In 1969, student activism was at a high pitch, fueled by the Free Speech Movement, the rise of the Black Panthers, Native Americans’ occupation of Alcatraz Island, People’s Park protests and the Vietnam War. The intense bombing of Cambodia by U.S. Special Forces that began in March further spurred demonstrations against the war. 

A handful of students from various parts of the College of Environmental Design, myself included, turned the fabric silk-screening studio into an anti-war poster-printing factory. We often worked all night designing and printing posters that announced the following days’ sit-ins and marches, using box-loads of perforated trial papers tossed out by the computer science labs. At daybreak, volunteers on bicycles picked up stacks of posters to distribute throughout the campus and town. Some posters later showed up in various exhibitions, here and abroad. I once saw several of our poster stacks in a museum exhibition while visiting Amsterdam.

Down the hall from the printing operation, students had taken over two adjoining classrooms on the ground floor for meetings and faculty teach-ins. I provided a large hanging hammock-like sculpture and a 100-cup coffee pot. Another person brought large boxes of donuts. Soon, we added sandwiches. I made hundreds of egg salad sandwiches and someone else made tuna on whole wheat bread. Donations were put into a small green cash box welded on tall legs that stood near the entrance table. It was hugely successful, nourishing not only the organizers, but also delivery crews, protesters, marchers, designers and, possibly, even some faculty and staff.

When the campus administration heard about our improvised cafe, they were understandably afraid we’d poison ourselves and demanded we “cease and desist.” Armed with our newly acquired freedoms, I smile, remembering how ludicrous we thought such an ultimatum was. After days of conversation and discussions with the campus administration, we forged an agreement resulting in food service at Wurster Hall. Our demands included wholesome edibles like fruits, vegetables, wholewheat bread, and yogurt that were not readily available anywhere on campus at that time.

We christened our “pop up” Ramona’s, although I don’t remember why. Eventually, the late restaurateur Charles Phan, a 1980s alumnus of the College of Environmental Studies, reopened the cafe as rice and bones, which is now defunct. 

Note: Posters shown courtesy of the BAMPFA archives are thought to be among those produced by students in Wurster Hall.