1960s



Year/Mo.	Visitor	Event Description

1960 May	Eleanor Roosevelt former first lady, international author, speaker, politician, and civil rights activist	Speech: "Is America Facing World Leadership," this was the first event in the new R.A. Karges Health and Physical Education and Recreation Center [co-sponsored by Wisconsin State College at River Falls (WSC-River Falls) and the River Falls chapter of the American Association of University Women]
1960 May	John A. Ciardi poet, translator, etymologist, poetry editor of the Saturday Review; his translation of Dante's Divine Comedy was widely used at universities	1960 Fine Arts Festival
1960 September	James Laue 1959 graduate of WSU-RF and, in 1960, a graduate student at Harvard, where he received his PhD; Laue went on to help establish the field of conflict resolution as a distinct academic discipline	Lecture: "Race Relations and Prejudice," Laue addressed an all-school convocation on southern race relations and prejudice, discrimination, and racial sit-ins; during his graduate studies, Laue became involved in the Civil Rights movement
1960 September 22	Robert J. Samp, M.D. Medical and Scientific Director, Wisconsin Division, American Cancer Society; well-known medical educator and lecturer	Lecture: "Cancer Research"
1960 October	Woody Herman Orchestra	Concert: celebration of the new Karges Center at WSC-River Falls
1961 May	Margaret Bourke-White photographer	Lecture
1961 May	Basil Rathbone British actor	1961 Fine Arts Festival: lecture and recital
1962	Indira Gandhi President of Indian National Congress Party (1959, 1978-84), Prime Minister of India (1966-77 and 1980-84)	Speech
1963 February 6-7	Wisconsin Congressman Vernon Thomson; Lauren Soth, author of Farm Trouble; Percy Hardiman, president of the Wisconsin Farm Bureau; Gilbert Rohde, president of the Wisconsin Farmers Union; and State Senate Agriculture Committee members Carl Thompson and Walter Hollander	6th Annual Grassroots Political Conference: featured Wisconsin Congressman Vernon Thomson's speech "Politics and the Farm Dilemma" Thomson
1963 fall or 1964 spring	Peter Nero pianist	Concert
1963 fall or 1964 spring	Chad Mitchell Trio popular singing group	Concert: the Trio performed in Karges Center to a capacity crowd
1964 February 5-6	Wisconsin Governor John W. Reynolds, former Lieutenant Governor Warren P. Knowles, State Democratic Party Chairman J. Louis Hanson, State Assemblyman Thomas H. Barland, Wisconsin NAACP President Lloyd A. Barbee, Governor's Commission on Human Rights Director C. Aubrey Young, and Bertram N. McNamara of the United Steel Workers of America Knowles	Conference: 7th Annual Grassroots Political Conference, held on campus; its theme was "Civil Rights in Wisconsin" [sponsored by Wisconsin Center for Education in Politics and River Falls Department of Social Sciences]
1965 February	Han Suyen writer and medical doctor	"Love is a Many-Splendored Thing," Dr. Suyen spoke about her widely-read novel ("A Many Splendored Thing"), and the movie that was made from it and its theme song
1965 March	James Bevel field secretary of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference	Lecture: "Next Steps for the Civil Rights Movement"
1965 March	Harlow Shapley astronomer	Lecture: Dr. Shapley spoke on "Religion in the Age of Science"
1965 April	Minnesota Congressman Donald M. Fraser, University of Minnesota political science professor Mulford Q. Sibley, and WSU-River Falls sophomore Sosthenes Nunyakpe from Togo, West Africa	World Affairs Forum: panel discussion of U.S. policy in Asia, specifically Vietnam
1965 May	Helen Gahagen Douglas former California Congresswoman, and wife of actor Melvyn Douglas	Lecture: "The Alliance of Progress," held in North Hall auditorium
1965 May	L. Frank Brown professor of geology at Baylor University	Lecture: Dr. Brown spoke on "The Growing Importance of Earth Science in Urban Development"
1966 February 7	Takako Nishizaki Japanese violinist; first student to complete the Suzuki Method course, at age nine; In i1964, she had been a runner-up in the Leventritt Competition, in which Itzhak Perlman won first prize	Concert: in North Hall Auditorium as part of the WSU-RF Fine Arts Festival; she also spoke to interested students about the Suzuki Method
1966 January 26	Dr. Karl Shapiro poet, Pulitzer Prize winner (1945 for "V-Letter and Other Poems"), professor of English at the University of Nebraska	Convocation speaker: "To Have Been a Poet" in the Karges Center; he also spoke to a poetry class and with interested English majors.
