The New York State Museum is making a seven-panel exhibition available to museums, libraries, and cultural organizations to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Attica Prison Uprising in September 1971. This exhibition presents various viewpoints from the prison uprising and its aftermath, and discusses the wider impacts of the event and why this story is important fifty years later.
The uprising, which left 43 people dead and hundreds wounded, played out against the backdrop of the racially charged late 1960s and early 1970s. The Attica Correctional Facility, located in Wyoming County, NY, opened in 1931 and was originally intended to house incarcerated men from upstate. However, by the 1960s Attica became the overflow facility for New York City-area offenders, which led to racial tensions between the predominantly black prison population and white guards. The racial disparity coupled with overcrowding and inhumane conditions resulted in a tinderbox of explosive tension by the summer of 1971.
The exhibition is intended as a space in which visitors can create dialogues and conversations about the complicated events as they unfolded at Attica in September 1971; the complex social and racial issues that permeated the events that unfolded (both in terms of the individuals involved and the actions of New York State authorities in the retaking and aftermath); and how the legacy of Attica continues to shape politics and policies today.
The panels are available to any interested institution or organization. High resolution files will be sent for venues to print and mount at their own expense.
Cultural organizations with budgets under $250,000 may apply for a Quick Grant from Humanities New York to off-set the costs of printing the exhibition panels. To apply, visit the Humanities New York website or email grants@humanitiesny.org.
For more information or to request the panel exhibition, contact the New York State Museum History Department at nysmhistory@nysed.gov.
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