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Welcome 10 00:00:32,280 --> 00:00:35,080 Speaker 1: to Stuff you missed in History Class from how Stuff 11 00:00:35,080 --> 00:00:45,000 Speaker 1: Works dot com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm 12 00:00:45,040 --> 00:00:51,360 Speaker 1: Tracey V. Wilson and I'm Holly Fry. On September people 13 00:00:51,479 --> 00:00:54,440 Speaker 1: incarcerated in prisons all around the United States went on 14 00:00:54,640 --> 00:00:58,800 Speaker 1: strike to protest, among other things, forced and virtually unpaid labor. 15 00:00:58,880 --> 00:01:01,480 Speaker 1: And a lot of the parts about this strike in 16 00:01:01,520 --> 00:01:04,800 Speaker 1: the news, I mean, they've varied very widely widely in 17 00:01:04,920 --> 00:01:07,039 Speaker 1: terms of the scope and the size of the strike, 18 00:01:07,560 --> 00:01:11,200 Speaker 1: but one thing they have in common is that, seemingly unanimously, 19 00:01:11,319 --> 00:01:14,560 Speaker 1: they mentioned that September nine was the anniversary of the 20 00:01:14,600 --> 00:01:17,600 Speaker 1: start of the Attica prison uprising, and then that's basically 21 00:01:17,680 --> 00:01:21,480 Speaker 1: all they say about that Attica is a well known 22 00:01:21,560 --> 00:01:23,440 Speaker 1: enough name that a lot of people do know that 23 00:01:23,480 --> 00:01:26,119 Speaker 1: there was some kind of massive and violent incident there 24 00:01:26,160 --> 00:01:28,680 Speaker 1: and that it ended really horribly. But unless you've done 25 00:01:28,680 --> 00:01:32,360 Speaker 1: a deeper study of the justice system or civil rights history, 26 00:01:32,400 --> 00:01:36,119 Speaker 1: that or maybe pop culture references to the Attica chant 27 00:01:36,200 --> 00:01:39,440 Speaker 1: from Dog Day Afternoon, which even that I had to 28 00:01:39,440 --> 00:01:42,520 Speaker 1: look up which movie that was from, Like I've heard 29 00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:44,680 Speaker 1: people chant Attica and not even I had to go 30 00:01:44,760 --> 00:01:48,680 Speaker 1: figure out, like, yeah, well, I'm thinking there's also a 31 00:01:48,720 --> 00:01:51,520 Speaker 1: cartoon that used to run on up N and then 32 00:01:51,560 --> 00:01:54,160 Speaker 1: cartoon Network called Home Movies, and they did an Attica 33 00:01:54,240 --> 00:01:57,880 Speaker 1: chant in it, But it probably is referencing that day 34 00:01:57,880 --> 00:02:01,720 Speaker 1: after that and that, so that pop culture reference might 35 00:02:01,720 --> 00:02:04,880 Speaker 1: be where that knowledge ends for folks too. I mean, 36 00:02:04,880 --> 00:02:07,640 Speaker 1: my informal poll found a lot of people who had 37 00:02:07,640 --> 00:02:09,880 Speaker 1: the basic sense something bad happened, but not at any 38 00:02:09,880 --> 00:02:12,480 Speaker 1: of the details. So we're gonna fill in some gaps 39 00:02:12,639 --> 00:02:16,640 Speaker 1: today and next time. Even at two parts, I want 40 00:02:16,639 --> 00:02:20,640 Speaker 1: to stress this is really an overview. Whenever we do 41 00:02:20,760 --> 00:02:23,000 Speaker 1: something that by nature has to be an overview, like 42 00:02:23,080 --> 00:02:25,200 Speaker 1: we have, we'll get lots of letters that sailed something 43 00:02:25,200 --> 00:02:26,960 Speaker 1: along the lines of you missed this and this, and 44 00:02:27,120 --> 00:02:30,720 Speaker 1: I'm just The official report of the New York State 45 00:02:30,800 --> 00:02:33,480 Speaker 1: Special Commission on Attica is five hundred and seventy four 46 00:02:33,480 --> 00:02:36,520 Speaker 1: pages long, and heather An Thompson's Blood in the Water, 47 00:02:36,600 --> 00:02:39,120 Speaker 1: which is an incredibly thorough history of the uprising that 48 00:02:39,280 --> 00:02:43,600 Speaker 1: just came out in August seven and fifty two pages long. 49 00:02:43,919 --> 00:02:48,480 Speaker 1: My original outline for this it was like ten thousand 50 00:02:48,480 --> 00:02:50,400 Speaker 1: words long, which is way less than any of that, 51 00:02:50,560 --> 00:02:52,480 Speaker 1: and like I even had to shorten that way down 52 00:02:52,520 --> 00:02:55,600 Speaker 1: to get it into a two part podcast. So this 53 00:02:55,680 --> 00:02:58,800 Speaker 1: is a basic overview, and we're going to look today 54 00:02:59,400 --> 00:03:02,200 Speaker 1: at the condition that made Attica Correctional Facilities so right 55 00:03:02,280 --> 00:03:04,679 Speaker 1: for an uprising, and then in our next episode we 56 00:03:04,720 --> 00:03:07,560 Speaker 1: will talk about what actually happened over those four days 57 00:03:07,560 --> 00:03:11,320 Speaker 1: that started over September nine nine. This is an event 58 00:03:11,360 --> 00:03:15,040 Speaker 1: that really started out confusingly before it became really complicated 59 00:03:15,040 --> 00:03:16,960 Speaker 1: and chaotic, and by the end, I mean, I would 60 00:03:17,160 --> 00:03:23,639 Speaker 1: it's horrific and unconscionable. So be prepared. Attica Correctional Facility 61 00:03:23,680 --> 00:03:27,880 Speaker 1: originally opened in rural upstate New York in nineteen thirty one. 62 00:03:28,200 --> 00:03:30,880 Speaker 1: It was at the time the most expensive prison ever 63 00:03:30,919 --> 00:03:33,480 Speaker 1: built in the United States, with a price tag of 64 00:03:33,520 --> 00:03:37,280 Speaker 1: about nine million dollars. Built in part by labor from 65 00:03:37,320 --> 00:03:41,160 Speaker 1: Auburn Prison about one miles away, Attica was specifically designed 66 00:03:41,200 --> 00:03:44,240 Speaker 1: to mitigate the threat of prison uprisings. There had been 67 00:03:44,280 --> 00:03:48,000 Speaker 1: several high profile incidents across the US in the decade 68 00:03:48,000 --> 00:03:51,560 Speaker 1: before Attica was built, and in addition to its contained 69 00:03:51,600 --> 00:03:54,960 Speaker 1: cell blocks, each isolated within its own yard, it was 70 00:03:55,000 --> 00:03:57,480 Speaker 1: surrounded by a wall that was thirty feet high and 71 00:03:57,520 --> 00:04:01,400 Speaker 1: two ft thick, which extended twelve ft underground and was 72 00:04:01,480 --> 00:04:06,120 Speaker 1: topped by fourteen gun towers. In terms of its overall design, 73 00:04:06,240 --> 00:04:09,760 Speaker 1: Attica followed the same basic model as the first large 74 00:04:09,840 --> 00:04:12,720 Speaker 1: large scale prisons in New York. These were founded in 75 00:04:12,760 --> 00:04:16,200 Speaker 1: the nineteenth century around the idea of rehabilitation through work 76 00:04:16,400 --> 00:04:20,719 Speaker 1: and silent reflection, and the original nineteenth century model, small 77 00:04:20,880 --> 00:04:25,039 Speaker 1: single occupancy cells were primarily used for sleeping from sun 78 00:04:25,120 --> 00:04:28,960 Speaker 1: up to sundown. The incarcerated population worked in silent labor. 