Files
Download File (222.6 MB)
Loading...
Title on Reel (transcribed from original)
Anti-Bussing, Skinny Morrisett's Parade, 8-29-70, Police I.D.
Date Created
1970-08-29
Reel Format
16mm
Reel Description
This reel contains footage of approximately 250 individuals protesting school desegregation by busing in downtown Richmond. Footage shows demonstrators gathering in Monroe Park, leaving Monroe Park, marching in downtown Richmond, and approaching the Virginia State Capitol grounds. This appears to be a group of majority white participants.
Timestamp Description
00:00:09 Footage begins. Footage of a long line of individuals waiting to march, many hold signs. This appears to be at the corner of Monroe Park at Belvidere Street and Franklin Street. In the foreground of the frame, one individual stands closer to the street and holds a sign which reads "March With Us At 10:00AM, No Busing". The camera pans the line, and several individuals hold their signs up toward the camera.
00:00:30 Footage of a uniformed officer on horseback, they point and smile at someone to the right of the camera operator.
00:00:33 Footage of a uniformed officer on horseback.
00:00:36 Footage of the line of demonstrators, with the first officer on horseback in the left foreground of the frame. Some protest signs at the front of the line are visible: "Impeach Holton", "Let People Have Voice [In?] School System", "Courts are wrong We won't go", "Freedom of Choice Only Way", and "Support Neighborhood Schools". More individuals hold their signs towards the camera as the clip continues.
00:00:45 Footage of the marchers walking holding their signs, they cross Belvidere Street at Franklin Street. Many hold their signs toward the camera as they pass: "Don't Bus For Racial Balance Please", "Little Kids Get Lost No Busing", "Freedom of Choice For Kids!", "No Busing", "We Love Our Children. Do You Love Yours?", "No Busing School Children Freedom Yes", "No Bus For Us", "No Bus", "Will Right Or Might Prevail [Illegible Sentence]", "Freedom of Choice Yes Busing Never", "You May Not Kidnap My Children With Your Illegal Forced Busing 'Forced Race Mix Busing Is Illegal'", "Blow the Horn", "Don't Bus Me", "Freedom of Choice Yes Busing Never", "August 31st D-Day", "Freedom of Choice, We Are From Oregon Hill, No Busing", "Busing Just KILLS Me", "Here Comes The Judge" with a drawing of a cartoon wolf in a judge's robe with another character behind it, "If We Let Them Bus Us The American Dream Will Become A Nightmare", "No Busing Cross Town, Unite And Fight", "Stand Up Together In The Fight For Freedom" with a drawing of two human figures, one white and one black, "Forced Busing Is Unconstitutional", "Are We [Not?] A Free People?", "In God We Trust", "Why Lose When We Can Win?", and "Do Not Bus My Children". Many individuals carry small United States of America flags.
00:02:12 Footage of the marchers rounding a corner in downtown Richmond, a sign on the corner building reads "Customer Parking, Brill's Esso, 13th & Main". New signs read: "Oregon Hill is fighting Against Busing", "Don't Kidnap Our Children Bus The School Board Outta Here", "I Cry Do You", "Wake Up Today And Pray, No Busing Mine", "How Can a Five Year Old Find His Way From Southside To Church Hill Via 3 Buses", "Don't Bus Me!", "Why Fight For Freedom In Viet Nam When We Don't Have Freedom In America!", "What are our men in Vietnam Dying for?", "I'm Fussing About Busing", "Attention All Parents!! Stand Up For Your Freedom Before It's Too Late! Don't Be A Jelly Fish!!", "Bussing [sic] is For The Birds" with a drawing of two birds on a bus, "Please Help Me!! I'm A Victim Of The Judge", "Your Eyes May Water And Your Teeth May Grit. But My Children On School Bus You'll Never Get!", "We Want Freedom of Choice Back", "Down With Busing", "I'm Cussing About Busing", "Public Control of Public Schools", "No Bussing [sic] Took Children With A Bag With Some Writing Witch They [Had?] To Bring This Busing To A End", and "Don't Cuss, Don't Fuss, Don't Bus!".
00:03:42 Several uniformed officers on motorcycles near the Virginia State Capitol grounds. One officer covers their face with their hands.
00:03:43 The march approaches the capitol grounds.
00:03:49 Footage ends.
Event Description
On August 29, 1970, Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court Warren E. Burger denied the City of Richmond's motion for a stay of the city's school desegregation order, which had been decreed by U.S. District Court Judge Robert R. Merhige Jr. on August 17. The decree required bussing some 13,000 of the city's 50,000 public school students in order to meet school integration requirements. The order gave school officials until November to desegregate the school system. The school board had voted against seeking a stay 5-2, while City Council voted in favor 6-1 (Richmond Times-Dispatch, August 30, 1970). On the same day, a crowd of approximately 250 adults and children marched from Monroe Park to the Virginia State Capitol to protest the desegregation busing plan (Richmond Times-Dispatch, August 30, 1970).
Runtime
00:04:00
Personal Name Subject
Merhige, Robert R.
Corporate Name Subject
Richmond Public Schools (Va.)
Topical Subject
Busing for school integration; School integration; Segregation in education; Signs and signboards; Demonstrations; Crowds; White supremacy movements; White nationalism; Mounted police; Police horses; Animals in police work; Police; Police patrol--Surveillance operations; Electronic surveillance; Video surveillance
City/Location
Richmond (Va.)
Genre
color films (visual works)
Local Genre
moving image
Type
Moving Image
Digital Format
video/mp4
Language
eng
Rights Statement URL
Rights
This material is in the public domain in the United States and thus is free of any copyright restriction. Acknowledgement of Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries as a source is requested.
Collection
Richmond Police Department Surveillance Collection
Source
Anti-Busing Protest in Richmond Film Reel #01, 1970 August 29
File Name
VCU_M571_161.mp4