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Title on Reel (transcribed from original)
Anti-School Consolidation Motorcade to Washington, 24 Feb. 1972, Bureau of Police I.D.
Date Created
1972-02-17
Reel Format
16mm
Reel Description
This reel contains a footage of cars in the February 17, 1972 motorcade from Richmond to Washington, D.C. opposing the consolidation of schools for integration. The beginning of the reel films the motorcade on the highway to Washington D.C. The rest of the reel films cars in the motorcade turning left at the intersection of Independence Ave SW and 14th Street SW in Washington, D.C.
Timestamp Description
00:00:09 Footage begins. Footage of cars driving down a highway, filmed from the front. A car parked on the side of the highway is visible in the bottom of the frame. It is snowing.
00:00:22 Footage of cars driving down the highway, filmed from the front, with the guardrail visible between the cars and the camera.
00:00:57 Footage of the motorcade in Washington, D.C. A uniformed and helmeted police officer stands in the median of the street. This is the intersection of Independence Ave SW and 14th Street SW, with cars turning left onto 14th Street. As the camera pans left, a street sign reads: "Hains Point And Jefferson Memorial Use 15th Street" with an arrow pointing right.
00:01:02 Footage of cars in the motorcade turning left from the street parallel to the camera onto the street the camera operator is on. A crossing guard in an orange vest directs them. Multiple clips of this follow.
00:01:40 Footage of the motorcade driving on another street in Washington, D.C., this appears to be 14th Street SW, with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service building to their right. One car, light blue with two United States of America flags on the headlights, has a sign on the outside which reads "Lead Car [Illegible]".
00:01:57 Multiple clips of footage of cars turning left towards the camera at the previous intersection. Some of the footage is blurry. Occasionally pedestrians cross through the frame.
00:03:40 Zoomed out footage of the same intersection and cars turning, this time the interior of the car the operator is sitting in is visible, with sunglasses on the dashboard.
00:03:56 Footage ends.
Event Description
After years of arguments around school desegregation busing in Richmond, in January 1971 U.S. District Court Judge Robert R. Merhige Jr. ordered the merger of school systems in Richmond, Henrico, and Chesterfield in order to facilitate school integration (Encyclopedia Virginia). On February 17, a motorcade of a reported 3,261 cars made the 108 mile trip from Richmond to Washington, D.C. to "fight against consolidation of Richmond metropolitan areas schools by a federal court". Participants in the motorcade gathered at the State Fairgrounds on Laburnum Avenue. Henrico police directed the cars in Richmond. In Washington, D.C., local police directed them there. Some organizers worried that the American Nazi party would join the motorcade, but according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, their bus was blocked by other motorists in D.C. Richmond Councilperson Howard H. Carwile was part of the motorcade, despite being asked by one of the organizing groups--the U.S. Citizens for Neighborhood Schools of Chesterfield--to not participate (Richmond Times-Dispatch, February 18, 1972). The Independent Garage Owners of Virginia and the Virginia Gasoline Retailers Association supplied thirty-five tow trucks to support the motorcade. The Henrico County Council of P-TAs distributed the only signs allowed to be displayed, referred to as "Little Red Schoolhouse" signs. Other organizations that joined the motorcade included the Henrico County Civic Association, Richmond Area Coordinate Committees, Chesterfield County P-TAs, U.S. Citizens for Neighborhood Schools, Richmond Concerned Citizens, Save Our Neighborhood Schools of Richmond and Norfolk, and Henrico Education Association (Richmond Times-Dispatch, February 17, 1972).
Runtime
00:04:07
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; Motorcades; White supremacy movements; White nationalism; Police; Police patrol--Surveillance operations; Electronic surveillance; Video surveillance
City/Location
Washington (D.C.)
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
Motorcade Against School Consolidation from Richmond to Washington, D.C. Film Reel #02, 1972 February 17
File Name
VCU_M571_163.mp4