Trojan Horse incident records

Collection — Box: 1

Identifier: 46-1-1100

Scope and content

Correspondence, notes, reports, newspaper articles, and other items concerning the Trojan Horse incident, including the Trojan Horse issue in question, issues of the Cornell Daily Sun containing articles on it (January 20-21 and 23, 1967), clippings from the Ithaca Journal, and manuscript and typewritten letters, memos, notes and reports by University administrators and faculty, including statements by President James A. Perkins and Trustee Arthur H. Dean, the Faculty Committee on Student Affairs, W. Donald Cooke, the Scheduling Coordination and Activities Review Board (SCARB), the Faculty-Student Committee on Human Rights, the University Faculty Council, University Council member John Marcham, and Vice President Mark Barlow.

Dates

1967.

Creator

no primary creator (Person)
Perkins, James Alfred, 1911-1998 (Person)
Dean, Arthur H. (Person)
Cooke, W. Donald. (Person)
Marcham, John. (Person)
Barlow, Mark, 1925-2012. (Person)
Cornell University. Faculty Committee on Student Affairs (Organization)
Cornell University. Scheduling Coordination and Activities Review Board (Organization)
Cornell University. Faculty-Student Committee on Human Rights (Organization)
Cornell University. Faculty Council of Representatives (Organization)
Cornell University. Public Safety Division (Organization)

Language of Material

In English.

Biographical / Historical

In January 1967, Cornell University's Public Safety Division confiscated 130 copies of the student literary periodical Trojan Horse, whose current issue had been judged to be obscene by the Division's supervisor, James A. Herson. The University administration, headed by Acting President W. Donald Cooke (serving in that capacity while President Perkins attended a Board of Trustees meeting in New York City), asked that city police refrain from intervening. Nonetheless, a few days later the Tompkins County District Attorney attempted to arrest five students at a demonstration on campus, leading to a confrontation with the demonstrators. The issue was subsequently settled within the University, and Public Safety supervisor Herson resigned.