1966 February 11	Ralph Rapson architect for the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis and head of the School of Architecture at the University of Minnesota	Lecture: for the WSU-RF Fine Arts Festival; in "The Dilemma of Architecture" (school convocation) and "The Guthrie Theatre, Case History of Two Men" (for the general public, in North Hall) Rapson described many of the problems he faced in designing the Guthrie Theatre and working with Tyrone Guthrie
1966 February 9	Jack Kittredge field organizer for the SDS (Students for a Democratic Society) and for the National Student Christian Federation	Speaker: "Academic Freedom" in North Hall for the Peace Forum; Kittredge was in River Falls for two days and also helped organize a SDS chapter
1966 February 16	Back Porch Majority singing group	Concert: Valentine's Dance
1966 April 28	Chow Shu K'ai Ambassador to the United States from the Republic of China	Speaker: "Communist China and Asia" for the World Affairs Forum, in Karges Center [sponsored by the History Department]
1966 April 29	Betty Furness actress, and starting in the 1960s a consumer advocate and current affairs commentator; she had a daily CBS radio program, "Ask Betty Furness," and in 1967 became President Johnson's Special Assistant for Consumer Affairs	Speaker: for the annual Parents' Day program, in the Student Center Ballroom [sponsored by the Associated Women Students]
1966 May 29	Carl T. Rowan U.S. delegate to the United Nations during the Cuban Missile Crisis (1962), U.S. Ambassador to Finland (1963), director of the United States Information Agency (U.S.I.A.); in serving as director of the U.S.I.A., Rowan became the first African American to hold a seat on the National Security Council	Commencement Address: ceremony held in Karges Center
1966 October	Carl J. Hansen director of International Center at the University of Minnesota	Lecture: "The UN Comes of Age," held in North Hall auditorium
1966 November	Walter Allen British novelist and critic	Lecture: "Fat Englishmen and Quiet Americans," held in North Hall Auditorium
1966 November	Vincent Persichetti composer, director, pianist, and important musical educator and writer; received the Juilliard Publication Award	Concert: event was held in North Hall auditorium [sponsored by Concerts and Lectures]
1966 November	Glen Yarbrough renowned folk singer and former lead singer of The Limeliters (1959-1963)	Performance: held in North Hall auditorium [sponsored by Concerts and Lectures]
1967 January	James Dickey poet and novelist; appointed the 18th Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1966	Lecture: Time Magazine said of Dickey, "A poet, a sensitive yet vibrant force, a violent strain of notoriety, a loving personality;" His lecture was held in North Hall auditorium [sponsored by Concerts and Lectures]
1967 March	George Lincoln Rockwell American Nazi Party leader	Speech, Debate: Morning and afternoon [sponsored by Concerts and Lectures]
1967 September	Four Freshman vocal quartet with band	Concert/Dance: Freshman Initiation Dance
1967 October	Larry Seigle founder of the Young Socialist Alliance in the Twin Cities	Speech: "Socialism of Today," Seigle was a member of the Nationalist Committee, lecture held in North Hall auditorium
1967 November	The Sandpipers folk rock vocal group	Concert: appeared on stage in Karges Center Ballroom
1968 January	Fred Halstead Socialist Workers Party candidate for President	Forum: Presidential candidate spoke at length about Vietnam War and capitalism
1968 January	Alfons and Aloys Kontarsky piano duo; associated with a number of important world premieres of contemporary works	Concert: world famous pianist brothers appeared in concert, they were well-known in Europe [sponsored by Concert and Lecture Series]
1968 January 30	The First Edition also known as Kenny Rogers and The First Edition, an eclectic pop music band, whose styles ranged from rock-n-roll to R&B, folk, and country; members at this time were Kenny Rogers (lead vocals and bass guitar), Mickey Jones (drums and percussion), Terry Williams (guitar and vocals), Mike Settle (guitar and backing vocals), and the operatically-trained Thelma Camacho (lead vocals)	Concert: as part of the Winter Carnival activities
1968 February	Gaylord Nelson US Senator from Wisconsin, conservationist	Lecture: Senator Nelson spoke at length about the environment, pollution, and the Vietnam War to students in the Student Center