79 00:04:29,360 --> 00:04:32,080 Speaker 1: The only day they were mostly confined to their cells 80 00:04:32,120 --> 00:04:35,000 Speaker 1: was really Sunday, which also included an addressed by the 81 00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:39,200 Speaker 1: prison chaplain about the redemptive value of hard work and 82 00:04:39,240 --> 00:04:42,400 Speaker 1: the idea that you can rehabilitate someone by sentencing them 83 00:04:42,440 --> 00:04:45,560 Speaker 1: two years of dawn to dusk. Silent labor had some 84 00:04:45,600 --> 00:04:48,960 Speaker 1: problems of its own, but besides that, in the century 85 00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:51,720 Speaker 1: and a half between those first prisons being built and 86 00:04:51,839 --> 00:04:55,479 Speaker 1: Attica opening its doors, life behind bars in New York 87 00:04:55,600 --> 00:04:58,480 Speaker 1: changed dramatically, but the design and the structure of the 88 00:04:58,520 --> 00:05:02,640 Speaker 1: prisons really didn't. The six by nine foot cells originally 89 00:05:02,680 --> 00:05:05,880 Speaker 1: designed simply to be slept in, were instead used to 90 00:05:05,960 --> 00:05:10,240 Speaker 1: confine people for up to sixteen hours a day. For 91 00:05:10,320 --> 00:05:12,560 Speaker 1: new arrivals at the prison, it was up to twenty 92 00:05:12,560 --> 00:05:15,159 Speaker 1: hours a day for four to eight weeks until their 93 00:05:15,200 --> 00:05:19,880 Speaker 1: processing was complete. Each cell contained a bed, a toilet, 94 00:05:20,000 --> 00:05:23,200 Speaker 1: a sink with cold water, a stool, a small table, 95 00:05:23,400 --> 00:05:26,560 Speaker 1: and a two door cabinet. The only source of warm 96 00:05:26,600 --> 00:05:29,360 Speaker 1: water was a bucket delivered each evening to be used 97 00:05:29,400 --> 00:05:32,960 Speaker 1: for washing up, shaving, cleaning the cell, rensing, clothing, and 98 00:05:33,040 --> 00:05:36,000 Speaker 1: washing any personal items that weren't issued by the prison 99 00:05:36,600 --> 00:05:39,080 Speaker 1: and three of the cell blocks. Each cell had three 100 00:05:39,120 --> 00:05:42,039 Speaker 1: solid windowless walls and one wall that was made of 101 00:05:42,080 --> 00:05:45,320 Speaker 1: iron bars, and the fourth cell block there was one 102 00:05:45,400 --> 00:05:48,120 Speaker 1: small window in the back and the door was solid 103 00:05:48,200 --> 00:05:52,280 Speaker 1: metal metal with a small grilled opening. As a side note, 104 00:05:52,320 --> 00:05:54,680 Speaker 1: there was a fifth cell block by the time that 105 00:05:54,800 --> 00:05:57,840 Speaker 1: this uprising. We're going to talk about happened E Block, 106 00:05:57,960 --> 00:06:01,000 Speaker 1: which was built in nineteen sixty six. How's the Division 107 00:06:01,080 --> 00:06:05,719 Speaker 1: of Vocational Rehabilitation or DVR, which was initially intended to 108 00:06:05,839 --> 00:06:10,800 Speaker 1: provide rehabilitation services for people with physical disabilities during their incarceration. 109 00:06:11,600 --> 00:06:14,320 Speaker 1: Conditions at the DVR were quite different from the rest 110 00:06:14,320 --> 00:06:16,480 Speaker 1: of the prison, and it's really the rest of the 111 00:06:16,520 --> 00:06:20,279 Speaker 1: prison that will be focusing on. Although Attica is a 112 00:06:20,320 --> 00:06:23,880 Speaker 1: maximum security prison and it is actually still in use today, 113 00:06:23,960 --> 00:06:27,360 Speaker 1: that does not mean everyone incarcerated there in nine seventy 114 00:06:27,440 --> 00:06:31,159 Speaker 1: one was a dangerous person who actually needed extra security. 115 00:06:31,320 --> 00:06:34,800 Speaker 1: New York had way more maximum security beds than it 116 00:06:34,839 --> 00:06:38,040 Speaker 1: did medium or or minimum security, and that was especially 117 00:06:38,080 --> 00:06:40,919 Speaker 1: when you compared the amount of space and the prisons 118 00:06:40,960 --> 00:06:44,560 Speaker 1: to the actual rate of convictions for crimes. Also, a 119 00:06:44,600 --> 00:06:47,880 Speaker 1: lot of the lesser security facilities were only open some 120 00:06:47,960 --> 00:06:52,840 Speaker 1: men under the age of thirty, so frequently men incarcerated 121 00:06:52,880 --> 00:06:56,560 Speaker 1: in New York State prisons wound up in maximum security 122 00:06:56,640 --> 00:06:59,080 Speaker 1: no matter what they had done, or how old they were, 123 00:06:59,240 --> 00:07:02,599 Speaker 1: or whether it was their first offense. Attica and other 124 00:07:02,680 --> 00:07:06,800 Speaker 1: maximum security prisons housed men serving short sentences as well 125 00:07:06,800 --> 00:07:09,480 Speaker 1: as ones who were in prison for life for crimes 126 00:07:09,520 --> 00:07:12,840 Speaker 1: that really ranged all over the spectrum. More than half 127 00:07:12,840 --> 00:07:15,480 Speaker 1: of the people in Attica in nineteen seventy one, we're 128 00:07:15,480 --> 00:07:18,760 Speaker 1: serving a maximum sentence of seven years or less, and 129 00:07:18,840 --> 00:07:24,200 Speaker 1: only sixty two had been convicted of violent crimes. Compounding 130 00:07:24,200 --> 00:07:26,920 Speaker 1: this basic issue of math was the way the criminal 131 00:07:26,960 --> 00:07:30,160 Speaker 1: justice system was operating in New York in the seventies. 132 00:07:30,680 --> 00:07:34,400 Speaker 1: Crime had been increasing dramatically in the United States. Between 133 00:07:34,440 --> 00:07:37,800 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty and nineteen seventy, the violent crime rate increased 134 00:07:37,840 --> 00:07:41,080 Speaker 1: a hundred and twenty six percent, and it kept climbing, 135 00:07:41,120 --> 00:07:43,760 Speaker 1: although somewhat more slowly, all the way until the early 136 00:07:43,840 --> 00:07:48,960 Speaker 1: nineteen nineties, before falling pretty consistently. Since nine, people have 137 00:07:49,520 --> 00:07:52,360 Speaker 1: a perception that crime is rampant, but it is actually 138 00:07:52,440 --> 00:07:55,000 Speaker 1: quite lower than it was during the period we're talking about. 139 00:07:56,440 --> 00:07:58,960 Speaker 1: Even though a lot of crime in the sixties and 140 00:07:59,040 --> 00:08:01,960 Speaker 1: seventies went un reported or never led to an arrest, 141 00:08:02,440 --> 00:08:06,560 Speaker 1: the court system in many states was still incredibly overtext, 142 00:08:06,920 --> 00:08:09,520 Speaker 1: and in New York, for example, there were about thirty 143 00:08:09,520 --> 00:08:12,840 Speaker 1: two thousand felony indictments a year, but the courts could 144 00:08:12,840 --> 00:08:16,440 Speaker 1: actually only handle four to five thousand of those. To 145 00:08:16,520 --> 00:08:20,560 Speaker 1: keep this incredibly overloaded system moving, courts relied on plea bargains, 146 00:08:20,600 --> 00:08:22,640 Speaker 1: which is when a person who's charged with a crime 147 00:08:22,800 --> 00:08:25,800 Speaker 1: enters a guilty plea, usually in exchange for a lesser 148 00:08:25,880 --> 00:08:29,360 Speaker 1: charge or more lenient sentencing. If you watch a lot 149 00:08:29,440 --> 00:08:32,679 Speaker 1: of today's crime dramas on TV, which I mean to 150 00:08:32,720 --> 00:08:35,440 Speaker 1: be honest, those are my guilty pleasure. When I'm traveling, 151 00:08:36,520 --> 00:08:41,080 Speaker 1: I'm often even maybe most of the time. Plea bargains 152 00:08:41,120 --> 00:08:44,360 Speaker 1: are presented as the defendant's best option and a good 153 00:08:44,360 --> 00:08:48,120 Speaker 1: way to get a shorter sentence guaranteed instead of running 154 00:08:48,120 --> 00:08:51,640 Speaker 1: the risk of a longer sentence at trial. That was 155 00:08:51,720 --> 00:08:55,640 Speaker 1: not at all the sentiment among people facing criminal charges 156 00:08:55,760 --> 00:08:58,480 Speaker 1: or prison time in New York in the seventies, the 157 00:08:58,559 --> 00:09:03,120 Speaker 1: state's reliance on plea bargaining was viewed as hypocritical and dishonest, 158 00:09:03,200 --> 00:09:06,520 Speaker 1: as though the state was not actually interested in justice 159 00:09:06,559 --> 00:09:10,400 Speaker 1: but was just trying to clear its plate. Plea bargains 160 00:09:10,440 --> 00:09:13,720 Speaker 1: also led to people getting wildly different punishments for the 161 00:09:13,840 --> 00:09:17,400 Speaker 1: same exact behavior, and to people who really had committed 162 00:09:17,400 --> 00:09:20,680 Speaker 1: more serious crimes pleading to a much lesser offense and 163 00:09:20,720 --> 00:09:24,640 Speaker 1: then being incarcerated with people whose crimes were relatively minor. 