Tom Hayden (U of M Student Activist/SDS Leader)

Tom Hayden was an undergraduate student at the University of Michigan from 1957 until 1961 and then a graduate student from 1963 until 1964. He was a writer and editor-in-chief of the Michigan Daily as well as a founder and president of Students for a Democratic Society. Tom Hayden was the writer of the first draft of the Port Huron Statement as well as a participant in the discussions that constructed the final draft of the Statement in June 1962. Hayden was a Freedom Rider during the Civil Rights Movement and a community organizer in the inner city of Newark, New Jersey through the SDS program, ERAP. He was a continual activist against the Vietnam War through teach-ins, sit-ins, marches, and a long list of other forms of protest. Hayden helped with the release of three American POWs in Hanoi and was one of the leaders of the 1968 Democratic National Convention protests in Chicago. He was later a member of the Chicago 8 Trial for his activities during the protests in Chicago. Since the anti-Vietnam War Movement, Tom Hayden has been a California Assemblyman and Senator, activist, teacher, and writer. 

Interview of Tom Hayden by Obadiah Brown, Chris Haughey and Kevin Trierweiler on March 29th, 2015 in Ann Arbor, Michigan.