1970-Student Demonstration - John Hutchinson
- [silence]
Description
May 1970 was a time of high campus unrest, following closely after the killing of anti-war protesters at Kent State University. Early on the morning of May 5th, the Air Force ROTC barracks on Tulane’s campus was set on fire. Two spent Molotov cocktails were found on the ground floor of the building and arson was suspected, but no one was ever charged. Later, the day's events included a memorial service that was overshadowed by a violent clash between several hundred anti-war students and a group of Tulane athletes and members of the right-wing group Young Americans for Freedom who disagreed over lowering the flag to half-staff in memory of slain students at Kent State University. Sporadic fistfights broke out which campus security squelched; ultimately, the university administration ordered that the flag be lowered. This color film without sound, shot by student John Hutchinson on May 5, 1970, documents the memorial service and events at the Newcomb flagpole. This film begins in the morning and shows Mike Levy (Arts & Sciences 1970) dousing an effigy of Richard Nixon with lighter fluid and setting it alight, while another student speaks and the student photographers (Mike Smith) cover the action. Symbolic graves that had been dug are uncovered. Several students speak, followed by a woman (Jeannine Herron). The crowds then move towards the Newcomb flagpole. The camera is repositioned to a higher vantage point to capture the scuffles between the students and administrators (Henry Mason, John McDowell, Jesse Morgan) as policemen walk through crowd. {See "1970-Campus Disturbance" for edited footage of the Newcomb flagpole event}. The flag is eventually lowered and the crowd cheers. The film cuts back to the original University Center balcony vantage point to resume coverage of the afternoon memorial service, continuing with footage of students and priests speaking at the podium, images of the coffins, the graves, crosses on the quad, the crowds sitting peacefully or standing and praying, another effigy of President Nixon that is again lit on fire, other students speaking (Collins Vallee, Mike Levy), and students filling in the graves at the end of the film. Shot on double-perf color reversal. B-wind. Ektachrome stock with 1970 Kodak date code.