164 00:09:25,320 --> 00:09:28,920 Speaker 1: These disparities, and many others related to race, culture, and 165 00:09:29,000 --> 00:09:32,880 Speaker 1: economic class, made people moving through the criminal justice system 166 00:09:33,000 --> 00:09:38,400 Speaker 1: incredibly cynical long before being sentenced to prison. In nineteen 167 00:09:38,480 --> 00:09:42,240 Speaker 1: seventy one, about two thousand, two hundred men were incarcerated 168 00:09:42,240 --> 00:09:46,600 Speaker 1: at Attica. Percent were black, thirty seven percent were white, 169 00:09:46,679 --> 00:09:49,680 Speaker 1: and eight point seven percent spoke only Spanish, with the 170 00:09:49,720 --> 00:09:54,600 Speaker 1: Spanish speaking population being predominantly Puerto Rican. Eighty percent of 171 00:09:54,640 --> 00:09:57,839 Speaker 1: the people incarcerated had not finished high school, and most 172 00:09:57,880 --> 00:10:01,760 Speaker 1: of them were from impoverished areas in New York's major cities. 173 00:10:02,520 --> 00:10:05,200 Speaker 1: And we're gonna talk about what life was like at Attica, 174 00:10:05,520 --> 00:10:07,640 Speaker 1: but first we're gonna pause and have a word from 175 00:10:07,640 --> 00:10:12,320 Speaker 1: one of our sponsors. So you know, yesterday I took 176 00:10:12,320 --> 00:10:16,120 Speaker 1: a seven am flight back from a wedding. Uh. 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Go 205 00:11:35,760 --> 00:11:40,640 Speaker 1: to me Andy's dot com slash history right now for 206 00:11:41,440 --> 00:11:46,560 Speaker 1: off your first order. That's me Andy's dot com slash history. 207 00:11:49,200 --> 00:11:52,400 Speaker 1: To get back to Attica. In New York, as in 208 00:11:52,480 --> 00:11:55,520 Speaker 1: many states, the prison system is part of the Department 209 00:11:55,559 --> 00:11:58,800 Speaker 1: of Corrections, and in the years just before the uprising 210 00:11:58,880 --> 00:12:01,200 Speaker 1: New York and this depart men had actually changed the 211 00:12:01,280 --> 00:12:04,560 Speaker 1: language that used to talk about the prison system. Prison 212 00:12:04,679 --> 00:12:11,040 Speaker 1: became correctional facility. Guard became correctional officer, warden became superintendent, 213 00:12:11,200 --> 00:12:14,040 Speaker 1: and so on. But these changes were really in name only. 214 00:12:14,520 --> 00:12:18,480 Speaker 1: The department was not really focused on correction or rehabilitation, 215 00:12:18,640 --> 00:12:23,560 Speaker 1: especially in maximum security. What the primary purpose was was 216 00:12:23,760 --> 00:12:28,560 Speaker 1: keeping people securely confined to prison. Conditions at Attica and 217 00:12:28,760 --> 00:12:32,760 Speaker 1: New York's other maximum security prisons were degrading and they 218 00:12:32,760 --> 00:12:36,560 Speaker 1: were dehumanizing. Some of the prisons practices were humiliating on 219 00:12:36,600 --> 00:12:39,480 Speaker 1: their own, and others were smaller day to day and 220 00:12:39,520 --> 00:12:42,680 Speaker 1: dignities that eventually added up. It can be easy to 221 00:12:42,679 --> 00:12:45,040 Speaker 1: think along the lines of well, prison is not supposed 222 00:12:45,080 --> 00:12:48,160 Speaker 1: to be fun, but this didn't make prisons safer or 223 00:12:48,200 --> 00:12:51,560 Speaker 1: more efficient or more effective. These conditions did nothing to 224 00:12:51,640 --> 00:12:53,920 Speaker 1: lower the rate of crime or reduce the rate of 225 00:12:53,960 --> 00:12:58,480 Speaker 1: recidivism after people were released, and some even encouraged ongoing 226 00:12:58,480 --> 00:13:02,880 Speaker 1: criminal behavior while in incarcerated. If you if you feel 227 00:13:02,880 --> 00:13:05,920 Speaker 1: like prisons point is to make people miserable for a 228 00:13:05,960 --> 00:13:08,360 Speaker 1: period of years and then put them back into society 229 00:13:08,440 --> 00:13:10,880 Speaker 1: with less than they had before, they were doing a 230 00:13:10,920 --> 00:13:15,640 Speaker 1: great job. But if you feel like prison should help 231 00:13:15,760 --> 00:13:19,640 Speaker 1: overall lower the incidents of crime, it was not helpful. 232 00:13:20,640 --> 00:13:22,880 Speaker 1: For the most part. What the conditions that the prisons 233 00:13:23,000 --> 00:13:26,520 Speaker 1: did guarantee was that people re entered society after their 234 00:13:26,520 --> 00:13:29,440 Speaker 1: release with fewer resources and fewer job skills than they 235 00:13:29,480 --> 00:13:33,360 Speaker 1: had before they were incarcerated. And it also came along 236 00:13:33,400 --> 00:13:36,560 Speaker 1: with an even greater degree of cynicism and bitterness towards 237 00:13:36,600 --> 00:13:40,040 Speaker 1: the justice system based on the experiences of being imprisoned, 238 00:13:40,679 --> 00:13:43,960 Speaker 1: and a lot of these humiliating into humanizing and really 239 00:13:44,040 --> 00:13:48,280 Speaker 1: counterproductive conditions were the ones that specifically became a part 240 00:13:48,320 --> 00:13:52,040 Speaker 1: of the negotiations during the Attica uprising in ninety were 241 00:13:52,040 --> 00:13:54,920 Speaker 1: coin of kind of walk through what some of these were. 242 00:13:55,520 --> 00:13:58,680 Speaker 1: So if you were incarcerated at Attica, your life was 243 00:13:58,720 --> 00:14:02,920 Speaker 1: governed by a set of rule that seemed arbitrary and petty. 244 00:14:02,960 --> 00:14:05,480 Speaker 1: Although there was a rule book, it was not consistently 245 00:14:05,480 --> 00:14:08,480 Speaker 1: distributed to new arrivals, and it didn't actually list all 246 00:14:08,480 --> 00:14:12,040 Speaker 1: the rules, and it wasn't available in Spanish. The most 247 00:14:12,080 --> 00:14:15,400 Speaker 1: common punishment for breaking rules was being quote keep locked 248 00:14:15,760 --> 00:14:18,920 Speaker 1: or completely confined to your cell. As long as you 249 00:14:18,960 --> 00:14:22,120 Speaker 1: weren't keep locked. On a typical weekday, you spent roughly 250 00:14:22,200 --> 00:14:25,480 Speaker 1: eight to ten hours out of your cell. About five 251 00:14:25,560 --> 00:14:28,360 Speaker 1: hours of that time was devoted to work or school. 252 00:14:28,560 --> 00:14:31,960 Speaker 1: School was required for anyone who tested below a fifth 253 00:14:31,960 --> 00:14:35,640 Speaker 1: grade education when they were incarcerated at the prison. The 254 00:14:35,680 --> 00:14:38,040 Speaker 1: rest of the time outside of a cell was devoted 255 00:14:38,080 --> 00:14:40,440 Speaker 1: mainly to meals and an hour or two in the 256 00:14:40,480 --> 00:14:43,520 Speaker 1: exercise yard weather permitting time, and the yard was a 257 00:14:43,560 --> 00:14:47,720 Speaker 1: little longer on weekends because work assignments weren't happening. Many 258 00:14:47,800 --> 00:14:50,440 Speaker 1: of the work assignments were tasks that basically kept the 259 00:14:50,480 --> 00:14:54,320 Speaker 1: prison running, such as janitorial work, or making and serving food, 260 00:14:54,520 --> 00:14:59,000 Speaker 1: or making uniforms, keeping the grounds, unloading deliveries, in the like. 261 00:14:59,720 --> 00:15:03,000 Speaker 1: Pay for most positions was about thirty cents a day. 262 00:15:03,320 --> 00:15:05,480 Speaker 1: There were also a few jobs that were created in 263 00:15:05,600 --> 00:15:08,960 Speaker 1: part with the idea of providing workplace skills for a 264 00:15:09,000 --> 00:15:12,400 Speaker 1: productive return to society. One of these was in the 265 00:15:12,440 --> 00:15:15,720 Speaker 1: metal shop, which made shelves and other furniture for sale 266 00:15:15,760 --> 00:15:20,800 Speaker 1: to other state agencies. Regardless of where in the prison 267 00:15:20,840 --> 00:15:25,000 Speaker 1: you worked, there were probably way more incarcerated men assigned 268 00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:27,200 Speaker 1: to the job than were actually needed to do it. 269 00:15:27,360 --> 00:15:29,680 Speaker 1: This is a practice that was commonly described at the 270 00:15:29,720 --> 00:15:32,320 Speaker 1: time as feather betting, which is not a word I 271 00:15:32,320 --> 00:15:35,320 Speaker 1: had heard before researching this. Feather Betting meant that a 272 00:15:35,360 --> 00:15:38,720 Speaker 1: lot of the work was actually pointless, busy work, or 273 00:15:38,800 --> 00:15:42,240 Speaker 1: redoing something that had already been done, like remopping the 274 00:15:42,280 --> 00:15:46,240 Speaker 1: same stretch of floor you had literally just mopped. You 275 00:15:46,440 --> 00:15:49,960 Speaker 1: would have no privacy, not even for using the bathroom, 276 00:15:50,000 --> 00:15:52,320 Speaker 1: even though you had to conduct visits with your family 277 00:15:52,440 --> 00:15:55,720 Speaker 1: through a mesh screen. You would be strip searched before 278 00:15:55,760 --> 00:15:59,440 Speaker 1: and after, and that search included an examination of your 279 00:15:59,480 --> 00:16:02,640 Speaker 1: genitals and body cavities. So if you wanted to talk 280 00:16:02,680 --> 00:16:06,640 Speaker 1: to your mom through a screen, you have to have 281 00:16:06,680 --> 00:16:10,440 Speaker 1: a body cavity search before and after. With only a 282 00:16:10,440 --> 00:16:13,880 Speaker 1: few exceptions, you only got to shower about once a week, 283 00:16:13,920 --> 00:16:16,640 Speaker 1: and you were allotted one roll of toilet paper and 284 00:16:16,760 --> 00:16:19,960 Speaker 1: one bar of soap per month. You could buy more 285 00:16:20,000 --> 00:16:22,720 Speaker 1: at the commissary, along with other basic necessities, but the 286 00:16:22,760 --> 00:16:26,400 Speaker 1: commissaries prices did not reflect the fact that you probably 287 00:16:26,440 --> 00:16:29,760 Speaker 1: only made thirty cents a day. The commissary was also 288 00:16:29,880 --> 00:16:32,520 Speaker 1: prone to running out of stock, and since your commissary 289 00:16:32,600 --> 00:16:35,600 Speaker 1: day cycled through the whole prison before starting back at 290 00:16:35,600 --> 00:16:37,880 Speaker 1: the beginning of the list, if they were out when 291 00:16:37,880 --> 00:16:40,080 Speaker 1: you needed something, it could be quite a while before 292 00:16:40,080 --> 00:16:43,440 Speaker 1: you even got another chance. Unless you could afford to 293 00:16:43,520 --> 00:16:46,760 Speaker 1: buy lots of food from the commissary, and the commissary 294 00:16:46,800 --> 00:16:48,480 Speaker 1: had what you needed when it was your turn to 295 00:16:48,520 --> 00:16:51,400 Speaker 1: make a purchase, you didn't get enough to eat. The 296 00:16:51,440 --> 00:16:56,240 Speaker 1: food at Attica was not sufficient to meet federal dietary standards. Also, 297 00:16:56,320 --> 00:16:58,800 Speaker 1: the commissaries sold lots of food that was meant to 298 00:16:58,800 --> 00:17:02,600 Speaker 1: be heated, like can soup and instant coffee, but methods 299 00:17:02,640 --> 00:17:06,359 Speaker 1: to heat that food were not allowed. Because of the 300 00:17:06,400 --> 00:17:09,199 Speaker 1: big disparity between the prices at the commissary and the 301 00:17:09,280 --> 00:17:12,040 Speaker 1: rates of pay, unless your family could afford to send 302 00:17:12,040 --> 00:17:14,560 Speaker 1: you money, you were probably going to make ends meet 303 00:17:14,600 --> 00:17:19,119 Speaker 1: through hustling that might involve, among other things, trading cigarettes 304 00:17:19,119 --> 00:17:22,560 Speaker 1: for services that were part of your prison work, smuggling contraband, 305 00:17:22,920 --> 00:17:27,200 Speaker 1: making moonshine, drawing and selling explicit artwork, and sex work. 306 00:17:28,040 --> 00:17:30,720 Speaker 1: If you got sick or hurt, your treatment was likely 307 00:17:30,800 --> 00:17:33,960 Speaker 1: to be delivered in a callous and even insulting way. 308 00:17:34,040 --> 00:17:36,080 Speaker 1: For example, if you said you had a headache, the 309 00:17:36,160 --> 00:17:39,240 Speaker 1: doctor might ask you how you knew you had one. 310 00:17:40,000 --> 00:17:42,960 Speaker 1: Because there definitely were people who faked illness to try 311 00:17:43,000 --> 00:17:45,479 Speaker 1: to get out of work, the medical staff generally treated 312 00:17:45,560 --> 00:17:48,600 Speaker 1: everyone as though that's what they were doing. Care was 313 00:17:48,680 --> 00:17:52,720 Speaker 1: mostly limited to treating excruciating pain and preventing the spread 314 00:17:52,720 --> 00:17:57,080 Speaker 1: of contagious disease through the prison. Preventative care was non existent, 315 00:17:57,160 --> 00:18:01,680 Speaker 1: and care for chronic conditions was extremely limited. Vacancies among 316 00:18:01,720 --> 00:18:05,200 Speaker 1: critical medical staff were also extremely slow to be filled, 317 00:18:05,560 --> 00:18:07,800 Speaker 1: and in the meantime, the prison just did without them 318 00:18:07,800 --> 00:18:11,439 Speaker 1: when there was no one there. If you needed psychological 319 00:18:11,480 --> 00:18:14,240 Speaker 1: care or treatment for a substance addiction, there was virtually 320 00:18:14,280 --> 00:18:17,879 Speaker 1: none available, with the psychiatric staff mostly being devoted to 321 00:18:17,920 --> 00:18:21,760 Speaker 1: parole hearings and appointments for other purposes, filling up months 322 00:18:21,800 --> 00:18:25,320 Speaker 1: in advance dentil care was also minimal, with many people 323 00:18:25,359 --> 00:18:30,280 Speaker 1: eventually losing teeth due to a lack of adequate care. Recreation, 324 00:18:30,400 --> 00:18:33,280 Speaker 1: of course, was limited by the weather. Winters in this 325 00:18:33,359 --> 00:18:36,120 Speaker 1: part of New York are harsh, and the only recreational 326 00:18:36,160 --> 00:18:39,639 Speaker 1: facility was the exercise yard, where you could spend between 327 00:18:39,640 --> 00:18:41,840 Speaker 1: an hour to an hour and a half on weekdays 328 00:18:42,280 --> 00:18:44,280 Speaker 1: and up to six hours or so on the weekend. 