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AADL Talks To: Jan BenDor and Catherine McClary, Women's Rights Activists

Jan BenDor and Catherine McClary
Catherine McClary (left) and Jan BenDor, June 2024

Women’s rights activists Jan BenDor and Catherine McClary have been working together for over 50 years. Among their many pioneering contributions to regional and national causes are the Women’s Crisis Center, domestic violence reform, and legislation to combat job, housing, and sexual discrimination. Jan, a member of the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame, is the founder of the Rape Crisis Center movement in Michigan and has pioneered programs for law enforcement training in the treatment of domestic violence and sexual assault. Catherine, retiring Washtenaw County Treasurer, was the youngest person elected to the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners and has been recognized nationally for her work fighting home foreclosures and championing the rights of women and people of color. Jan and Catherine talk about their pioneering roles in the rape awareness movement, including their writing and distribution of the influential “Freedom From Rape” publication and their involvement in the passage of Michigan’s landmark 1974 Criminal Sexual Conduct Act, which would become a national model. They also talk about their work to establish the first publicly funded domestic violence shelter in the country and offer their perspective on the continuing challenges women face in the wake of the 2022 Dobbs decision.

Ann Arbor 200
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AADL Talks To: Rick Ayers, Former U-M Student Activist and Member of the SDS and Weather Underground

Rick Ayers
Rick Ayers

In this episode, AADL Talks To Rick Ayers. Rick is faculty emeritus at the University of San Francisco where he was an associate professor of education focusing on English language arts and teacher education. In the late 1960s, Rick followed his older brothers to the University of Michigan and was soon radicalized by the civil rights and anti-war movements, participating in protests and demonstrations with the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and the Weather Underground. Rick traces his fascinating journey as a draft dodger working with deserters in Canada through his decision to enlist in the U.S. Army where he would eventually go AWOL and live as a fugitive for seven years. Rick also shares his memories of the vibrant campus film culture and the people -- including girlfriend Gilda Radner -- who shaped his student experience at the university, and he reflects on the legacy of the 1960s protests in light of today’s political environment.

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AADL Talks To: Bill Ayers, Former U-M Student Activist and Member of the SDS and Weather Underground

Bill Ayers
Bill Ayers, director of the Children's Community School in Ann Arbor, May 1968

Bill Ayers is a retired Distinguished Professor of Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago. During his time in Ann Arbor during the 1960s, he served as director of Ann Arbor's experimental Children's Community School; Education Secretary for the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS); and co-founder of the militant Weather Underground organization, which originated in Ann Arbor in 1969 as a far left-wing revolutionary party. 

Ayers traces the path of his political awakening from wide-eyed college freshman to seasoned student organizer and educator. He reflects on the tumultuous moral dilemma he and many activists faced as the Vietnam War raged on in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He discusses the factionalism within the SDS leadership that resulted in the formation of the Weather Underground; how the strands of student activism during this turbulent time were rooted in the moral agenda outlined by Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.; and his lifelong pedagogic commitment to education.

Bill Ayers, 1993
Bill Ayers at a Borders book signing, 1993

Civil Rights: Looking backward to move forward

Civil Rights: Looking backward to move forward image
Parent Issue
Day
13
Month
February
Year
1983
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Carmichael Talks At 'U' On Monday

Carmichael Talks At 'U' On Monday image
Parent Issue
Day
23
Month
August
Year
1968
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'Black Power' activist dies

'Black Power' activist dies image
Parent Issue
Day
16
Month
November
Year
1998
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Copyright Protected