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Title on Reel (transcribed from original)
3 April 71, March Against Opression [sic], Commeration [sic] of Martin L. King's Death, State Capitol & March from Monroe Park, Police I.D.
Date Created
1971-04-03
Reel Format
16mm
Reel Description
This reel contains footage of individuals marching in Richmond, primarily on Franklin Street, on April 3, 1971. They were on their way to an event in commemoration of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and against war, racism, and repression at the Virginia State Capitol. The final part of the reel is footage of the crowd on the capitol grounds. This appears to be a group of majority Black participants.
Timestamp Description
00:00:09 Footage begins. Footage of marchers walking down a street, they appear to be going west on Broad Street.
00:00:17 Footage goes gray.
00:00:26 Footage resumes. Footage of individuals walking single file on the sidewalk of an unidentified road, with several police trikes riding alongside them in the road. Filmed from the other side of the road, with cars visible between the marchers and the camera.
00:00:59 Multiple clips of marchers walking down Franklin Street, east of the Belvidere Street intersection. The Belvidere Street facade of 104 N Belvidere St. is visible behind them. Multiple individuals acknowledge the camera and some hold up closed fit salutes. Two individuals hold signs reading "Stafford Welfare Rights". Other individuals carry signs reading: "Bring All Americans Home", "Women's International League for Peace And Freedom", and "Where Have All The People Gone?" with what appears to be a drawing of a nuclear explosion mushroom cloud.
00:03:05 As marchers pass in the same location, an individual films them with a film camera across from the camera operator.
00:03:07 Footage of a vehicle, likely a Volkswagen bus, driving down the street.
00:03:10 Footage of a uniformed police officer on horseback riding past the camera operator.
00:03:12 Footage of the marchers walking down Franklin Street, with an individual with a film camera in the parking lot behind them.
00:03:33 Footage filmed from a distance, from inside of a parked car, of a crowd gathered on the grounds of the Virginia State Capitol.
00:04:23 Footage ends.
Event Description
On April 3, 1971, three years after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a crowd of several hundred individuals marched in memory of Dr. King and against war, racism, and repression in Richmond. About 100 participants in the march and rally had marched from Petersburg along route U.S. 1, a journey that took nine hours. They then met another 100 individuals in Monroe Park, and walked down Franklin Street to the Virginia State Capitol Bell Tower. Groups represented at the march were the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), the National Welfare Rights Organization (NWRO), the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. Named speakers included Herbert V. Coulton, state director of the SCLC; Reverend Milford W. Walker, state NAACP president; Loretta F. Johnson, president of the Richmond Welfare Rights Organization; Nathaniel Lee Hawthorne, head of the Virginia Students Civil Rights Committee; and Reverend James A. Forbes, president of the Richmond Urban League. Speakers called for a quality education for all, guaranteed annual income using funds that were going to the Vietnam War, and a national and state holiday to honor Dr. King (Richmond Times-Dispatch, April 4, 1971).
Runtime
00:04:35
Personal Name Subject
King, Martin Luther, Jr., 1929-1968
Corporate Name Subject
Southern Christian Leadership Conference; National Welfare Rights Organization (U.S.); National Association for the Advancement of Colored People; Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
Topical Subject
King, Martin Luther, Jr., 1929-1968--Assasination; Demonstrations; Crowds, Public welfare; Welfare rights movement; Civil rights movements; Civil rights movements--United States; Civil rights demonstrations; Civil rights workers; Anti-poverty movements; Memorials; 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
March Against Oppression and Commemoration of Dr. Martin Luther King's Death in Richmond Film Reel #03, 1971 April 3
File Name
VCU_M571_130.mp4