329 00:18:44,840 --> 00:18:48,600 Speaker 1: Each yard also had one television, though the yard's capacity 330 00:18:48,760 --> 00:18:52,600 Speaker 1: was about five hundred people. At night, you were locked 331 00:18:52,640 --> 00:18:54,880 Speaker 1: in your cell at five fifty pm and you were 332 00:18:54,880 --> 00:18:58,600 Speaker 1: allowed to talk and sail eight pm. UH. This was 333 00:18:58,640 --> 00:19:00,959 Speaker 1: generally quite loud because your method of talking to your 334 00:19:00,960 --> 00:19:05,119 Speaker 1: neighbors was basically by shouting. After eight p m, silence 335 00:19:05,200 --> 00:19:08,960 Speaker 1: was mandatory, and lights out was at eleven. The prison radio, 336 00:19:09,119 --> 00:19:11,720 Speaker 1: which you listened to through headphones that plugged into your cell, 337 00:19:12,320 --> 00:19:15,800 Speaker 1: ran until midnight. If your behavior was good enough, you 338 00:19:15,840 --> 00:19:19,080 Speaker 1: could get a hobby permit and order craft supplies, which 339 00:19:19,119 --> 00:19:21,800 Speaker 1: you could work with in your cell during those hours. 340 00:19:22,320 --> 00:19:25,000 Speaker 1: You can also work on your own legal defense using 341 00:19:25,040 --> 00:19:28,200 Speaker 1: information from the prisons small law library that you had 342 00:19:28,240 --> 00:19:30,879 Speaker 1: to copy by hand, since the law books could not 343 00:19:31,000 --> 00:19:33,639 Speaker 1: leave the library. If you had the money, you can 344 00:19:33,800 --> 00:19:36,920 Speaker 1: enroll in a correspondence school and study in your cell. 345 00:19:37,640 --> 00:19:40,240 Speaker 1: So apart from this physical confinement and all these other 346 00:19:40,280 --> 00:19:42,320 Speaker 1: things that came along with it, there was also a 347 00:19:42,320 --> 00:19:46,200 Speaker 1: lot of restriction on information entering and leaving the prison, 348 00:19:46,640 --> 00:19:51,359 Speaker 1: both personal letters and media. Sensors went through all incoming 349 00:19:51,359 --> 00:19:55,320 Speaker 1: and outgoing mail except for legally protected legal correspondence and 350 00:19:55,359 --> 00:19:59,200 Speaker 1: that had been implemented by court order. The sensors could 351 00:19:59,240 --> 00:20:02,280 Speaker 1: reject out going mail for a variety of reasons, and 352 00:20:02,480 --> 00:20:07,600 Speaker 1: including talking about prison news, quote, begging for packages or money, 353 00:20:07,760 --> 00:20:12,200 Speaker 1: talking to the press, and not quote sticking to your subject. 354 00:20:12,520 --> 00:20:16,760 Speaker 1: So you can imagine that last point was incredibly subjective. Also, 355 00:20:17,000 --> 00:20:20,199 Speaker 1: you were only allowed to correspond with your immediate family, 356 00:20:20,280 --> 00:20:23,560 Speaker 1: and the definition of immediate family did not include common 357 00:20:23,640 --> 00:20:26,919 Speaker 1: law spouses, which meant that more than twenty of the 358 00:20:26,920 --> 00:20:30,040 Speaker 1: prisons Black and Puerto Rican populations could not write to 359 00:20:30,080 --> 00:20:35,440 Speaker 1: their spouse. Up until November twenty five, nine seventy, English 360 00:20:35,560 --> 00:20:38,760 Speaker 1: was the only language allowed for mail entering or leaving 361 00:20:38,760 --> 00:20:44,000 Speaker 1: the prison. Mail in Spanish was often simply discarded. After 362 00:20:44,040 --> 00:20:46,760 Speaker 1: this nineteen seventy change in the rules, there was still 363 00:20:46,840 --> 00:20:50,840 Speaker 1: no Spanish speaking censor, though, so translating incoming mail became 364 00:20:50,880 --> 00:20:53,719 Speaker 1: a prison work assignment, with the mail being held for 365 00:20:53,840 --> 00:20:56,720 Speaker 1: up to two weeks before being handed off for translation. 366 00:20:57,359 --> 00:20:59,879 Speaker 1: Outgoing mail still had to be in English, so if 367 00:21:00,119 --> 00:21:03,080 Speaker 1: only spoke Spanish, you had to find someone from your 368 00:21:03,119 --> 00:21:06,520 Speaker 1: part of the cell block to translate for you. All 369 00:21:06,680 --> 00:21:10,680 Speaker 1: radio programs and reading material were also screened and censored, 370 00:21:10,680 --> 00:21:14,119 Speaker 1: and what was available didn't really align with the prisons demographics. 371 00:21:14,119 --> 00:21:16,800 Speaker 1: The rules them seems to be a lot more strict 372 00:21:17,520 --> 00:21:21,480 Speaker 1: uh for material aimed at a black demographic and material 373 00:21:21,520 --> 00:21:25,560 Speaker 1: in Spanish. Radio programs and literature targeted toward a black 374 00:21:25,800 --> 00:21:30,080 Speaker 1: audience was generally prohibited, and Spanish language materials and programming, 375 00:21:30,400 --> 00:21:32,399 Speaker 1: both on the radio and in print. We're in really 376 00:21:32,480 --> 00:21:36,000 Speaker 1: short supply. While the prison had started to loosen up 377 00:21:36,040 --> 00:21:38,800 Speaker 1: some of the censorship policy for media in the months 378 00:21:38,800 --> 00:21:42,479 Speaker 1: before the uprising, the review committee was still rejecting a 379 00:21:42,520 --> 00:21:46,560 Speaker 1: lot of material. All of these rules and procedures were 380 00:21:46,600 --> 00:21:50,880 Speaker 1: overseen by Attica's civilian and law enforcement staff. By far, 381 00:21:51,040 --> 00:21:54,760 Speaker 1: the largest job category at Attica correctional facility was its 382 00:21:54,800 --> 00:22:00,200 Speaker 1: custodial staff. The correctional officers and their supervisors, oh Only 383 00:22:00,240 --> 00:22:02,800 Speaker 1: eight percent of the staff had jobs you might describe 384 00:22:03,080 --> 00:22:07,280 Speaker 1: as intending to help or rehabilitate. That includes teachers, chaplains, 385 00:22:07,600 --> 00:22:12,280 Speaker 1: medical personnel, counselors, and parole officers. The chaplains did not 386 00:22:12,320 --> 00:22:15,639 Speaker 1: conduct Muslim religious services, even though there were hundreds of 387 00:22:15,720 --> 00:22:21,480 Speaker 1: Muslims in Attica. Unlike Attica's incarcerated population, which as we said, 388 00:22:21,520 --> 00:22:26,040 Speaker 1: was fifty black, Aside from one Puerto Rican officer, the 389 00:22:26,280 --> 00:22:29,840 Speaker 1: entire custodial staff was white. Except for those who had 390 00:22:29,840 --> 00:22:32,520 Speaker 1: served in the military. Many of the officers had never 391 00:22:32,560 --> 00:22:35,880 Speaker 1: actually met or closely interacted with many black or Puerto 392 00:22:36,000 --> 00:22:38,760 Speaker 1: Rican people before coming to work in the prison. They 393 00:22:38,800 --> 00:22:43,040 Speaker 1: mainly lived in very overwhelmingly white rural areas in the 394 00:22:43,080 --> 00:22:47,160 Speaker 1: prison's vicinity. If you are a correctional officer at Attica, 395 00:22:47,480 --> 00:22:50,840 Speaker 1: your job was mainly dedicated to maintaining order and security. 