The San Fernando Valley campus of Los Angeles State College opened to students in 1956 on land that once produced citrus, avocado, and walnuts. Just two years later, in the Fall 1958, that campus became San Fernando Valley State College (SFVSC). With the creation of the CSU system in 1972 SFVSC became California State University, Northridge (CSUN). The campus gained a national reputation for being one of the centers of campus activism during the mid-1960s and the early 1970s, and the documentation supports the University's struggles against such national issues as the Vietnam War, racism, and social and educational inequality.

Racial tensions erupted with the take‑over of the Administration Building on November 4, 1968. Charges of racism were leveled against a white football coach, Don Markham, and the Black Student Union called for his dismissal. Several black students and white faculty members walked to the Administration Building to take up their grievances with acting President Dr. Paul Blomgren. In subsequent action, the students took over the fifth floor of the Administration Building in an attempt to have their demands met.

In the Fall of 1969, Dr. James Cleary, who had past experience at the University of Wisconsin in dealing with student unrest, was inaugurated as the new President of SFVSC. He . He remained President at SFVSC/CSUN for twenty-three years, retiring in 1992.