1968 February 13	Andy Warhol creator of pop art and underground movie maker	Movie Screening and Speaker: Either Warhol or his counterfeit appeared, and screened an abridged version of Warhol's movie "****"
1968 March 12	Dick Gregory comedian and civil rights activist	11th Annual Grassroots Political Conference: Conference speakers discussed the theme "The Causes of Our Discontents," addressing such issues as Vietnam, student unrest, racism, poverty, and drugs Gregory's speech highlighted the Conference; the Presidential candidate spoke about "moral pollution" and the "totally insane nation" that American had become, advocated that all students should get a copy of the Declaration of Independence Other speakers for the Conference were Billie S. Farnum, deputy chairman of the Democratic National Committee; Republican Assemblyman Jack Steinhilber and Democratic Assemblyman Fred Kessler; and Republican Congressman Fred Schwengel from Iowa [the Grassroots Political Conference was sponsored by the Political Science Department and Student Senate; Gregory was sponsored by the Concerts and Lectures Committee and spoke in Karges Center]
1968 March	Paul Boutelle Socialist Workers Party Vice Presidential candidate	Free Spirit Forum: Boutelle urged a Black Power violent revolution in the United States to end the war in Vietnam and racism
1968 March 27	Paul Newman actor, director, producer, philanthropist, and activist Photo by Dean Madson	Speech: Newman came to River Falls to speak at a downtown rally in support of political candidate Eugene McCarthy
1968 April	Gerald Moore accompanist	Performance: Moore played in the North Hall auditorium [sponsored by Concerts and Lectures]
1968 April 25	Dr. Timothy Leary American psychologist and writer, and former Harvard professor; known for his advocacy of psychedelic drugs	Speech: Dr. Leary spoke about "My Trip Through LSD and Beyond" [sponsored by Concerts and Lectures]
1968 May	Dr. Thomas F. Pettigrew professor of social psychology at Harvard University	Lecture: Dr. Pettigrew spoke on "What Direction Now for Race Relations?," held in the North Hall auditorium [sponsored by Concerts and Lectures]
1968 September	Michael's Mystics a musical band from Saint Paul (MN), they were also known as The Mystics; they had performed with Aretha Franklin and several other groups	Concert: The band appeared for the scholarship dance held in the North Hall auditorium [sponsored by the Music Educators National Conference]
1968 September	Alfonso Montecino pianist, composer, and music teacher	Concert, Recital [sponsored by the Music Department]
1968 October	Roger Wagner Chorale recognized the world over through its numerous radio, concert, and television appearances, motion picture soundtracks, and recordings	Performance: The group performed in the North Hall auditorium; it was one of the largest cultural productions ever attempted at the time at WSU-River Falls; Dr. Richard Swenson was instrumental in getting the chorale here
1968 December 17	Julian Bond social activist, founding member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), leader in the American civil rights movement, professor, writer, and politician At the 1968 Democratic National Convention, Bond had became the first African American to be proposed as a major-party candidate for Vice President of the United States	Speech: Bond spoke in the North Hall auditorium during a three day event
1969 February	Douglas Watson actor, appeared in more Broadway plays over the previous 20 years than any other actor	Performance: Watson performed in Sir Thomas Moore's play "A Man for All Seasons" in the North Hall auditorium [sponsored by Concerts and Lectures]"
1969 March	Dr. Benjamin Spock medical doctor and anti-war activist	Lecture: Dr. Spock spoke about "What's In Store For America?" in North Hall auditorium [sponsored by Concerts and Lectures]
1969 May	Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi internationally known cellist	Performance: performed in the North Hall auditorium [sponsored by Concerts and Lectures]
1969 September 25	Manuel Salas Wisconsin coordinator for the United Farm Workers grape boycott	Free Spirit Forum: Salas emphasized the peaceful intentions of the migrant grape workers; he stated, "I don't think it's asking too much for all of us to pay a little more for our food so that the workers can get decent pay" [student Christina Diaz, involved with the grape boycott, asked the Legislative Action Committee for help to bring Salas to campus for a Free Spirit Forum]