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News :: Miscellaneous |
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May 15, 1969: People's Park, Berkley, California |
Current rating: 0 |
by Mike Lehman
(No verified email address) |
15 May 2001
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Here is another one of the May holidays that are a part of the history of the masses. "Bloody Thursday," May 15, 1969, was the result of police firing on people in an indiscriminate manner, killing one citizen and blinding another. The time line below is from the People's Park website. The link will take you to extensive coverage about the events surrounding this small piece of earth. Follow link to "Young Girl's Diary: Planning -- Excerpts from Wendy Schlesinger's diary" for a particularly interesting story about the park. |
April 20, 1969 - People's Park is created. Hundreds of people clear ground, plant trees, grass, flowers, set up playground equipment. Free food is distributed.
May 6, 1969 - Chancellor Heyns of UC-Berkley meets with members of the People's Park Committee, student politicians, and members of the College of Environmental Design. Gives them three weeks to come up with a plan for the park. Promises no construction will begin without prior warning.
May 15, 1969 - "Bloody Thursday" -- 250 Highway Patrol and Berkeley police offers invade the park at 4:45 a.m. and clear an 8-block area around the site. Construction of perimeter fence begins. After a noontime rally on Sproul Plaza, a crowd of 6000 moves towards the park. Police fire tear gas. Protestors throw rocks and bottles. Sheriff Deputies retaliate with double-0 buckshot, blinding one man (Alan Blanshard), mortally wounding another (James Rector). At least 128 injuries, but no policemen hospitalized. Towards evening, Governor Reagan calls out the National Guard and bans public assembly.
May 16-28, 1969. Protests continue on a daily basis. National Guardsmen block Sather Gate. A helicopter sprays the campus with CS tear gas. Campus referendum massively endorses the Park. People's Park annexes spring up all over Berkeley. 9000 students protest in Sacramento.
May 29, 1969. Chancellor Heyns announces his support for leasing part of the Park to the City.
May 30, 1969. 30,000 people march peacefully past the Park.
June 20, 1969. U.C. Regents vote to turn the Park into a soccer field and parking lot. The Park is surrounded by a chain-link fence and kept under 24-hour guard. |
See also:
http://www.dnai.com/~hi_there/history.html
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