Watts Riots
- Title:
- Watts Riots
- Years:
- 1965
- Description:
- The Watts Riot, which raged for six days and resulted in more than forty million dollars worth of property damage, was both the largest and costliest urban rebellion of the Civil Rights era. The riot spurred from an incident on August 11, 1965 when Marquette Frye, a young African American motorist, was pulled over and arrested by Lee W. Minikus, a white California Highway Patrolman, for suspicion of driving while intoxicated. As a crowd on onlookers gathered at the scene of Frye's arrest, strained tensions between police officers and the crowd erupted in a violent exchange. The outbreak of violence that followed Frye's arrest immediately touched off a large-scale riot centered in the commercial section of Watts, a deeply impoverished African American neighborhood in South Central Los Angeles. For several days, rioters overturned and burned automobiles and looted and damaged grocery stores, liquor stores, department stores, and pawnshops. Over the course of the six-day riot, over 14,000 California National Guard troops were mobilized in South Los Angeles and a curfew zone encompassing over forty-five miles was established in an attempt to restore public order. All told, the rioting claimed the lives of thirty-four people, resulted in more than one thousand reported injuries, and almost four thousand arrests before order was restored on August 17. Throughout the crisis, public officials advanced the argument that the riot was the work outside agitators; however, an official investigation, prompted by Governor Pat Brown, found that the riot was a result of the Watts community's longstanding grievances and growing discontentment with high unemployment rates, substandard housing, and inadequate schools. Despite the reported findings of the gubernatorial commission, following the riot, city leaders and state officials failed to implement measures to improve the social and economic conditions of African Americans living in the Watts neighborhood.
- Archival Collections And Reference Resources:
-
9 items in 7 collections (expand all)
Huey P. Newton Story
- Creator:
- Public Broadcasting Service (U.S.)
- Date of Original:
- 2002
- Collection:
- A Huey P. Newton Story
- Contributing Institution:
- Public Broadcasting Service (U.S.)
Episcopal Society for Cultural and Racial Unity, correspondence, 1966
- Creator:
- AFL-CIO. Civil Rights Department
Morris, John B., 1930-2010
Episcopal Society for Cultural and Racial Unity - Date of Original:
- 1966
- Collection:
- AFL-CIO Southeast Division Civil Rights Department Records
- Contributing Institution:
- Georgia State University. Special Collections
--Seems a shame after it was such a great help to us! / Baldy, [1965 Aug. 16]
- Creator:
- Baldowski, Clifford H., 1917-1999
- Date of Original:
- 1965-08-16
- Collection:
- Baldy Editorial Cartoons, 1946-1982, 1997: Clifford H. Baldowski Editorial Cartoons at the Richard B. Russell Library.
- Contributing Institution:
- Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies
--Yes, it hurts-- especially this one! / Baldy, [1965 Aug. 21]
- Creator:
- Baldowski, Clifford H., 1917-1999
- Date of Original:
- 1965-08-21
- Collection:
- Baldy Editorial Cartoons, 1946-1982, 1997: Clifford H. Baldowski Editorial Cartoons at the Richard B. Russell Library.
- Contributing Institution:
- Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies
After reading Los Angeles headlines, August 18, 1965
- Creator:
- Schulze, Paul J.
- Date of Original:
- 1965
- Collection:
- Columbia River Basin Ethnic History Project
- Contributing Institution:
- Oregon Historical Society
Oral history interview with Fred Clark, 2001
- Creator:
- Clark, Fred, 1943-
- Date of Original:
- 2001
- Collection:
- Freedom Riders' 40th Anniversary Oral History Project, 2001
- Contributing Institution:
- John Davis Williams Library. Department of Archives and Special Collections
2 Mike LaValle letter, Box 2, Folder 1, 1967 July 25
- Creator:
- Groppi, James, 1930-1985
- Date of Original:
- 1967-07-25
- Collection:
- March on Milwaukee: Civil Rights History Project
- Contributing Institution:
- Wisconsin Historical Society
Oral History Interview with Margaret (Peggy) Rozga, August 19, 2008, part II
- Creator:
- Rozga, Margaret
- Date of Original:
- 2008-08-19
- Collection:
- March on Milwaukee: Civil Rights History Project
- Contributing Institution:
- Golda Meir Library. Special Collections
WSB-TV newsfilm clip of Hosea Williams speaking about the possibility of violence in the Civil Rights movement, 1966 July
- Creator:
- WSB-TV (Television station : Atlanta, Ga.)
- Date of Original:
- 1966-07
- Collection:
- WSB-TV Newsfilm Collection
- Contributing Institution:
- Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection