Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES) Bay Area Chapter Collection

The Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES) Bay Area Chapter Collection (1977-2014; undated) contains 41 boxes and 25.68 of material regarding CISPES’ work on a local and national level to support social and economic justice for Salvadoran people through grassroots organizing, education, and rallies; as well as material regarding El Savador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Mexico, and other Latin American countries and events and relevant topics from the 1980s-early 1990s, with a majority of the material in this collection centering around the Salvadoran Civil War (1979-1992). Series I: CISPES National contains policies; press releases; budget and financial reports; annual and year in review reports; program proposals; material related to CISPES national training, and CISPES national conventions; National Administrative Committee (NAC) and Regional Administrative Committee (RAC) documents; flyers, pamphlets, and leaflets; documents regarding CISPES campaigns such as their efforts to stop ILEA (International Law Enforcement Academy) and CAFTA (Central American Free Trade Agreement); and CISPES sponsored delegations to El Salvador. Also included in this series are CISPES publications and other documents generated by CISPES such as Rapid Response Alerts, Urgent Actions, News Updates, Human Rights Reports, Protest Reports, and Action Alerts that provided up-to-date information regarding current events happening in El Salvador in the 1980s-1990s. Lastly, this series contains articles, reports, testimonies, court documents, declassified documents, and other material related to FBI CISPES investigations including allegations of harassment and political spying. Series II: CISPES Bay Area and Northwest Region contains meeting minutes, notes, reports, budgets, lease agreements, project proposals, flyers and other material regarding CISPES Bay Area and Northwest Region chapters. A majority of the material in this series contains contact lists, mailers, flyers, training material, and other documents related to CISPES pledge and donation drives and fundraiser events such as: “Walk Against the War”, “Steps to Freedom” Walk-a-Thon, Work-a-Day, and Swim-A-Thon; as well as documents related to education and study groups; training and recruitment; retreats; and summer camps. Series III: El Salvador contains pamphlets, newsletters, papers, memorandums, fact sheets, articles, and other material regarding El Salvador including FMLN/FDR documents; and documents generated by organizations based in El Salvador as well as United States based advocacy groups. Topics covered in this series include elections, U.S. military aid, sanctuaries, human rights violations, death squads, refugees, health, Salvadoran Civil War, and other related topics. Series IV: Latin America contains newsletters, pamphlets, reports, articles, publications and other documents generated by or about Latin American organizations and advocacy groups; and Latin American countries other than El Salvador. Series V: Subject File (general) contains articles, reports, memorandums, pamphlets, and educational resources regarding topics and organizations not about El Salvador or Latin America. Subjects include: racism and anti-racism; North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA); the World Bank; the peace movement; immigration rights; and labor. Series VI: Photographs and Negatives contains images of Bay Area, Seattle, and National CISPES demonstrations, marches, and members; photographs of members of UNTS and ANDES; and photographs and photocopies from publications of refugees, guerillas, El Salvador military, demonstrations in El Salvador, and El Salvador citizens.