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Title on Reel (transcribed from original)
Be-In, Monroe Park, 4- -69 [date missing], Police I.D. (Burton), [Sat.?]
Date Created
1969-04
Reel Format
Super 8mm
Reel Description
This reel contains footage of a crowd of individuals at an event labeled as a "Be-In" on the reel in Monroe Park, likely on April 27, 1969. Individuals sit on the grass, listen to a band playing in front of the Checkers House. This appears to be a group of majority white participants.
Timestamp Description
00:00:10 Footage begins. Footage turned 90 degrees counterclockwise of a green car filmed from the front, the driver's door is open. It appears that the camera was running while being carried.
00:00:13 Multiple clips of zoomed in panning footage of a large crowd gathered in Monroe Park, including a large number of children. Individuals sit on the grass or on blankets, and stand and walk around.
00:01:05 Zoomed in footage of an individual playing what appears to be an electric guitar. Amps and a drum kit are partially visible around them. Individuals sitting in the grass observe.
00:01:15 Footage of individuals in the grass, one has an acoustic guitar. A person is partially visible with a guitar and microphone. Individuals on the grass appear to be dancing along to music.
00:01:32 Zoomed in footage of the crowd focused on an individual's back. They wear a vest with a confederate flag with "SSOC" written above and below the flag, and "Richmond Va" below the flag. For more information on SSOC, see the event description below.
00:01:37 Zoomed in footage of four individuals speaking with one another under a tree in the park.
00:01:53 Zoomed in panning footage of a crowd with the Checkers House in the background. As the camera pans right, a band can be seen playing, including the guitar players seen in earlier footage, with a crowd surrounding them.
00:02:24 Footage of individuals sitting on the ledges of the second story of the Checkers House, filmed from the ground.
00:02:26 Footage of two individuals wearing suits observing the band from a distance.
00:02:43 Panning footage of the crowd sitting on the grass and standing while watching the band play.
00:03:11 Footage ends.
Event Description
Labeled as a "Be-In" in Monroe Park on the film reel, this event appears to be concert, with a band set up below the steps of the Checkers House. It is likely this was part of Matrix, a spring arts festival at Virginia Commonwealth University, a successor to the Bang Arts Festival. An article noted that a local band called Flash would be playing as part of the festival, but the Monroe Park event was not mentioned in any available schedules (Proscript, April 11, 1969). This event likely took place on April 27, 1969.
Southern Student Organizing Committee (SSOC) was a student activist group in the southern United States formed in the 1960s that focused on Black American civil rights, opposing the Vietnam War, labor rights, and feminism. According to Wikipedia, the group " intended, in part, to be Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) for Southerners and Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) for white students – at a time when it was dangerous for SDS to attempt to organize in the Deep South and when SNCC was starting to discuss expelling white volunteers." The organization often used "traditional Confederate symbols and language" in its messaging.
Runtime
00:03:41
Corporate Name Subject
Virginia Commonwealth University
Topical Subject
Rock groups; Art festivals; Crowds; College students' art; Art in universities and colleges; Music--Performance; 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
Be-In at Monroe Park Film Reel, 1969 April
File Name
VCU_M571_061.mp4