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Fred Milton Papers, 1969-2000

By CJ Garcia

Collection Overview

Title: Fred Milton Papers, 1969-2000

ID: MSS Milton

Primary Creator: Milton, Fred, 1948-2011

Extent: 6901.62 megabytes. More info below.

Arrangement: The collection is arranged by type of material and further arranged chronologically by date, when possible. This collection is arranged into three series: 1. Biographical Materials, 2016; 2. News Clippings, 1969-2000s; and 3. Scrapbooks and Photographs, 1960s-2000s.

Date Acquired: 00/00/2016

Languages of Materials: English [eng]

Abstract

The Fred Milton Papers cover a wide range of topics related to the life of Fred Milton. Fred Milton was an up-and-coming football star at Oregon State University (OSU) in the 1960s. He later left OSU and professional athletics, and led a long career in public service. Topics addressed in this collection include the "Beard Incident" at OSU, where he clashed with his football coach over facial hair rules, the 1969 Black Student Union Walkout, his athletic career, his public service career, and his family. The bulk of the material consists of newspaper clippings and scrapbooks.

The entire collection is digital and fully available for reference use upon patron request.

Scope and Content Notes

The Fred Milton papers cover a wide range of topics related to the life, career, and family of Fred Milton, including his involvement with the "Beard Incident" at Oregon State University and the subsequent 1969 Black Student Union Walkout, his successful and varied career in athletics, his career in public service and local government, and his relationship with his family. These materials include newspaper clippings, photographs, scrapbooks, and other paper materials documenting Fred Milton's life. The collection also includes notecards used by his wife, Loretta Milton, at a speech at the Black Student Union in 2016.

The entire collection has been digitized and is only available in electronic form. File types included in this collection are .pdf, .png, and .docx. Reference access is available upon patron request.

Biographical / Historical Notes

Fred Milton was born in Arkansas in 1948, the son of a sharecropper. Through his achievements in athletics, particularly football, he was able to attend Oregon State University (OSU) on a scholarship. In 1969, while Fred was attending OSU, the infamous "Beard Incident" took place, where Fred came into conflict with his football coach, Dee Andros, over a policy that required all football players to be clean-shaven. Viewing this as a racially charged violation of his human rights, Fred refused, risking his football scholarship and the opportunity to attend college. This inspired the Black Student Union (BSU) to organize a variety of protest actions in solidarity with Fred.

The BSU Walkout, while inspired by Fred Milton, was led primarily by student leaders from the BSU, and grew out of a larger pattern of disrespect faced by OSU's black students. Their actions culminated in a walkout of nearly all of OSU's black students on March 5th, 1969. Following these actions, the OSU president formed a human rights commission, which found that the facial hair rule was a human rights violation, and compelled OSU athletics to change the rule.

Fred Milton chose to leave OSU, and accepted a scholarship to attend Utah State University in 1969. This same year, he married his wife, Loretta Milton. Fred went on to play football for the Montreal Alouettes, but later quit playing football professionally, citing his dissatisfaction with the way football players were treated. He moved to Portland, Oregon, where he got a job as a police community liaison. This began a long career in public service and local government. After 15 years in local government, he founded the Portland Inner-City Sports Club in 1993. Fred Milton passed in 2011.

Additional biographical information about Fred Milton can be found in the Fred Milton Family Oral History Interview with his wife Loretta Milton, daughter Zalika Gardner, and grandson Isaiah Adams.



Author: CJ Garcia

Administrative Information

More Extent Information: 6901.62 MB, 319 files

Statement on Access: The collection is open for research. The entire collection is digital and fully available upon patron request or for use in the SCARC reading room.

Acquisition Note: These materials were donated by Loretta Milton. The collection was digitized and then returned to the donors.

Related Materials:

The Fred Milton Papers are part of the Oregon Multicultural Archives.

Related Special Collections and Archives Research Center's collections include the Underground Newspapers (PUB 013-3), Barometer Campus Newspaper (PUB 015-11b), Oregon Multicultural Communities Research Collection (MSS OMCRC), Lonnie B. Harris Black Cultural Center Records (RG 244), Intercollegiate Athletics Moving Images (FV 031), Intercollegiate Athletics Photographic Collection (P 031), Tom Gabel Collection of Oregon State Athletics Photographs (P 336), and the Intercollegiate Athletics Records (RG 007).

Additional biographical information about Fred Milton can be found in the Fred Milton Family Oral History Interview with his wife Loretta Milton, daughter Zalika Gardner, and grandson Isaiah Adams.

Preferred Citation: Fred Milton Papers (MSS Milton), Oregon State University Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Corvallis, Oregon

Creators

Milton, Fred, 1948-2011
Milton, Loretta, 1948-

People, Places, and Topics

African American athletes
African American college students--Oregon--Corvallis.
Black Student Union (Oregon State University)
Families
Minority college students--Oregon--Corvallis.
Oregon--Politics and government
Oregon Multicultural Archives
Student movements

Forms of Material

Digital images.
Digital photographs.
Newspapers.
Photograph albums.
Scrapbooks.


Box and Folder Listing