Tom Hayden
Born in Detroit in 1939, Tom Hayden attended the University of Michigan, where he was editor of the school's student newspaper, The Michigan Daily. Hayden was active in the Civil Rights Movement from the 1950's to the 1970's. He turned to politics in the 1970's running an unsuccessful challenge campaign against Democratic U.S. Senator John V. Tunney in 1976. Hayden was successfully elected to the California State Assembly in 1982, where he remained a member until he was elected to the State Senate in 1992. He retired from official politics in 1999, but remains a vocal spokesman for the American left, having since written three more books and serving as co-director for the No More Sweatshops! coalition.
Civil Rights Era
In 1959, Hayden helped to found the left-wing activist organization, Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), as well as draft the group's manifesto, known as the "Port-Huron Statement." SDS' first protest was in support of the 1960 Greensboro sit-in. Hayden himself took part in the Freedom Rides. In 1961, he married Casey Hayden, a civil rights activist from Texas who was a member of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). In 1964, Hayden moved to Newark, New Jersey, where he worked with local residents on the Newark Community Union Project. The race riots he witnessed during his stay in Newark formed the focus of Rebellion in Newark: Official Violence and Ghetto Response, the second of twelve books he has written to date. In 1968, Hayden took part in the massive protests surrounding the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Following the violence that ensued, Hayden was among the "Chicago 8" who were charged with conspiracy and inciting to riot. In 1971, Hayden permanently relocated to Los Angeles, California. A prominent opponent of the Vietnam War, Hayden made several visits to North Vietnam, including an especially controversial visit in 1972 with Jane Fonda, whom he would later marry.
Bibliography
Information for this biography was gathered from the following sources: