It’s no secret that the New York City Police Department conducted surveillance during the 1960s-70s. Any and every individual or organization that challenged the administration was a focus. The surveillance records collected during that period of time are now on view, in the exhibit, Unlikely Historians: Materials Collected by NYPD Surveillance Teams, 1960-1975.
The New York City Department of Records will hold a final event on April 26th, exploring the history and continued impact of The Young Lords.
This final event, Young Lords – History and Impact will take place on Thursday, April 26 from 5:30-8:30pm at the NYC Department of Records, The Municipal Archives, 31 Chambers Street, Suite 111/Rebecca Rankin Reading Room (Free with RSVP). The program includes newly digitized police surveillance footage of the Young Lords from the collections of the Municipal Archives, and a screening of filmmaker Iris Morales’ documentary ¡Palante Siempre Palante!: The Young Lord. This will be followed by a panel discussion with Dr. Miguel Melendez and Professor Denise Oliver-Velez (SUNY New Paltz), moderated by Professor Johanna Fernandez.
Read more about the exhibit below.
Much of the information that is part of surveillance during this period in time was gathered by the Bureau of Special Services and Investigation, also known as BOSSI or Special Services Division. Their focus was on immigrants, labor leaders, Nazi supporters, socialists, anarchists, activists, and communists ~ those who participated in a wide range of political activities including civil rights, poverty, anti-war, and feminist issues.
The Municipal Archives acquired BOSSI records as a result of Handschu v. Special Services Division class action settlement of 1985. This documentation of one of our country’s most turbulent times includes such events as the 1967 march organized by the Spring Mobilization Committee to end the War in Vietnam, documentation on the activities of the Minutemen and the Weather Underground (Weathermen), with photos of the ruins of a West Village townhouse destroyed in 1970 (image below). Anti-nuclear activism, feminist and gay liberation causes, and also class issues like education, fair pay, tenant’s rights, prisoner’s rights, and safe working conditions.
Also on view are photographs of the 1967 antiwar demonstration in Central Park, a 1968 protest at Columbia University. There is also film footage of the first Earth Day march and a rally held by the Nation of Islam.
Unlikely Historians: Materials Collected by NYPD Surveillance Teams, 1960-1975 will be on view at the Municipal Archives Gallery, NYC Department of Records & Information Services, 31 Chambers Street, to April 30, 2018. The gallery is open for viewing Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday from 9am to 4:30pm, and on Thursday from 9am to 7pm.