396 00:22:51,400 --> 00:22:53,879 Speaker 1: You were not a social worker or a counselor. In 397 00:22:53,960 --> 00:22:56,719 Speaker 1: spite of the name change, you were basically still a guard. 398 00:22:57,359 --> 00:23:00,440 Speaker 1: Your role wasn't really to protect anyone other than your self, 399 00:23:00,520 --> 00:23:04,800 Speaker 1: other employees and visitors from violence or unwanted sexual advances 400 00:23:04,920 --> 00:23:08,119 Speaker 1: or other harm. Because of the total lack of privacy, 401 00:23:08,280 --> 00:23:12,600 Speaker 1: the real possibility of unchecked physical or sexual assault. Attica's 402 00:23:12,600 --> 00:23:17,960 Speaker 1: incarcerated population generally felt completely unsafe, with many arming themselves 403 00:23:17,960 --> 00:23:22,399 Speaker 1: with makeshift weapons. Many of Attica's officers in nineteen seventy 404 00:23:22,400 --> 00:23:25,880 Speaker 1: one also had very little formal training. About a third 405 00:23:25,920 --> 00:23:28,560 Speaker 1: of the officers working there that year had been hired 406 00:23:28,600 --> 00:23:31,200 Speaker 1: between the end of World War Two in the nineteen fifties, 407 00:23:31,520 --> 00:23:33,960 Speaker 1: when the only training was a two week program described 408 00:23:34,000 --> 00:23:39,200 Speaker 1: as useless. A new contract implemented in April nineteen seventy 409 00:23:39,240 --> 00:23:42,400 Speaker 1: also meant that job duties for correctional staff were assigned 410 00:23:42,440 --> 00:23:45,720 Speaker 1: on the basis of seniority. As a result, the officers 411 00:23:45,760 --> 00:23:49,080 Speaker 1: with the most experience started selecting themselves for the task 412 00:23:49,160 --> 00:23:53,280 Speaker 1: that had the least actual contact with incarcerated men. That 413 00:23:53,400 --> 00:23:57,200 Speaker 1: left the least experienced staff overwhelmingly being the people who 414 00:23:57,200 --> 00:24:01,840 Speaker 1: were spending the most time with the prison population. If 415 00:24:01,880 --> 00:24:04,320 Speaker 1: you worked as an officer, it's also likely that you 416 00:24:04,400 --> 00:24:06,640 Speaker 1: thought of your job as something of a dead end. 417 00:24:07,320 --> 00:24:11,680 Speaker 1: Although correctional officers had a defined process for promotions and advancement, 418 00:24:12,320 --> 00:24:16,080 Speaker 1: being promoted typically involved being transferred to another prison elsewhere 419 00:24:16,119 --> 00:24:19,560 Speaker 1: in the state. Moving stipends were generally not enough to 420 00:24:19,600 --> 00:24:23,760 Speaker 1: cover relocating a whole family, so transferred officers usually tried 421 00:24:23,800 --> 00:24:26,080 Speaker 1: to wait it out until a position opened up at 422 00:24:26,080 --> 00:24:29,080 Speaker 1: a prison near their home. There was a trend of 423 00:24:29,119 --> 00:24:31,639 Speaker 1: only applying for promotion if you were willing to be 424 00:24:31,720 --> 00:24:36,119 Speaker 1: separated from your family, possibly for years. Running through this 425 00:24:36,240 --> 00:24:41,160 Speaker 1: whole interlocking system of incarcerated men and the custodial staff 426 00:24:41,240 --> 00:24:45,400 Speaker 1: responsible for them was a heavy thread of racism. There 427 00:24:45,440 --> 00:24:48,160 Speaker 1: was a clear breakdown and who had the good jobs 428 00:24:48,200 --> 00:24:51,399 Speaker 1: and who had the bad ones. For example, only thirty 429 00:24:51,440 --> 00:24:54,239 Speaker 1: seven percent of the prisons population was white, but the 430 00:24:54,240 --> 00:24:57,720 Speaker 1: most prestigious jobs, with the most side benefits and the 431 00:24:57,760 --> 00:25:01,680 Speaker 1: most privileges were over a whelmingly staffed with white men. 432 00:25:02,600 --> 00:25:05,399 Speaker 1: By comparison, more than two thirds of the men on 433 00:25:05,440 --> 00:25:08,080 Speaker 1: the grading crew and in the metal shop, two of 434 00:25:08,119 --> 00:25:11,280 Speaker 1: the least desirable jobs in the prison, were black or 435 00:25:11,359 --> 00:25:14,800 Speaker 1: Spanish speaking, even though they made up fifty and nine 436 00:25:14,840 --> 00:25:18,320 Speaker 1: percent of the population respectively. There were only a couple 437 00:25:18,359 --> 00:25:22,040 Speaker 1: of desirable jobs, like the laundry, that had a predominantly 438 00:25:22,040 --> 00:25:27,280 Speaker 1: black workforce. Rules were also selectively enforced in a way 439 00:25:27,320 --> 00:25:33,120 Speaker 1: that seemed racially prejudiced. For example, officers frequently confiscated submersible 440 00:25:33,119 --> 00:25:35,920 Speaker 1: heaters known as droppers, which were used to illicitly heat 441 00:25:35,960 --> 00:25:38,760 Speaker 1: up food butt from the commissary from black people while 442 00:25:38,840 --> 00:25:42,840 Speaker 1: looking the other way when white men had the same devices. 443 00:25:43,440 --> 00:25:46,320 Speaker 1: The same trend generally held true for things like whose 444 00:25:46,320 --> 00:25:51,280 Speaker 1: cells got searched for contraband and other rule enforcement officers 445 00:25:51,320 --> 00:25:56,600 Speaker 1: also actively discouraged friendships between Attica's black and white populations, implying, 446 00:25:56,680 --> 00:25:59,040 Speaker 1: for example, that a white person could expect to have 447 00:25:59,160 --> 00:26:03,680 Speaker 1: his privileges revoked if he kept socializing with quote colors, 448 00:26:03,800 --> 00:26:06,439 Speaker 1: and referring to white people who had black friends with 449 00:26:06,520 --> 00:26:09,560 Speaker 1: a racial slur that we are not going to repeat here. 450 00:26:10,200 --> 00:26:14,240 Speaker 1: There was, of course, racial prejudice among the incarcerated population 451 00:26:14,320 --> 00:26:17,800 Speaker 1: as well, which went beyond things that were very obvious 452 00:26:17,840 --> 00:26:21,560 Speaker 1: like slurs or fighting, or just general attitudes. Although there 453 00:26:21,680 --> 00:26:25,159 Speaker 1: was no formal segregation in place in Attica in nineteen 454 00:26:25,200 --> 00:26:29,679 Speaker 1: seventy one, the population tended to segregate itself at meals 455 00:26:29,720 --> 00:26:32,840 Speaker 1: and in the exercise yard, with the custodial staff either 456 00:26:32,920 --> 00:26:38,000 Speaker 1: tacitly or explicitly encouraging the segregation. So that was the 457 00:26:38,040 --> 00:26:42,639 Speaker 1: general atmosphere at Attica in ninety one. The prison was 458 00:26:42,720 --> 00:26:47,240 Speaker 1: infused with racism at essentially every level. Incarcerated men were 459 00:26:47,240 --> 00:26:51,159 Speaker 1: cynical about the justice system and distrustful of the custodial staff, 460 00:26:51,560 --> 00:26:56,240 Speaker 1: who in turn feared, looked down on, and actively despised them. 461 00:26:56,280 --> 00:26:58,280 Speaker 1: And it all played out in a setting full of 462 00:26:58,320 --> 00:27:03,399 Speaker 1: relentlessly to humanizing policies and practices. In addition to all 463 00:27:03,440 --> 00:27:06,439 Speaker 1: these dynamics and the years just before the uprising, a 464 00:27:06,480 --> 00:27:10,159 Speaker 1: couple of specific events led to even more tensions. And 465 00:27:10,200 --> 00:27:12,760 Speaker 1: we will talk