Shawyer dissertation May 2008 final version - The University of ...

The letters in the Johnson Library archive come in all shapes and sizes. They arehand written on notepaper, typed on business letterhead, and printed on lined foolscap.Some handwriting is scrawled to the point of illegibility. Other letters are faded by age.The telegrams are typed on the thinnest onion-skin paper, colored blue or pink. Theycome from all kinds of Americans: professionals, housewives, students, those serving inthe military, even school children. The writers include a mother, Mrs. J. B. Haught ofMiami, sixteen-year-old Roger Light of New Jersey, physician William McAllister ofBaltimore, Korean War veteran Bruce P. Lake of Boston, and Reverend William H.Liljegren of Phoenix. While the White House post office continually receivedcorrespondence from Americans, the notes referencing Chicago increase in quantityduring Convention week, with a huge influx between Wednesday 28 August and Friday30 August, 1968. It is clear that the violence of the Battle of Michigan Avenue surprisedthe nation, and impelled many citizens to voice their opinion to their Commander-in-Chief.The first responses to the Battle were telegrams sent on Wednesday night, soonafter their authors saw the violence on television. Many mention watching the televisionnews that night, like Mr. and Mrs. Nye of Cranford, New York, whose telegram urgesJohnson to “do something to stop police brutality in Chicago. See it yourself on tv toconfirm [sic]” (HU4, WHCF, Box 65). 73 A shocked Mrs. J. B. Haught of Miami, Florida,can’t believe what she is seeing on television: “my children and America are watching”her telegram reads, warning Johnson that evidence of the violence cannot be contained73 Unless otherwise noted, all letters and telegrams are found in files HU4, WHCF, at the LBJ Library. Boxnumber varies.191