Student Activism in the 1930s
Home  |  Historical Essay  |  Documents  |  Credits

ASU Autobiographies

American Student Union Summer Training Institute Autobiographies
Melba Gould
1. Mine has been a slow and steady sort of existence. Born the third child in a family of six on October 6, 1916 in Toronto, Canada, I was fortunate in that I've never had much parental guidance and for the most part was left free to develop by myself.

2. Was educated in New York to where the family moved when I was seven years old. Primary and high school years went quickly, during which time I read and studied but also went in for every type of sports activity. I've always liked the idea of Mens Sans in Corpore Sana.

3. At the end of my first year at Brooklyn College I was compelled to go to work and so shifted to Brooklyn Evening College. Went though a period of adjustment at this time because I was discontent with leaving school at this time. I had looked forward with a great deal of expectation to taking such courses as philosophy and psychology and just when I was about to take them, I had to go to work. However time and necessity didn't permit me to stay in this frame of mind. My work (legal stenographer) was very interesting and the broader perspective I was acquiring thru contract with the business world compensated for the loss. Of course I continued to attend evening school where I proceeded to take a liberal arts course majoring in the social science field.

4. There was an active student body in Brooklyn Evening at this time in the from of the NSL and SLID but I was one of those who could see no sense to their being divided. Thus when the ASU was formed I had no alternative but to join. This I did and became an active member at once. After several months I was elected President of the ASU...and Vice-President of Student Council. At the beginning of the next term I found myself suddenly in the position of President of Student Council because of the resignation of the President. My work in the responsible positions of president of both the ASU and Council brought me into close contact with the most active members in both organizations whom I soon found to be members of the YCL. The respect I had for these people and the knowledge that I would secure the type of guidance and aid from such an organization led to my joining the YCL in February, 1937.

5. Have since held the position of membership director and peace director in City College to which I had transferred in the Fall of 1937. Have kept in contact with the City Office via the College Council meetings but for the most part have felt that my place was in the local chapter, and so have devoted all my time to building the ASU at City College.

6. This past term our activity has been mainly on the peace front which I believe is fundamentally correct. However the executive committee did not realize its responsibility toward carrying on similar activity on local issues. Our people were elected to student council but were left pretty much alone to struggle with this problem. For the most part the past term has been one of our people getting to know how Student Council operates since this is the first time in City College 23 Evening that a progressive slate had been elected. Next term we plan to start our Fall activity going concentrating on one or two issues which we consider most vital to the student body at the present time but in no way intend to decrease our peace activity.

Home  |  Historical Essay  |  Documents  |  Credits