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Title on Reel (transcribed from original)
Anti Draft Protest, 3-19-70 [2]
Date Created
1970-03-19
Reel Format
16mm
Reel Description
This reel contains footage of the gathering of individuals who will participate in a daytime picket at the Armed Forces Examining and Entrance Station at 11th and Main Streets. Most footage follows individuals and groups arriving for the picket, walking back and forth in front of the building. Some building workers are seen--potentially security guards and others. The footage is filmed from across the street and above. Towards the end of the video, the individuals preparing the picket notice the camera and gesture toward it. This appears to be a group of majority white participants.
Timestamp Description
00:00:13 Footage begins. Dark footage, turned 45 degrees clockwise, of a filing cabinet.
00:00:16 Footage of the torso of an individual, likely in the same office room.
00:00:19 Footage goes black, then there is dark panning footage of two lights, probably street lamps.
00:00:51 Dark footage of an individual standing in front of a building outdoors, shot from above.
00:00:58 An individual mostly visible by their white coat stands at the door of a building, likely the Armed Forces Examining and Entrance Station. The footage then pans right following a barely visible individual, who stops and appears to be speaking with an individual in a police or military uniform.
00:01:09 Footage of three individuals walking down the sidewalk in front of the same building, past the individual in uniform, and to the first individual standing alone in the beginning of the footage.
00:01:20 Footage of the individual in the white coat still standing in front of the locked doors of the building.
00:01:30 The four individuals walk back towards the building, past a storefront which reads "General Fidelity, Life Insurance Company," the uniformed individual, and the individual in the white coat. The camera then stays on the individual in the white coat as the four individuals walk out of frame.
00:01:46 Footage of three individuals, one in uniform, standing in front of the building and talking. After a few seconds, the two individuals in day clothes walk away from the uniformed individual, the camera follows them.
00:01:59 Footage of previously unfilmed individual walking down the sidewalk in front of the building.
00:02:05 Footage of three of the individuals from the previously filmed group of four walking by the building again, they also walk by another individual in uniform--this appears to be some sort of service worker uniform. "Travelers Building" is visible on the step-up to the door of the building.
00:02:11 Footage of an United States of America flag on a flag pole.
00:02:19 Footage of a group of seven individuals walking towards the build. The individual in front carries what appears to be a stack of newspapers. One of the individuals appears to have their face painted white, with black paint around their eyes, wears their black hair long and straight, and is wearing flowing black clothing. Other individuals wear day clothes and jackets. Another individual holds a tambourine.
00:02:33 Footage of five individuals from the previous group walking the opposite way past the building. A bus goes by, and they change direction and reunite with the rest of the group.
00:02:56 The group merges with the previous group previously in the footage, now totaling some ten individuals. They walk down the street away from the building.
00:03:08 Footage of one individual walking back towards the building. They pass an individual in a suit standing on the sidewalk in front of the build entrance, this individual watches the first pass by.
00:03:06 Footage of the individual carrying newspapers and another individual walking past the building and talking. Another individual in a trench coat, fedora, and briefcase passes them. The shot pans to another eleven individuals from the group walking behind them, including the individual in white face paint and another wearing an Uncle Sam hat.
00:03:30 Footage of the group walking by the General Fidelity storefront. One individual opens their jacket towards the camera revealing an orange zip-up sweater with an unidentified logo on it. They point to the logo, then raise their arms in a muscle-flexing pose. The individual carrying newspapers makes direct eye contact with the camera. Footage of the individuals walking back the other way.
00:03:53 The individual carrying the newspapers raises their fist towards the camera, and the individual next to them follows suit. They walk with their fists raised, looking at the camera.
00:03:5 Footage of the group standing outside the building.
00:04:01 Footage ends.¬
Event Description
On March 19, 1970, a multi-level protest organized by the VCU Radical Student Union consisted of a picket of the Armed Forces Examining and Entrance Station at 11th and Main Streets, the State Selective Service headquarters at the Federal Office Building on 8th and Marshall Streets, and at Monroe Park. This was part of a nationwide week-long protest organized by the group New Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam. A group of approximately 25-30 individual picketed the entrance of the Armed Forces Examining and Entrance Station, and one VCU student was arrested for "breach of the peace" (Richmond Times-Dispatch, March 20, 1970) and/or "failure to move" (Commonwealth Times, March 20, 1970). Around 12PM, some 200 individuals participated in a rally at Monroe Park, with speakers including recorder of the Radical Student Union Fred Shorter, draft counselor Page Morris, the Reverend ProHuman Williams, and Phyllis Conclin. At 12:30PM some 150 students marched to the Federal Building and held a 55-minute sit-in in the south lobby to protest the draft. Four demonstrators met with Virginia State Director of Selective Service Capt. Charles L. Kessler and two federal marshals, the press was not admitted. Students from VCU and Union Theological Seminary were among the participants.
Runtime
00:04:18
Note
The order of the eight reels from this day of protests was determined by the Digital Initiatives Librarian using newspaper reports from the day, as well as other indicators of time in the footage. It may not be accurate to the order the footage was filmed in.
Corporate Name Subject
Virginia Commonwealth University; Union Theological Seminary and Presbyterian School of Christian Education
Topical Subject
Vietnam War, 1961-1975; Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Protest movements; Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Draft resisters; Anti-war demonstrations; Demonstrations; Crowds; United States--Armed Forces--Recruiting, enlistment, etc.; Draft; Draft resisters; Draft registration; Student movements; Student protesters; Students--Political activity; Signs and signboards; 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
Anti-Draft Protest in Richmond Film Reel #01, 1970 March 19
File Name
VCU_M571_031.mp4