Joe Blitman Papers

Collection

Identifier: RG 30-090

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

These papers reflect Joe Blitman’s participation and interest in student politics and activism, 1967-71, while a student at Oberlin College. Archives staff printed out thirty-six articles that concern or are authored by Blitman from the Oberlin Review, 1969-71, mainly concerning student politics, anti-Vietnam War activism, and film critique. This constitutes the last folder in the collection. In addition to papers, Blitman collected Oberlin anti-war memorabilia, including buttons, badges, and armbands.

Joe Blitman originally organized the papers in a series of folders numbered one through forty-one. The papers were divided into folders by date of content. Folders one through ten contain material from September 1967 to June 1968. Folders eleven through twenty-six contain material from September 1968 to May 1969. Folders twenty-seven through thirty-three contain material from September 1969 to May 1970. Folders thirty-four through thirty-five contain material from September 1970 to May 1971. Additionally, folders thirty-six through forty-one contain miscellaneous publications from 1968-1970.

Joe Blitman’s position as both an activist and a journalist offers a unique vantage point from which to explore the events of 1967-1971 at Oberlin. Deeply involved with anti-war and anti-draft activism and student government, he brings together documentation of insular campus politics and of Oberlin’s leadership in a growing national student-led anti-Vietnam War movement.

Dates

Creation: 1966-1971
Other: Date acquired: 12/01/1975

Creator

Blitman, Joseph (Joe) Jan (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Unrestricted.

Biographical Sketch

Joseph "Joe" Jan Blitman was born in 1949 to Louis and Jane Blitman in Englewood, New Jersey. He attended Oberlin College from 1967 to 1971, earning the B.A. degree. He later attended the Law School at the University of Southern California (1983-84).

While attending Oberlin College, Blitman participated in student politics, activism, and journalism. He was involved with anti-Vietnam War efforts on campus as co-chairman of the Oberlin Resistance (an anti-war and anti-draft organization) and chairman of the Moratorium on the War (related to the nationwide anti-war activities in the fall of 1969). He held office as vice-president of the Student Senate, a member of the Co-op Board of Directors, and a voting student representative to the General Faculty Assembly. He joined the Oberlin Review as a news editor, interviewer, and film critic from 1969 to 1971.

Joe Blitman currently lives in Los Angeles with Kevin Mulligan, his partner since 1977; they are now married. His current occupation is dealing in collectible dolls and toys.

Sources Consulted

Alumni Records, Oberlin College Archives.

Correspondence between Joe Blitman and Archivist William E. Bigglestone, Oberlin College Archives, 1975.

Correspondence between Joe Blitman and Project Archivist Melissa Gottwald, Oberlin College Archives, 27 June 2002.

Correspondence between Joe Blitman and Tammy L. Martin, Oberlin College Archives, 3 March 2003.

Joe Blitman Papers. Oberlin College Archives.

Oberlin Review, vols. 97-99 (1969-71). Accessed online from the Five Colleges of Ohio Digital Collection, 26 March 2017.

Note written by Kira Zimmerman (OC 2019).

Extent

0.60 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Method of Acquisition

The papers were received by the Oberlin College Archives in 1975 as a gift from Joe Blitman.

Accruals and Additions

Accession No: 281.

Related Materials

Oberlin College Archives: Oberlin Civil Rights Collection (RG 30/427); Photographs: Subjects: Demonstrations (RG 32/5); Student Life: Student Publications (RG 19/00/1); Student Life: Activist and Political Organizations (RG 19/3/6); Moving Images: DVDs: 5/70, a film by then-student Richard Haas, May 1970 (RG 57/3); The Oberlin Review ; and The Oberlin News-Tribune.