Stephen Bingham Oral History

Stephen Bingham had a remarkable 1960s experience. After graduating from Yale University and becoming active with SNCC during the 1964 Freedom Summer voter registration project, Bingham and his wife, Gretchen Spreckels, joined the Peace Corps and spent two years in West Africa. Upon their return in 1967, Bingham marched with activist Cesar Chavez and worked on Robert Kennedy's 1968 presidential campaign. Then, in the early 1970s, Bingham fled the country and lived in Europe for thirteen years after being accused of smuggling a gun to incarcerated Black Panther member George Jackson, which was used during a 1971 failed escape attempt where six people were killed. Bingham surrendered to authorities in 1984 and was acquitted of all charges by a Marin County, California jury in 1986.

We were only able to cover a portion of his extraordinary life story in our one hour and forty-minute oral history in 2021. Fortunately, Mr. Bingham has given a number of interviews over the years. He is the subject of a feature-length documentary, A Double Life (2024), which is available for streaming online. A 2024 interview with Bingham on Truthout.org may be accessed here: Once a Fugitive, Attorney for Black Panther Member Recounts His Life Underground | Truthout. A transcript of a U.C. Berkeley panel discussion, which also features Museum oral history participants Dr. James Garrett and Miriam Cohen alongside Bingham, may be accessed here: Civil Rights Movement -- Stephen Bingham: A WASP in the Movement. - Stephen Fagin, Curator