in 1967, a PhD in sociology from SUNY in 1984, and a master of social work from Fordham University in 1991. He spent most of his academic career at Rutgers University and is well-known for his work in public health and the concept of "coercive control" as the main mechanism of domestic violence. He is married and has four children.TOPICS DISCUSSED: life as a community organizer; growing up in a Jewish family in the Bronx; work in public health and on domestic violence against women; involvement in many community organizing efforts and groups, including Committee for Direct Action, Honeywell Project, Domestic Violence Training Project, the OEO (Office of Economic Opportunity) citizens community center, Community Nonviolent Action, SANE, CORE, AIM; peace activism vs. antiwar activism; relationship with Marv Davidov; work with Ann Flitcraft (wife); studies at Brandeis, Washington University, University of Wisconsin, University of Minnesota; pacifism, Marxist-feminism; his role in the Honeywell Project; fleeing from police to Canada and working for Canadian government and Alinsky Institute; difficulties encountered as a result of political and social activism; sociology departments and faculty at the above universities; parents’ politics; growing up as a Republican; becoming politically active at Brandeis with lunch counter sit-ins for civil rights movement; intellectual development; starting graduate work at Wisconsin, then going to Washington University, and back to Madison; academic and community work in Minneapolis, including with OEO, Honeywell Project, and Glendale University; and Honeywell Project goals and events.

Dates

• 06/17/2018 - 10/17/2018 (Creation)

Creation

• interviewee: Stark, Evan
• interviewer: Heikkila, Kim

Identifiers

• Library Call Number: OH 179.80
• Accession Number: AV2019.70
• Link to Finding Aid

Holding Type: Oral History - Interview

Project

• Oral History - Project, MHS Collection, project: 'Vietnam Era Oral History Project' <OH 179>

Quantity: 1 audio file 78 pages transcript

Format

• Content Category: sound recordings
• Content Category: text

Measurements

• 4:20:04 running time

Subjects