about them after another reef word from 466 00:27:12,760 --> 00:27:17,560 Speaker 1: a sponsor. I'm gonna say words that cause panic. The 467 00:27:17,600 --> 00:27:21,440 Speaker 1: holidays are coming. Ah. It always makes my stomach turn. 468 00:27:21,760 --> 00:27:24,040 Speaker 1: There's so much that you have to deal with. If 469 00:27:24,040 --> 00:27:26,040 Speaker 1: you're trying to ship things and go to the post office, 470 00:27:26,240 --> 00:27:29,040 Speaker 1: there's traffic and parking and it's packed. There's lots of 471 00:27:29,040 --> 00:27:32,560 Speaker 1: people trying to mail their holiday parcels. So you stamps 472 00:27:32,560 --> 00:27:35,679 Speaker 1: dot com instead. Bypass all of that stuff. With stamps 473 00:27:35,680 --> 00:27:37,919 Speaker 1: dot Com, you can avoid all of that hassle of 474 00:27:37,960 --> 00:27:40,199 Speaker 1: going to the post office during the busy and cranky 475 00:27:40,240 --> 00:27:43,000 Speaker 1: post holiday see list season. Everything you would do at 476 00:27:43,000 --> 00:27:44,920 Speaker 1: the post office you can do right there at your 477 00:27:44,920 --> 00:27:48,080 Speaker 1: own desk. That includes buying and printing official US postage 478 00:27:48,320 --> 00:27:51,440 Speaker 1: using your own computer and printer, you can print postage 479 00:27:51,440 --> 00:27:54,040 Speaker 1: for any letter package. So no matter what crazy thing 480 00:27:54,040 --> 00:27:56,359 Speaker 1: you're shipping as a gift, you can do it the 481 00:27:56,400 --> 00:27:58,320 Speaker 1: instant you need it, and then you just hand that 482 00:27:58,359 --> 00:28:01,440 Speaker 1: off to your awesome mail carrier. It is easy and convenient. 483 00:28:02,080 --> 00:28:05,520 Speaker 1: So right now you can sign up for stamps dot 484 00:28:05,600 --> 00:28:08,639 Speaker 1: com using our special promo code, which is stuff, and 485 00:28:08,680 --> 00:28:11,000 Speaker 1: get a special offer including a four week trial and 486 00:28:11,040 --> 00:28:14,520 Speaker 1: a dollar bonus offer which gets you some postage and 487 00:28:14,600 --> 00:28:17,280 Speaker 1: a digital scale. So don't wait. Go to stamps dot 488 00:28:17,280 --> 00:28:19,320 Speaker 1: com and before you do anything else, click on the 489 00:28:19,359 --> 00:28:21,600 Speaker 1: microphone at the top of the homepage and type in 490 00:28:21,720 --> 00:28:29,000 Speaker 1: stuff that stamps dot com and enter stuff. In the 491 00:28:29,119 --> 00:28:33,480 Speaker 1: years just before the uprising at Attica to competing factors 492 00:28:33,520 --> 00:28:37,800 Speaker 1: caused tensions and frustrations to escalate their even further. The 493 00:28:37,880 --> 00:28:41,560 Speaker 1: first was a shift in its incarcerated population. More than 494 00:28:41,680 --> 00:28:45,200 Speaker 1: eight percent of the people incarcerated in Attica in V 495 00:28:45,440 --> 00:28:49,880 Speaker 1: one had arrived in nineteen sixty five or later. These 496 00:28:49,920 --> 00:28:53,160 Speaker 1: new arrivals tended to be younger and more politically aware 497 00:28:53,200 --> 00:28:56,480 Speaker 1: and active, and as a general rule, a lot more 498 00:28:56,520 --> 00:29:00,160 Speaker 1: resistant to authority than their predecessors, something that to show 499 00:29:00,160 --> 00:29:03,400 Speaker 1: deal staff was not really used to or prepared for. 500 00:29:04,320 --> 00:29:07,040 Speaker 1: Many had been born in the years immediately after Brown 501 00:29:07,160 --> 00:29:11,000 Speaker 1: versus Board, and had lived through violent backlash against integration 502 00:29:11,040 --> 00:29:13,920 Speaker 1: and the civil rights movement, as well as the activism 503 00:29:13,920 --> 00:29:17,960 Speaker 1: and social unrest of the sixties. Some were active participants 504 00:29:17,960 --> 00:29:21,760 Speaker 1: in nationalist organizations like the Black Panthers and the Young Lords. 505 00:29:22,880 --> 00:29:26,440 Speaker 1: Many of these newer arrivals, especially newer Black arrivals, took 506 00:29:26,440 --> 00:29:30,360 Speaker 1: on the role of educating other incarcerated man about civil rights, 507 00:29:30,400 --> 00:29:35,760 Speaker 1: political activism, and sociology, even organizing an unofficial sociology class 508 00:29:35,760 --> 00:29:39,960 Speaker 1: in nineteen seventy one. They also advocated for improvements to 509 00:29:40,000 --> 00:29:43,520 Speaker 1: the prison. For example, on July two of nineteen seventy one, 510 00:29:43,840 --> 00:29:47,400 Speaker 1: a group calling itself the Attica Liberation Faction sent the 511 00:29:47,440 --> 00:29:51,720 Speaker 1: Commissioner of the Department of Correctional Services, Russell g Odwa Oswald, 512 00:29:52,120 --> 00:29:55,400 Speaker 1: a letter and manifesto that spelled that started with just 513 00:29:55,480 --> 00:29:58,800 Speaker 1: a scathing and pretty radical description of the prison system, 514 00:29:58,880 --> 00:30:04,120 Speaker 1: including phrase is like the fascist concentration camps of modern America. 515 00:30:04,320 --> 00:30:09,240 Speaker 1: The actual demands that this outline, though, were incredibly reasonable overall. 516 00:30:09,280 --> 00:30:13,200 Speaker 1: They were things like legal representation when when appearing before 517 00:30:13,240 --> 00:30:18,640 Speaker 1: the parole board consistency and rule enforcement, adequate food, clothing 518 00:30:18,640 --> 00:30:23,280 Speaker 1: and hiding facilities, and adequate medical care. And somewhat ironically, 519 00:30:23,640 --> 00:30:26,800 Speaker 1: the other increasing source of tensions was a series of 520 00:30:26,840 --> 00:30:30,600 Speaker 1: somewhat relaxed rules and minor improvements, in part as a 521 00:30:30,640 --> 00:30:34,880 Speaker 1: result of these newcomers advocacy. Commissioner Oswald was new to 522 00:30:34,920 --> 00:30:39,040 Speaker 1: the job starting on January one of nineteen one. In 523 00:30:39,080 --> 00:30:42,120 Speaker 1: addition to his experience in the Department of Corrections, he 524 00:30:42,240 --> 00:30:45,360 Speaker 1: also had experience in social work, and he wanted to 525 00:30:45,360 --> 00:30:49,720 Speaker 1: reform the prison system to focus on successful rehabilitation instead 526 00:30:49,720 --> 00:30:52,520 Speaker 1: of just confinement. A lot of the reforms that the 527 00:30:52,560 --> 00:30:56,120 Speaker 1: Attica Liberation faction demanded were ones that he had already 528 00:30:56,160 --> 00:31:01,000 Speaker 1: hoped to do. But as is off the case, people 529 00:31:01,040 --> 00:31:04,320 Speaker 1: became really frustrated when the promised reforms were very slow 530 00:31:04,400 --> 00:31:08,160 Speaker 1: to materialize, and the prison's population, especially the younger men, 531 00:31:08,680 --> 00:31:12,480 Speaker 1: increasingly doubted that these promises were actually going to be kept, 532 00:31:13,080 --> 00:31:15,040 Speaker 1: and a lot of the custodial staff, who I want 533 00:31:15,120 --> 00:31:18,480 Speaker 1: to stress a lot of the custodial staff had pointed 534 00:31:18,480 --> 00:31:20,479 Speaker 1: out that a lot of things happening in the prison 535 00:31:20,520 --> 00:31:23,520 Speaker 1: were were unfair and we're to humanizing like that is 536 00:31:23,560 --> 00:31:27,240 Speaker 1: not something that was just universally adhered to without question. 