Attica
Artist
Designer Unknown
Date1974
Dimensions17 x 11 in. (43.2 x 27.9 cm)
ClassificationsPoster
Credit LinePoster House Permanent Collection
Object numberPH.8027
DescriptionThis poster advertises a 1974 documentary produced by Cinda Firestone, an heir to the Firestone Tire & Rubber Company fortune, covering the uprising and subsequent lethal crackdown by authorities that took place at the Attica Correctional Facility in Attica, New York, from September 9–13, 1971. Firestone's film, with its narrative that was sympathetic to the incarcerated men, was so controversial that her family reportedly disinherited her. The film incorporates documentary footage of the occupation and the subsequent violent raid, as well as video from the McKay Commission hearings that criticized New York State prison authorities and Governor Nelson Rockefeller for their handling of the incident. It also includes interviews with prisoners who had been released in the years after the uprising. In 2007, during a Tribeca Film Festival Q and A, Firestone lamented that while prison uprisings had become more rare, when it came to civil liberties and racism within the prison system, she believed that “things have gotten worse” since the release of her film. The posters for this 80-minute documentary call attention to the third anniversary of the uprising, confirming that the tragedy was still very fresh in the minds of the American public. These posters were in heavy circulation on campuses like that of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, which had established itself at the forefront of countercultural protest during the Vietnam War. This long history of fiery clashes between students and police resulted in its own documentary, The War at Home, released in 1979.
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