Scope and Contents

The Graphics Collection comprises of printed graphic material documenting the various aspects of culture and society in Vietnam before, during and after the conflict. The material covers military, political, diplomatic, social and cultural aspects in Vietnam, and to a lesser extent, Southeast Asia. Images of war range from the period of United States' involvement in the conflict to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam's involvement in Kampuchea (Cambodia, late 1970s). Other topics include: the POW/MIA situation, Science and Technology, the NLF (aka, Viet Cong), PAVN (North Vietnamese Army), ARVN (Army of the Republic of Vietnam - South Vietnam) and psyops/propaganda techniques.

The Graphics Collection consists of 26 linear foot of images. The boxes and folders are arranged by subject heading and then alphabetized. The graphics date from the 1950s to the 1990s with the bulk from the 1960s. The major categories for the subject headings are: Anti-War, Cambodia, Chronology, Country, DRV (includes the SRV), Military/Diplomacy, Miscellaneous, People, POW/MIA, Propaganda, Science and Technology, Society and Culture, SVN, Urban and USA. While there is duplication within the collection, much of it is divided among the major subject headings. This collection most closely compliments the Vietnam Archives' Photograph Collection, and the range of topics covered relates it to nearly every other collection housed in the Vietnam Archive.

Biographical / Historical

Dr. Pike was born in 1925. He served as a journalist in the Army during World War II (in the Pacific Theater of Operations) and during the Korean Conflict. He earned degrees from the University of California-Berkeley and American University. He served as an FSO in Taiwan, Korea, Lebanon, and Vietnam. In 1982 he began teaching at the University of California at Berkeley and in 1997 moved Texas Tech University. Dr. Pike housed and supported the Collection until 1982 when he moved it to Berkeley. It remained there until 1992 when Berkeley considered discontinuing its support for the Indo-China Studies Project. After being approached by Dr. Pike, Dr. James Reckner, Director of the Vietnam Center at Tech, and Dr. David Murrah, Assistant Director of Libraries for the Special Collections, worked together to bring the Collection to the Archive in 1994.