537 00:31:27,880 --> 00:31:30,479 Speaker 1: But a lot of the custodial staff also thought that 538 00:31:30,520 --> 00:31:33,360 Speaker 1: Oswald's ideas and his policies and the reforms that he 539 00:31:33,440 --> 00:31:36,960 Speaker 1: wanted to make, along with other court rulings and policy 540 00:31:37,040 --> 00:31:39,480 Speaker 1: changes that had been taking place at about the same time. 541 00:31:39,920 --> 00:31:42,680 Speaker 1: They thought all these things were coddling and pandering and 542 00:31:42,680 --> 00:31:45,720 Speaker 1: we're denying them. That the the authority that they needed 543 00:31:45,760 --> 00:31:49,920 Speaker 1: to do their jobs. And then one event set the 544 00:31:50,000 --> 00:31:56,080 Speaker 1: stage for the actual uprising. On August twenty one, officers 545 00:31:56,160 --> 00:31:59,800 Speaker 1: at San Quentin Prison in California killed activist and author 546 00:32:00,000 --> 00:32:04,560 Speaker 1: George Jackson during an alleged escape attempt. There continue to 547 00:32:04,600 --> 00:32:08,280 Speaker 1: be unanswered questions and controversies surrounding Jackson's death, and that 548 00:32:08,360 --> 00:32:11,040 Speaker 1: could really be a whole other podcast episode on its own, 549 00:32:11,680 --> 00:32:15,479 Speaker 1: but the conclusion among Attica's incarcerated population was that he 550 00:32:15,520 --> 00:32:19,320 Speaker 1: had been framed and murdered. A protest followed at Attica, 551 00:32:19,400 --> 00:32:22,760 Speaker 1: which included a silent fast and a sit in. This 552 00:32:22,880 --> 00:32:26,560 Speaker 1: protest was nonviolent, but even so it was terrifying to 553 00:32:26,640 --> 00:32:31,640 Speaker 1: the inexperienced custodial staff on duty. The uprising that began 554 00:32:31,720 --> 00:32:35,480 Speaker 1: on September nine, n started a little less than three 555 00:32:35,520 --> 00:32:40,080 Speaker 1: weeks after George Jackson's death when incarcerated men and officers alike. 556 00:32:40,120 --> 00:32:43,440 Speaker 1: We're still really on edge in that aftermath at Attica, 557 00:32:43,560 --> 00:32:49,000 Speaker 1: and that is what we're going to talk about next time. Hey, Tracy, Yeah, 558 00:32:49,760 --> 00:32:53,040 Speaker 1: is your listener mail a little lighter in tone? It 559 00:32:53,040 --> 00:32:55,600 Speaker 1: has been a very heavy episode. We talked about a lot. 560 00:32:55,600 --> 00:32:58,640 Speaker 1: We're gonna talk about something not nearly so heavy for 561 00:32:58,640 --> 00:33:01,959 Speaker 1: a second. It's from Amber. Amber says, Hello, ladies. Not 562 00:33:02,040 --> 00:33:04,600 Speaker 1: only did I love hearing about the creepy ghost ships, 563 00:33:04,920 --> 00:33:06,960 Speaker 1: but this episode was a little shout out to both 564 00:33:06,960 --> 00:33:10,280 Speaker 1: places I have claimed as hometowns in my life. I 565 00:33:10,320 --> 00:33:12,880 Speaker 1: grew up in Marion, Massachusetts, which is the town the 566 00:33:12,960 --> 00:33:16,560 Speaker 1: captain of the Mary Celeste, Benjamin Briggs, was also from 567 00:33:16,640 --> 00:33:20,720 Speaker 1: the Historical Society Museum, and marian is basically seventy Mary 568 00:33:20,720 --> 00:33:24,840 Speaker 1: Celeste information. My other hometown is now Newport, Rhode Island, 569 00:33:24,880 --> 00:33:26,840 Speaker 1: and have lived here for eight years, living about a 570 00:33:26,880 --> 00:33:29,800 Speaker 1: mile from Easton's Beach. The locals call it first Beach 571 00:33:29,840 --> 00:33:32,680 Speaker 1: since there is a line of beaches around the bend 572 00:33:33,400 --> 00:33:36,920 Speaker 1: uh at Aquedec Island. I did not look up how 573 00:33:36,960 --> 00:33:39,200 Speaker 1: to say that, so I hope I didn't right. The 574 00:33:39,240 --> 00:33:41,960 Speaker 1: story of the seabird kind of makes me laugh since 575 00:33:42,040 --> 00:33:45,000 Speaker 1: the the area around the other stretch from First Beach 576 00:33:45,040 --> 00:33:47,200 Speaker 1: is very cliffy and rocky, so it just makes me 577 00:33:47,240 --> 00:33:50,320 Speaker 1: think the ship came to shore in a slow motion way, 578 00:33:50,360 --> 00:33:53,200 Speaker 1: like the scene from Sideways where Paul Giamadi and Thomas 579 00:33:53,200 --> 00:33:55,840 Speaker 1: Hayden Church managed to slowly crash their car into a 580 00:33:55,880 --> 00:33:58,360 Speaker 1: tree that's basically in the middle of a field. Must 581 00:33:58,360 --> 00:34:01,040 Speaker 1: have been destiny. You should look into the other historical 582 00:34:01,120 --> 00:34:03,640 Speaker 1: happenings in New ports Is. There is so much pirates 583 00:34:03,680 --> 00:34:07,240 Speaker 1: like Thomas, to colonists like Ann Hutchinson, the first synagogue 584 00:34:07,240 --> 00:34:11,680 Speaker 1: in America, Gilded Age mansions, among many others. I love 585 00:34:11,719 --> 00:34:13,920 Speaker 1: all of your work. Your topics are so interesting. Thanks 586 00:34:13,920 --> 00:34:16,239 Speaker 1: for keeping me so entertained, Amber. I wanted to read 587 00:34:16,280 --> 00:34:20,080 Speaker 1: this for two reasons. One was to have a little 588 00:34:20,200 --> 00:34:22,400 Speaker 1: lighter breather for a second at the end of this 589 00:34:22,800 --> 00:34:27,120 Speaker 1: really heavy episode, and the other is because I left 590 00:34:27,160 --> 00:34:29,840 Speaker 1: an entire s out of Easton's Beach every time I 591 00:34:29,880 --> 00:34:34,880 Speaker 1: put it in that episode, so it is Easton's and 592 00:34:34,920 --> 00:34:40,680 Speaker 1: not Eaton's topology for that Uh, if you would like 593 00:34:40,719 --> 00:34:42,640 Speaker 1: to write to us about this or any other podcast 594 00:34:42,680 --> 00:34:45,359 Speaker 1: where at history podcast at how stuffworks dot com. We're 595 00:34:45,400 --> 00:34:47,799 Speaker 1: also on Facebook at Facebook dot com slash miss in 596 00:34:47,840 --> 00:34:50,480 Speaker 1: history and on Twitter at miss in History. Our tumbler 597 00:34:50,560 --> 00:34:52,719 Speaker 1: is missing history dot tumbler dot com. We're also on 598 00:34:52,840 --> 00:34:55,560 Speaker 1: Pinterest at pinchest dot com slash missed in History, and 599 00:34:55,640 --> 00:34:58,640 Speaker 1: our instagram is missed in History. You can come to 600 00:34:58,680 --> 00:35:01,040 Speaker 1: our parent company's website, which is how stuff works dot 601 00:35:01,040 --> 00:35:03,680 Speaker 1: com to find out about all kinds of fascinating information. 602 00:35:04,080 --> 00:35:06,520 Speaker 1: You can come to our website, which is missing history 603 00:35:06,560 --> 00:35:09,800 Speaker 1: dot com to find show notes about this and every 604 00:35:09,880 --> 00:35:12,040 Speaker 1: other episode Holly and I have worked on, as well 605 00:35:12,080 --> 00:35:14,239 Speaker 1: as an archive of every single episode we have ever 606 00:35:14,360 --> 00:35:16,759 Speaker 1: done lots of cool stuff, So you can do all 607 00:35:16,800 --> 00:35:18,879 Speaker 1: that and a whole lot more at how stuff works 608 00:35:18,880 --> 00:35:26,160 Speaker 1: dot com or miss in history dot com. For more 609 00:35:26,200 --> 00:35:28,520 Speaker 1: on this and thousands of other topics, is it how 610 00:35:28,560 --> 00:35:41,840 Speaker 1: stuff works dot com