'U' acquires Kaczynski letters

Letters of correspondence admirers and others had sent to Unabomber Theodore Kaczynski while in prison now belong to the University and will soon be added to a collection of other anarchist materials in the Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library.

University spokesperson Joanne Nesbit said the collection of letters addressed to and from Kaczynski is being processed by staff in the University's Special Collections Library. The letters date from April 1996 to 1999 and when stacked together measure "four of five linear feet."

"It was known this was going to be a controversial issue," University President Lee Bollinger said last night from his residence in Vermont, adding that he became aware of the acquisition about six months ago.

University spokesperson Julie Peterson said the material arrived at Special Collections several weeks ago.

Kaczynski was linked to 16 bomb attacks that occurred between 1978 and 1995, injuring 29 and killing three people.

He plead guilty to 13 federal charges in January 1998 and was sentenced to four life sentences in prison in May 1998.

Kaczynski's materials are being added to the Labadie Collection area of Special Collections - one of the world's most extensive collections of works of anarchism and social protest.

The letters and other correspondence are currently unavailable for public viewing but will be available once the collection has been processed by library staff. Processing the documents could take at least a year, Nesbit said.

Original documents will not be made available to the public. But photocopies of the letters with the names of correspondents blacked out to protect their identities will be available.

Nesbit said the collection is primarily composed of correspondence sent to Kaczynski, but included in the donation are carbon copies of materials Kaczynski wrote.

Material admitted as evidence in Kaczynski's trail case will not be available until "he has exhausted his appeals options," Nesbit said.

She explained the University plans to request the remaining portion of Kaczynski's materials.

Judy Clarke, one of Kaczynski's defense attorneys, said yesterday from her office in Spokane, Wash., that she is not at liberty to discuss the acquisition.

Bollinger said the acquisition of the materials is important to research despite the fact it may attract criticism.

"The main question is whether this material is relevant to scholarly research and the answer is clearly yes," Bollinger said.

He said even though some works are controversial, studying them is important.

"People study deviant anti-social behavior and it is important for us as a society to study works of evil," Bollinger said.

Referring to the book written by Adolf Hitler, he said "nobody would ever think of banning 'Mein Kampf' from the library because it gives us insight into some of the most evil acts of the century."

Kaczynski earned his a master's degree in mathematics from the University in 1964 and his doctorate in mathematics in 1967. He was a resident in East Quad Residence Hall during the academic years of 1962-63 and 1963-64.

He published an 80-page mathematics dissertation in January 1968, titled "Boundary Functions."

University officials said they wanted to be clear that the University is not intent on capitalizing on the notoriety of Kaczynski.

Bollinger said it is quite appropriate the University requested the materials since "it is obvious we have one of the best collections of anarchist work."

Although she would not comment on the Kaczynski materials, Peggy Daub, head of special collections said the Labadie Collection is renowned for its size and variety.

"We are one of the premiere collections of social protest literature," Daub said.

The collection contains about 35,000 books and 8,000 periodicals and subscribes to about 700 serials from both the extreme left and extreme right.

The collection, housed on the seventh floor of the graduate library contains varied works relating to archaism including civil liberties, socialism, communism, colonialism, American labor, sexual freedom, the underground press, student protest and gay liberation.

The collection was established in 1911 when Detroit anarchist Joseph Labadie donated his extensive library to the University.

With the release of the news of the holdings, Peterson said the Department of Public Safety is on alert.

"We are very aware of the security concerns surrounding the publicity," Peterson said. "DPS has been apprised of the situation and they will address this when necessary,"

Kaczynski was a faculty member at the University of California at Berkeley between July 1967 and 1969, until he resigned from the university.

Theresa Salazar, curator of the Western Americana collection at the Bancroft Library at the University of California at Berkeley said the letters were not offered to Berkeley, nor did Berkeley officials pursue them.

Although representatives from the Graduate Library said they wouldn't confirm how the library obtained the letters, Salazar speculated that it is likely a curator of the collection knew someone tied to Kaczynski.

10-15-99