The Peoples’ Park

Person laying next to a tent in the Peoples’ Park in 1970 (photo from the 1971 Wolverine yearbook)

In the spring of 1970 people began setting up tents in the space between Wells Hall, the International Center, and Erickson Hall.  Often referred to as the Peoples’ Park, it was home to approximately 200 people at its peak.  Its occupants stayed in tents or slept in the open air.  The park, named “Free,” was started to explore alternative ways of living, other than what was prescribed by Michigan State University and society.

People hanging out at the Peoples’ Park in 1970 (photo from the 1971 Wolverine yearbook)

 

The people pooled funds to buy food that they cooked on campfires. In the evenings, they entertained themselves with games, music, and political discussions concerning a variety of topics of the time – freedom, students’ rights and the  war in Vietnam.  MSU and the police were surprisingly tolerant of the park, but after about a month, a lack of sanitary conditions, and growing administrative displeasure with the park, forced its peaceful closure in late spring 1970.

Three people standing by a tent in Peoples’ Park in 1970 (image taken by a State News photographer)

 

Man assembles a shelter at the Peoples’ Park in 1970 (photo taken by a State News photographer)

 

Craft making at the Peoples’ Park in 1970 (photo taken by a State News photographer)

 

A large group gathering at the Peoples’ Park in 1970 (photo taken by a State News photographer)

 

The number of tents in the Peoples’ Park declined in late spring 1970 (photo taken by a State News photographer)

 

Originally written by Whitney Miller for the exhibit ““The Times They Are a-Changin’: MSU in 1969-1970,” curated by Megan Badgley-Malone, Susan O’Brien, and Jennie Russell.