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Welcome to the Freedom Archives' Digital Search Engine.The Freedom Archives contains over 12,000 hours of audio and video recordings which date from the late-1960s to the mid-90s and chronicle the progressive history of the Bay Area, the United States, and international movements. We are also in the process of scanning and uploading thousands of historical documents which enrich our media holdings. Our collection includes weekly news, poetry, music programs; in-depth interviews and reports on social and cultural issues; numerous voices from behind prison walls; diverse activists; and pamphlets, journals and other materials from many radical organizations and movements.

Attica Prison Rebellion

On September 9, 1971, 1289 prisoners at Attica Penitentiary in New York, rose up, took 38 guards hostage, and seized D-Yard and D-Block. For four days the Black, Latino, Native American, and white prisoners formed a united front and took control of their own lives while trying to negotiate with Commissioner Russell Oswald in an effort to eliminate the inhuman, brutal conditions in the prison.Commissioner Oswald acknowledged the 28 demands made by the prisoners but refused to grant them amnesty. On the fifth day, September 13, 1971, the Governor of New York, Nelson Rockefeller--who had refused to visit Attica and take part in negotiations--ordered an invasion that resulted in the murder of 43 men--prisoners and hostages--by the New York State Troopers.

While awaiting trial, prisoners involved in the rebellion were either sent to a different prison or remained at Attica and were brutally beaten and tortured by prison guards. 80 of the alleged leaders in the rebellion were held in 24 hour solitary confinement. After 15 months of investigating the rebellion and massacre, the Special Attica Grand Jury returned 37 sealed indictments against 60 Attica Brothers--46 of them Black, 8 White, 5 Latino, and 1 Native American. The indicted brothers were charged with alleged crimes committed during the rebellion. These 60 Attica Brothers faced over 1300 felony accusations and a combined 60,000 years imprisonment from racked up charges ranging from possession of a prison key to murder. No prison employees or officials of the state were indicted for their crimes on September 13, 1971.

This collection contains extensive audio resources from which our CD documentary The Attica Rebellion is derived. It also includes the video Attica is All of Us. The robust audio resources are complemented by paper documents focusing on the rebellion, its causes, and its aftermath. With recent additions to the collection, we are able to present the history of the Attica Rebellion through the perspectives the Attica Brothers, their families, and supporters. It now contains the narratives of the Attica Brothers in their attempt to seek truth and justice in the aftermath of the rebellion.



Documents

Attica: Chronology of Events 1971-1974 Attica: Chronology of Events 1971-1974
Publisher: Attica Brothers Legal DefenseCall Number: Format: MonographCollection: Attica Prison Rebellion
A detailed chronology of events leading up to, during, and following the Attica Rebellion.
Attica Since the Massacre Attica Since the Massacre
Publisher: Prisoner Solidarity CommitteeDate: 9/30/1971Call Number: Format: PeriodicalCollection: Attica Prison Rebellion
Second 8-page newsletter on Attica. Attica executions, terror, continue; Oppressed bury their Attica Dead; Prison Rebellions erupt nationwide; Attica Liberation Faction Statement; Hassan of Auburn Six Speaks; Rockefeller's Other Massacre (Ludlow Colorado, 1914); Bail Fund Women Aid Imprisoned Sisters; Women Prisoners rebel in West Virginia; more.
Prisoners Solidarity Committee No. 3 Prisoners Solidarity Committee No. 3
Publisher: Prisoner Solidarity CommitteeDate: 11/3/1971Call Number: Volume Number: No. 3Format: PeriodicalCollection: Attica Prison Rebellion
Why We Say... Tear the Prisons Down!; Attica ex-inmate Explains rebellion; Sharean of Auburn Six reveals Attica terror; more.