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Title on Reel (transcribed from original)
Carwile - Prison Pickets #1 - 1st part of Peace March 10-15-69
Date Created
1969-10-15
Reel Format
16mm
Reel Description
This reel contains footage of protestors at what appears to be Virginia State Penitentiary and the Virginia State Capitol grounds, picketing for prison reform. The dates of these events are unknown. The group at the penitentiary appears to be majority white participants, while those at the capitol appear to be a group of racially diverse participants. The final clips are of individuals gathering in Monroe Park as part of Moratorium Day held on October 15, 1969. This appears to be a group of majority white participants.
Timestamp Description
00:00:13 Footage begins. Individuals picket in an unknown location, likely near the Virginia State Penitentiary. Their signs read: "Prisoners Are Human Beings Too", "We Care", "We Will Win With Non-Violence", "Non-Violence Will Win!", "Black + White together Will Win", "Stay Non-Violent", "This Is A.D. Not B.C.", "Who'll Take Peyton's Place?", "Pay Guards A Decent Salary", "We Care", "Godwin Is Irresponsible", "Prison Reform Now",= and "Our fight is Here!".
00:00:36 Footage filmed across the street of a picket in front of a large red brick building, with what appears to be a guard tower on the left hand side, likely the Virginia State Penitentiary. These are many of the same picketers as the previous clip, and appears to be the same day.
00:00:44 Footage of the same picket, filmed from the same side of the street they walk on. Signs they carry read: "Prisoners Are Human Beings Too", "Peyton Must Go!!", "We Support The Prisoners", "Feed The Prisoners" and "Hate Not The Prison Let God In Your Heart".
00:00:53 The same picket in a different location, an unidentified street corner, likely near the Virginia State Penitentiary. Signs individuals carry read: "We Care", "Prisoners Need Decent Conditions ~ Food Sanitation Due Process", "Prison Reform Is Needed", "Non-Violence Will Win", "Black + White together Will Win", "Legal Counsel For All Inmates", "Peyton Must Go", "Prisoners Are Human Beings Too", "Stay Non-Violent", "Godwin Is Responsible" and "Why No Mediation".
00:01:14 Footage of a line of individuals marching, filmed in a way where shadow obscures the individuals.
00:01:24 The same picket in a different location, an unidentified street corner, likely near the Virginia State Penitentiary. Signs individuals carry read: "Stay Non-Violent", "Pay Guards A Decent Salary", "Let's Mediate", "Abolish Slavery", "Mediation Not Retaliation", "Prison Reform Is Needed", "Prisoners Are Human Beings, Too!", "Prison Reform Now" and "We Care".
00:01:42 Footage of individuals carrying some of the same signs from the previous footage, now on the grounds of the Virginia State Capitol. Some new signs read: "God's Rights Belong To You. Peace Brother", "Kings Presidents And Governors Must See God Also", "Peace My Brother Return To Work".
00:01:52 Protestors gather on the capitol grounds.
00:02:13 Protestors walk in a line with posters on the capitol grounds. New signs read: "Prisoners, God Know And He Do Care", "Peace!!", "Let Love In Your Heart, Be For Every One", "We Are For You", "His Blood Is For Your Hunger!".
00:02:35 Richmond City Council member Howard H. Carwile appears to join the picket.
00:02:40 Another angle of the picket, with Carwile carrying the sign which reads "Prisoners, God Know And He Do Care".
00:02:59 Another angle, Carwile leads the picket holding a sign which reads "Negotiate Prison Policy Now". Others carry signs which read: "Peyton Must Go", "How Many More Will You Kill?", "End Solitary Confinement Now", "Godwin Is Responsible", "No More Solitary", "Why Hide The Truth, Godwin?", "Why Not Mediate", "What Is Godwin Trying To Hide".
00:03:13 Another angle, with Carwile and others carrying signs.
00:03:22 Multiple clips of several dozen individuals sitting and standing in a large circle in a grass clearing in Monroe Park as part of discussion groups during the Moratorium Day.
00:04:01 Footage ends.
