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Title on Reel (transcribed from original)
Anti Draft Protest, 3-19-70, Rich Police ID, 649-4811 [phone number]
Date Created
1970-03-19
Reel Format
Super 8mm
Reel Description
This reel contains footage of several dozen individuals marching to the Federal Building at 8th and Marshall Streets. Individuals and their signs are visible. The last part of the reel shows individuals from the protest leaving the Federal Building after a sit-in.This appears to be a group of majority white participants.
Timestamp Description
00:00:10 Footage begins. Dark footage, perhaps of the street, some cars are visible by their brake lights. Silhouettes of individuals walking are partially visible.
00:00:44 Footage individuals marching from Monroe Park to the Federal Building, filmed from in front of the marchers and across the street. Marchers hold their signs up towards the camera. Signs read: "Solidarity with Third World People", "Jesus Was A Man of Peace", "The Draft Is Illegal", "Remember the 14th Amendment", "Nixon --> Death --> Hitler", "Wanted: Nixon for Killing People", "Napalm, Stop It", "Draft is Unamerican", "End the Draft" with the omega symbol around the word "the", "DeSade Lives At 1600 Penn.", "The Human Race Flag", "45,000 Dead, The True Silent Majority", "End the War", "Stop the Draft Machine", "Spiro Is A Greek Joke" [likely referring to Vice President Spiro Agnew], "Peace is Possible", "Asia: Love It and Leave It", "Draft Nixon", "I'm Gay for S.S.", "War is American", "Work, Study, Get ahead, Kill", "Power to the N.L.F." [likely a reference to the National Liberation Front (NLF), also known as the Viet Cong (VC)], "Labor Pays", a drawing of a knife stabbing an unidentified objects, perhaps a head, with blood drawn on it, "The Draft Is Good Business, Invest Your Son", "Black and White", "Stop the Death Machine", "Free Country Huh?", "Draft Mayor Bagley" [likely referring to Richmond Mayor Philip J. Bagley, Jr.], "End A War", "Politics Or People", "Draft Eats Kids", "Capt. Kessler Kills" [likely a reference to Virginia State Director of Selective Service Capt. Charles L. Kessler], "Off the Draft", "Draft Peace", "Captain C.L. Kessler Takes Your Sons Away", "We Are PROhuman", "Draft Cause Graves" and "Peace is Patriotic". The final person in the march wears a white mask that depicts Richard Nixon and holds up their hands which have red paint on the palms.
00:01:51 Footage goes dark.
00:03:05 Footage resumes. The remainder of the footage is of individuals walking out of the Federal Building following a 55-minute sit-in in the south lobby to protest the draft. It is filmed from the sidewalk.
00:03:33 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
00:03:38
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 #07, 1970 March 19
File Name
VCU_M571_072.mp4