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Title on Reel (transcribed from original)
Poor Peoples [sic] March, Saturday May 18, 1968, Richmond, Va.
Date Created
1968-05-18
Reel Format
Super 8mm
Reel Description
This reel contains footage likely filmed by the Richmond Police Department of the Poor People's Campaign in Richmond, Virginia. It contains footage of individuals in the campaign walking north on Lombardy Street, the majority of the participants appear to be Black. There is also footage of individuals and groups driving cars and trucks in what appears to be Richmond. This footage features motorists in costume, potentially students from the Richmond Professional Institute (RPI), the majority of whom appear to be white. It is possible this is a different event, though a second event is not mentioned on the reel.
Timestamp Description
00:00:10 Footage begins. Footage of individuals walking north on Lombardy Street, filmed near the corner of Lombardy and Broad Street.
00:00:33 Footage of a car, filmed from the front, parked on an unidentified street. The passenger has their hand out the window.
00:00:39 Footage of the passengers in the same car, filmed from a car moving past the parked car.
00:00:45 Footage of cars and their passengers parked on an unidentified street, filmed from a car driving past.
00:01:08 Footage of a car and its passengers parked on the side of the road, with a uniformed police officer speaking with them. It appears as though this is a traffic stop, and the officer gives one individual what appears to be a ticket. Filmed from a car driving past.
00:01:13 Footage of the same traffic stop, now filmed from a stationary position.
00:01:17 Footage of a car driving down an unidentified street, filmed from the back, from a car driving behind them. The camera zooms in on the license plate.
00:01:20 Footage of an individual speaking with the passenger in a car two cars ahead of the one being filmed from. A street sign for the cross street appears to be "N 8th Street".
00:01:25 Footage of a van and a truck parked. Over a dozen individuals sit in the truck bed, some with their legs hanging over the side.
00:01:30 Car driving down an unidentified road, including the van and truck previously mentioned. Closer footage of individuals on the truck shows some are in costume. Other cars appear to be decorated, and other individuals wear costumes and face paint. One car has two signs taped to it: "Custer died for your sins" and "Vote Zapata-Villa in November". In the final vehicle, an individual appears to be holding a toy rifle.
00:02:20 Footage of a police car filmed from a car behind it.
00:02:23 Footage of several parked cars with individuals standing near them, filmed through a chain link fence from a car driving by.
00:02:28 Footage of what appears to be 7th Street in Downtown Richmond, with cars driving north, and buildings visible on both sides. This appears to be south of Broad Street. There is a pedestrian overpass connecting two buildings visible in the distance.
00:02:50 Footage of a police car filmed from the car behind it. Footage zooms in on the car in front of the police car.
00:03:04 Footage of the car being zoomed in on in the previous footage, filmed from behind.
00:03:09 Footage goes black.
00:03:18 Footage resumes. Footage of the same car, filmed from the car following behind it.
00:03:30 Footage ends.
Event Description
The Poor People's Campaign occurred between May 12 and June 24 1968. Suggested to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by NAACP director Marion Wright, the campaign sought to bring poor and working class people to Washington, D.C. to demand "jobs, unemployment insurance, a fair minimum wage, and education for poor adults and children designed to improve their self-image and self-esteem" from the government. After Dr. King's assassination on April 4, 1968, Ralph Abernathy succeeded King as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and continued plans for the campaign. The first official date of the campaign was May 12, Mother's Day, when Coretta Scott King and thousands of women demonstrated in D.C. The next day, Resurrection City was established on the National Mall. According to a flier from the Civil Rights Movement Archive, a southern caravan to Washington D.C. began in Edwards, Mississippi, on May 5th. It arrived in Richmond on May 18. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported on May 19 that the 13-bus, 450-person caravan traveled from Norfolk, with the number growing to 800 people upon arrival in Richmond. At 4PM on May 18, the caravan arrived in an unidentified vacant lot in Southside, where remarks from SCLC officials were given, snacks passed around, and the crowd marched north over the Robert E. Lee Memorial Bridge, surrounded by a large police presence. The march grew, perhaps to around 2,000 people, and went to Presbyterian School of Christian Education, now Union Presbyterian Seminary, on Brook Road in the Northside neighborhood, where dinner was served. Hosea Williams, field director of SCLC, spoke to a remaining 1,000 individuals at 10:55PM. Marchers spent the night at Virginia Union University, Union Theological Seminary, and in private homes. Read more about the Poor People's Campaign via the Stanford University Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute and the National Museum of African American History & Culture.
Runtime
00:03:45
Personal Name Subject
King, Martin Luther, Jr., 1929-1968; Abernathy, Ralph, 1926-1990; Williams, Hosea, 1926-2000
Corporate Name Subject
Virginia Union University (Richmond, Va.); Union Theological Seminary and Presbyterian School of Christian Education; Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (U.S.)
Topical Subject
Poor People's Campaign; Anti-poverty movements; Demonstrations; Crowds; Processions; Motorcades; Public welfare; Welfare rights movement; "Civil rights movements; Civil rights movements--United States; Civil rights demonstrations; Civil rights workers; 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
Poor People's Campaign Caravan in Richmond Film Reel #07, 1968 May 18
File Name
VCU_M571_081.mp4