Event Description
The first portion of this reel contains footage of an undated picket in two locations--one being the Virginia State Capitol, the other likely being the Virginia State Penitentiary--related to prison reform. Some of the protest signs make reference to Virginia Governor Mills E. Godwin, Superintendent of the Virginia State Penitentiary C. C. Peyton, and the date "August 13". Given the circumstances outlined below, this protest likely took place between May and October 1969. This picket was likely related to an injunction against the State Penitentiary in Richmond, handed down by U.S. District Court Judge Robert R. Merhige on August 13, 1968. The injunction was filed by Philip J. Hirschkop of the ACLU, who filed after a July 16 work strike at the prison led to incarcerated individuals being punished through solitary confinement, mistreatment, and not being allowed to see their lawyers. The injunction barred prison officials from keeping incarcerated individuals from meeting with their lawyers, using "any instrumentality" that may injure an incarcerated individual for any reason other than self-defense or other physical violence, using tear gas or other chemicals against incarcerated individuals without written approval of the superintendent, denying an incarcerated individual a mattress and bedding as a form of punishment, using solitary confinement as punishment, withholding prompt access to courts, and withholding "toilet articles". The judge noted that while prison officials have discretionary powers, "their authority does not extend to deprivations of reasonable care". Hirschkop also claimed the prison was still practicing segregation despite it being federally illegal, though the judge did not rule on this claim (Richmond Times-Dispatch, August 14, 1968). Hirschkop later wrote about this in the Virginia Law Review in 1969. In April 1969, a court ordered FBI probe of the Virginia State Penitentiary was completed and recommended no criminal proceedings against prison officials (Richmond Times-Dispatch, April 15, 1969). On April 30, 1969, Hirschkop filed a suit against several Virginia prison officials claiming continued use of solitary confinement as punishment. The defendants were M.L. Royster, state prison farm superintendent; C.C. Peyton, penitentiary superintendent; W.K. Cunningham, director of the State Division of Corrections; and Otis L. Brown, director of the Virginia Department of Welfare Institutions. Hirschkop had another suit filed earlier charging the same officials with racial discrimination. (Richmond Times-Dispatch, May 1, 1969). Hirschkop continued to be a vocal critic of the prison system in Richmond (Richmond Times-Dispatch, May 29, 1969).Held on October 15, 1969, the Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam was a massive demonstration and teach-in across the United States against the country's involvement in the Vietnam War. A large Moratorium March in Washington, D.C. was held a month later on November 15, 1969 (Wikipedia). In Richmond, police estimated approximately 2,500 individuals joined the protest. Others had the count at some 5,000 in Monroe Park. The morning of October 15, names of those killed in the war were read at the University of Richmond, followed by a similar event at the capitol in the afternoon (The Collegian, October 17, 1969). Discussions were had in Monroe Park before groups marched downtown to the Virginia State Capitol. Marchers wore black arm bands and peace signs. At noon, there was a "folk mass" at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart. Named speakers included Herman Schmidt, Charles McLeod (mispelled McCloud in the RTD), Reverend James G. Carpenter, Dr. James H. Smiley, and Dr. Richard Lodge. Richmond Mayor Philip J. Bagley was quoted as stating he held the protestors "in utter contempt" (Richmond Times-Dispatch, October 16, 1969). Groups represented included Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and Richmond Mobilization Committee Against the War in Vietnam (The Commonwealth Times, October 17, 1969). After the protest ended at the capitol, some individuals returned to Monroe Park, while another contingent marched to City Hall. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported the crowd was "a mixture of welfare recipients and Virginia Union University students". Mayor Bagley agreed to meet with Loretta Johnson, chairperson of a local welfare rights group and member of the National Welfare Rights Organization (NWRO), as "an individual," but she preferred to meet in an official capacity and refused Bagley's invitation. A number of protestors entered the building and started a sit-in in front of the Mayor's office, and Bagley told Police Chief Frank S. Duling to "clear the building". When some 100 individuals did not leave, police called in reinforcements, including two dozen officers in helmets holding batons. When they arrived, the crowd inside left the building. The crowd tried to reform at Monroe Park, but few individuals arrived. The RTD does not name the welfare rights organization, but it was likely the Virginia Welfare Rights Organization (VWRO). The paper states this was the third day the group had visited City Hall in order to call for increased welfare payments (Richmond Times-Dispatch, October 16, 1969).
Runtime
00:04:19
Personal Name Subject
Carwile, Howard H., 1911-1987
Corporate Name Subject
Students for a Democratic Society (1969-1974); National Welfare Rights Organization (U.S.)
Topical Subject
Prisons; Prisoners and prisons; Prisons and race relations; Prison administration; Prison discipline; Prison reform; Vietnam War, 1961-1975; Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Protest movements; Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Draft resisters; Anti-war demonstrations; Demonstrations; Crowds; Student movements; Student protesters; Students--Political activity; Signs and signboards; Public welfare; Welfare rights movement; 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
Prison Protest, undated ; Moratorium Day in Richmond Film Reel #01, 1969 October 15
File Name
VCU_M571_123.mp4