Torch, 1972

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This item contains graphic images from the Vietnam War that may be unsettling or distressing to viewers. These images were intentionally provocative, intended as a political statement against the war.

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TORCH 27172

Central Council

BA. Academic Groups

BS. Academic Groups

Media Groups

Cultural Groups

Special Events Board

Religious Groups

Pan Hellenic Counc

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Joint Treaty of Peace
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SENIOR DIRECTORY

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Tegmrever ho yu rch for ee

Dear Editor:

The book was
(great, good, nice, O.K.).

| and furthermore...

TORCH °72
Campus Center

1400 Washington Avenue
Albany, N.Y. 12222

Dear Editor:

The book was Shit!!

and furthermore...

TORCH °72

Campus Center

1400 Washington Avenue
Albany, N.Y. 12222

Metadata

Containers:

Volume 64

Scope and content:

The 1972 Torch yearbook is a curated collection of photography and text capturing student life on campus, including discussions of sex and depictions of drug use. It documents or discusses protests to the state's response to the Attica uprising, environmentalism, poverty in Albany, feminism, gay and lesbian liberation.

Biographical / historical:

The 1972 Torch was edited by Ronald Simmons, a gay Black man whose deep involvement in LGBTQ+ activism began during his time as a student at UAlbany from 1968-1972. The Torch was independently produced but funded from the Student Association. When the book was released in April 1972 there was considerable opposition to the inclusion of provocatively graphic images of a deceased Vietnamese man among the senior portraits. The Student Association disavowed the book and froze the Torch budget. Student leaders called the book "a catastrophe" that offended people and exerted more control over the next editor who had to agree to certain guidelines before the yearbook budget was unfrozen.

After earning two graduate degrees at UAlbany in the 1970s, Ronald Simmons completed his doctorate at Howard University in 1987 and became a pivotal figure in Washington D.C.'s gay and lesbian activist community as it confronted HIV and AIDS. He became involved in several Black LGBT activist efforts and groundbreaking organizations such as the National Coalition of Black Gays and the DC Coalition of Black Lesbian and Gay Men. Following his own HIV diagnosis in 1990, Dr. Simmons became Executive Director of Us Helping Us, a pioneering Black gay men's health organization from 1992 to 2016.

Resource Type:

Bound Volume

Description:

This item contains graphic and potentially traumatic images from the Vietnam War.

Rights:

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Date Uploaded:

May 11, 2021

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