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Title on Reel (transcribed from original)
#1 Dec. 17, 1969, VSC students protest - Belvidere + Franklin St.
Date Created
1969-12-17
Reel Format
Super 8mm
Reel Description
This reel contains footage of students, faculty, and supporters protesting changes to Virginia State College in Richmond, Virginia. Footage of marchers leaving Monroe Park and walking in pairs east on Franklin Street. They wear winter coats and jackets, buttons, and hold signs. This appears to be a group of majority Black participants.
Timestamp Description
00:00:09 Footage begins. Footage filmed from the corner of Belvidere Street and Franklin Street across from Monroe Park. A uniformed police officer on horseback is in the center of the frame, on the sidewalk of Monroe Park. A long line of protestors is visible in the background, winding through the park. Cars drive between the camera and the park. Protestors wait in a long line to begin crossing the street, pedestrians pass in all directions. Some onlookers with photography cameras stand on the sidewalk by the park. The camera pans right to left to film the line of marchers. The Grace & Holy Trinity Episcopal Church and Mosque Theater (now Altria Theater) are visible in the background.
00:01:04 The crowd of protestors begins to cross Belvidere Street away from the park. Some individuals with photography cameras are at the front of the crowd. Cars are visible driving east on Franklin Street on the right side of the frame, with a mounted uniformed police officer standing between the marchers and the cars. Many individuals wear large orange buttons which read "Survival For VSC". Marchers appear to be chanting. Some individuals carry signs which read: "Survival for VSC", "Liberate [Illegible]", "Build Us Up, Don't Put Us Down", "Don't Kill Us" with a drawing of flowers and a tombstone with a cross and "VSC" written on it, "No matter how hard u try u can't stop V.S.C.", "The Board of [Visitors?] [refused us?], Don't You Refuse Us", "We March because we are Concerned", "Build Us Up, Don't Put Us Down", "Stop! Don't Kill Us!" and "What Black School Will Be Next?".
00:02:09 The previous group of marchers ends and a new group begins, there is a cut in the footage, likely pausing for the crosswalk light to change. An orange and white striped car sits in the intersection with "Copy Cat Instant Copies" written on the door. Marchers continue, many wearing orange buttons, some holding signs.
00:02:24 A marcher sticks their tongue out at the camera. The camera zooms in on marchers, then zooms out again. A sign reads: "Next Stop Washington D.C.! If Nothings Is Done for VSC!".
00:03:01 This group of protestors comes to an end as the car traffic behind them on Belvidere Street begins to move. A uniformed police officer stands with the crowd waiting to cross on the other side of the street. The camera zooms in on the final individual in this group.
00:03:08 Blurry footage of the sidewalk and then a car.
00:03:14 Footage ends.
Event Description
Around 11AM on Wednesday, December 17, 1969, some 2,200 students and faculty from Virginia State College (VSC) (Virginia State University as of 1979), marched at the Virginia State Capitol in protest of the school's Board of Visitors refusing to meet with student representatives to discuss a proposed merger between VSC's School of Agriculture and Virginia Polytechnic Institute's (now Virginia Tech) agriculture program. VSC is a public historically Black land-grant university in Ettrick, Virginia. About 50 individuals were permitted to enter the Capitol grounds, and then gave a press conference. Other remarks were cancelled, but State senator-elect L. Douglas Wilder traveled back to VSC's Petersburg counsel to meet a student assembly. Students traveled from Petersburg to Richmond via 25 chartered buses and an unknown number of private vehicles. The protest lasted about 4 hours. Students were able to speak with staff of Governor-elect Linwood Holton's office, but did not plan to speak with outgoing Governor Mills E. Godwin Jr. The evening after the protest, board rector Elgin M. Lowe Sr. agreed to schedule a meeting in January. (Richmond Times-Dispatch, December 18, 1969).
Runtime
00:03:37
Corporate Name Subject
Virginia State College
Topical Subject
Historically Black colleges and universities; Student protesters; African American student movements; Student movements; Student strikes; Universities and colleges--Administration; Mounted police; Police horses; Animals in police work; 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
Virginia State College (VSC) Student Protest at the Virginia State Capitol Film Reel #01, 1969 December 17
File Name
VCU_M571_045.mp4