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https://rozsixties.unl.edu/files/original/f07181dd1106061231ad6b10f4922876.jpg
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Buttons
Description
An account of the resource
Buttons were one of the most popular and pervasive forms of political messaging during the 1960s, combining brief messaging and memorable graphic designs. Buttons were inexpensive to produce on a mass basis and easy to distribute. They afforded any individual an opportunity to voice their opinions and, potentially, reach a broad audience. As Hunter Oatman-Stanford has written, “From discreet lapel pins to oversized buttons on purses or backpacks, pinbacks invite conversation by declaring potentially controversial viewpoints to complete strangers.” In this way, buttons were (and still are) a particularly democratic form of political propaganda.
As button collector, John Aisthorpe, has put it, buttons offer “a little snapshot of history.” During the 1960s, buttons were vital to the visual identity of a range of movements. “There were many protest groups who put their views on buttons,” Aisthorpe recalls, “from the early ’60s with the Free Speech Movement (FSM) to the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and, later, the Veterans for Peace, the Fifth Avenue Vietnam Peace Parade Committee, and the Yippies.” The political impact of buttons in the 1960s is hard to gauge, though their popularity suggests some modicum of significance. And, as Aisthorpe has asserted, “It’s hard to say what impact they had, but the text of buttons worn at protests were often used as antiwar chants, like ‘Hell no, we won’t go!’… They must have had some effect.” The buttons of the 1960s have remained some of the most enduring relics from this important past.
This collection includes buttons from a wide array of movements from the Sixties, including the student movement, civil rights and Black Power movements, women's liberation, environmentalism, the anti-nuclear movement, gay liberation, electoral politics, the Chicano movement, the labor movement and the counterculture, with a strong emphasis on the anti-war movement. In addition, a few buttons date from Roz Payne’s activist efforts in the 1970s and 1980s, including the early political campaigns of Vermont politician, Bernie Sanders.
Physical Object
An inanimate, three-dimensional object or substance. Note that digital representations of, or surrogates for, these objects should use Moving Image, Still Image, Text or one of the other types.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Attica
Description
An account of the resource
The Attica Prison uprising, which took place in upstate New York in September of 1971, was the largest prison rebellion since the Civil War. During the late-1960s and early-1970s, a prisoner’s rights movement emerged across the U.S. At the Attica Correctional Facility near Buffalo, prisoners complained about chronic overcrowding, censorship of letters, poor living conditions that limited them to one shower per week and one roll of toilet paper each month. Puerto Rican and African American prisoners, who made up a majority of the inmate population received especially harsh and discriminatory treatment, including the lowest-paying jobs, racial harassment and violence from the primarily white guards. Emboldened by the spirit of the Black Power movement and radical ideology, some inmates saw themselves as “political prisoners.”
As their demands continued to go unmet, the situation at Attica became increasingly volatile. On the morning of September 9, 1971, a small group of prisoners overpowered guards, spurring a more wide-spread uprising at the prison. In the initial chaos, Correction Officer, William Quinn, was badly beaten and thrown out a second floor window, which resulted in his death a few days later. Ultimately, a group of inmate leaders restored order within the prison and began negotiating with outside authorities, including Governor Nelson Rockefeller, through intermediaries that included noted civil rights attorney, William Kunstler, and New York Times columnist, Tom Wicker. Prisoners also requested Louis Farrakhan, from the Nation of Islam, but he refused. One leader of the prisoners, 21-year old, L.D. Barkley, famously said in an early statement, “We are men! We are not beasts and we do not intend to be beaten or driven as such. The entire prison populace, that means each and every one of us here, have set forth to change forever the ruthless brutalization and disregard for the lives of the prisoners here and throughout the United States. What has happened here is but the sound before the fury of those who are oppressed. We will not compromise on any terms except those terms that are agreeable to us. We’ve called upon all the conscientious citizens of America to assist us in putting an end to this situation that threatens the lives of not only us, but of each and every one of you, as well.” Prisoners issued a list of demands, such as better education and food quality, fair visitation rights, improved medical treatment and sanitation, less mail censorship, more religious freedom, fairer disciplinary and parole processes, an end to brutality from guards and, most controversially, amnesty for crimes committed in the course of the riot itself.
Gov. Nelson A Rockefeller refused to visit the prison during the take-over, instead breaking off negotiations and ordering state troopers and guards to retake Attica by force. During the siege, law enforcement shot indiscriminately, killing 9 of 42 hostages, as well as 33 prisoners. Retaliation against inmates by prison authorities was pervasive, including beatings, torture, burning, and sexual abuse. Evidence suggests Barkley initially surrendered along with other prisoners, but that officers searched him out then shot him in the back.
The New York State Special Commission on Attica later wrote, "With the exception of Indian massacres in the late 19th century, the State Police assault which ended the four-day prison uprising was the bloodiest one-day encounter between Americans since the Civil War." The rebellion at Attica did ultimately result in some modest prison reform, including a grievance procedure and more regular communication between prison authorities and prisoner representatives. In addition, lawyers successfully defended the prisoners who were indicted after the uprising and many years later obtained $8 million from the state for some of the survivors and the families of the dead. Similarly, the State of New York agreed to a $12 million settlement with the families of slain prison employees.
In the decades since, the Attica uprising has continued to carry political and cultural currency, referenced in books, film, television, music and poetry. According to Heather Ann Thompson, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning 2016 book, Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy, the tragedy at Attica “shows the nation that even the most marginalized citizens will never stop fighting to be treated as human beings. It testifies to this irrepressible demand for justice. This is Attica’s legacy.”
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Roz Payne
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Center for Digital Research in the Humanities, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1971
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Button
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Physical Object
Subject
The topic of the resource
Prisoner's Rights Movement and Black Power
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
unknown
Attica Prison Riot
Black Power
Heather Ann Thompson
L.D. Barkley
Louis Farrakhan
Nation of Islam
Nelson Rockefeller
New York State Special Commission on Attica
Prison Reform
Tom Wicker
uprising
William Kunstler
William Quinn