A Martha’s Vineyard Vietnam summer project officially began on Friday, July 14, when a small group met at the home of Mrs. Philip Rahv in Vineyard Haven to discuss ways and means for making such a project effective on the Island.

 

Those present were: Mrs. Paul Macy, Dr. Allen M. Butler, Mrs. Robert W. Nevin, Mrs. Roger Fisher, Mrs. Philip Rahv, and Mrs. Stanley Sheldon.

 

It was decided to work with the Turn Towards Peace group which Mrs. Macy has been heading here for several years. The three main objectives discussed were the distribution of informative literature on Vietnam, the collection of signatures from those opposing or questioning the present conduct of the war, and the organization of a large, public meeting in August.

 

 

The Vietnam Summer project on the Vineyard is explained in a statement by the group which formed the project last week, working with the Turn Towards Peace movement of which Mrs. Paul G. Macy of Vineyard Haven has been chairman for several years.

 

The statement:

 

“Now that a Vietnam Summer project has been started on Martha’s Vineyard, many people are asking about it. What is it and what does it hope to do? Growing out of a community project begun in Cambridge this spring, Vietnam Summer has hundreds of projects operating throughout the country.

 

“Its goal is to reach the widespread citizen opposition to the war in Vietnam and to find effective political channels for this opposition. Many Americans are deeply troubled by the war. They watch with dismay the steady rise in our commitments and casualties in Vietnam and our growing incapacity to solve problems at home. Vietnam Summer hopes to give these people a chance to be heard and to express their concerns to their government.

 

“Each project operated locally and must choose its own forms of effective action. We on Martha’s Vineyard have decided to work with an already existing organization, Turn Towards Peace; to distribute information and foster discussion of the war; and to collect signatures from those who oppose our present policies in Vietnam.

 

“Other forms of action may be taken as the summer progresses and more people show their interest in taking part. We hope to have a booth soon at which materials and petitions can be obtained meanwhile those who would like to support us can write to us or call Mrs. Robert W. Nevin.”

 

The initial steps were taken by Mrs. Macy, Dr. Allen M. Butler, Mrs. Nevin, Mrs. Philip Rahv, Mrs. Roger Fisher, and Mrs. Stanley Sheldon.

 

 

 

In reporting the aims and activities of the project known as Vietnam Summer, the Gazette is giving attention to affairs on Martha’s Vineyard and is not entering the debate as to administration policies in Vietnam. This is in observance of a policy of many years, based primarily on the fact that national and international matters are reported and discussed fully in daily newspapers, news magazines and other journals, and on radio and television programs. There is no one on the Vineyard who has the slightest excuse for not being fully informed both as to events and the views of advocates on both sides.

 

Nevertheless, we will give space to a reading list of titles or references, citing not more than twenty sources, to opponents and proponents alike, if either side wishes to promote a wider examination of the issues.

 

Not long ago the Gazette reported that a meeting was to be held in Vineyard Haven to rally support for Israel in the war suffering and tribulation then expected. Someone suggested that we might look for a “spokesman” for the Arab cause. But this seemed to us irrelevant, since the Gazette was concerned not with advocacy but with reporting, and reporting in terms of immediate Vineyard concerns.

 

A note of ordinary humanity might be added to the Vietnam case: in a muggy summer of pressures and the normal problems of publication we will not ask the Gazette staff to work extra hours to duplicate what every mature person with the slightest awareness of the obligations of citizenship ought to be reading or hearing elsewhere.