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Title on Reel (transcribed from original)
In Park, 9-16-69, 1:30 am, I
Date Created
1969-09-16
Reel Format
16mm
Reel Description
This reel contains footage of a press conference in Monroe Park on September 16, 1969. Speaking at the press conference were Bob Lee, field secretary of the Black Panther Party of Illinois, and Bill Fesperman, field secretary of the Young Patriots Organization. The reel contains footage of individuals gathering in Monroe Park, as well as footage of Lee and Fesperman near the fountain with a journalist, and individuals watching the press conference. This appears to be a group of racially diverse participants.
Timestamp Description
00:00:14 Footage begins. Footage of what appears to be an office, likely in the police station.
00:00:16 Footage goes black.
00:00:25 Blurry footage which then goes black.
00:00:31 Footage of individuals gathered in Monroe Park, standing under trees. Footage pans right to show approximately 10 individuals. Individuals speak with one another in huddles of 3-4.
00:00:44 Zoomed out footage of the same group.
00:00:52 Multiple clips of zoomed in panning footage of the same group. Throughout the clips, the number of individuals slowly grows. Many individuals are difficult to see due to shade from the trees above them. Some of the clips are blurry.
00:01:52 Footage of the same group, which begins moving away from their meeting place.
00:02:11 Footage of one individual showing another a Confederate flag.
00:02:16 Multiple clips of individuals under the trees.
00:02:30 Zoomed in footage of several individuals standing near the Monroe Park fountain.
00:02:42 Zoomed out footage of the same group standing near the fountain. On the left is likely Bill Fesperman, field secretary of the Young Patriots Organization, with Bob Lee, field secretary of the Black Panther Party of Illinois to his right. On the fence of the fountain behind them is a Confederate flag and a Black Panther banner with a drawn panther. The seven individuals at the fountain look at the camera.
00:02:49 Zoomed in blurry footage of Fesperman, he wears a black cowboy hat with a Confederate flag patch on the front and sunglasses. Another individual holds a microphone to his face. The footage pans right to show the individual holding the microphone, Lee, and two other unknown individuals.
00:03:06 Footage of Fesperman speaking into a microphone being held by an individual in a blue suit. Lee and three other individuals stand to their left and look on. The camera pans down to film the panther painted on the Black Panthers banner on the fountain fence.
00:03:22 Multiple clips of zoomed in panning footage of approximately twenty individuals watching the press conference. Some hold papers, one takes notes in a legal pad, another takes photographs.
00:03:44 Footage ends.
Event Description
On September 16, 1969, a joint press conference was held in Monroe Park between two young activist organizations. It was advertised that Bob Lee, field secretary of the Black Panther Party of Illinois, and Bill Fesperman, field secretary of the Young Patriots Organization, would speak to the press at 1:30PM. A member of the group accompanying Lee and Fesperman hung a Black Panther banner and Confederate flag on the fence around the fountain in Monroe Park. Fesperman noted that The Young Patriots was an organization of "poor Southern whites who have migrated to Chicago" formed in November 1968, which allied with the Black Panthers in February 1969. Lee and Fesperman stood in front of the banner and flags and addressed a crowd of 50 individuals, plus an unknown number of plainclothes police officers. Lee addressed the officers directly in his opening remarks. After the press conference, Lee and Fesperman attended a film screening of American Revolution 2 at the Free University's Center of the Performing Arts. Some 75 individuals attended the event at the Free University, as well as plainclothes police officers (Richmond Times-Dispatch, September 17, 1969).
Runtime
00:04:10
Personal Name Subject
Lee, Robert "Bob" E., 1942-2017
Corporate Name Subject
Black Panther Party; Black Panther Party. Illinois Chapter; Young Patriots Organization
Topical Subject
Press conferences; Black power; Black power--United States; Black militant organizations; Students--Political activity; Student movements; Students--Political activity; 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
Black Panther Party and Young Patriot Press Conference in Monroe Park Film Reel, 1969 September 16
File Name
VCU_M571_119.mp4