"FREE THE NEW HAVEN PANTHERS": The New Haven Nine, Yale, and the May Day 1970 Protests That Brought Them Together
THE AFTERMATH OF MAY DAY
J. Press, photograph by Thomas Strong.
“Letters,” The New Haven Register, Friday, May 15, 1970.”
In the aftermath of the protests came specific responses to the rally that had just taken place, as well as longer-lasting change. Some affiliates of the university wrote to Kingman Brewster expressing their concern over his advocacy for a fair trial for the Black Panthers, to which he responded with letters that emphasized his belief in political neutrality as well as his continued support of a fair trial.
Detail of “Letters,” The New Haven Register, Friday, May 15, 1970.”
Additionally, some Connecticut residents took to newspaper opinion sections to voice their discontent, sparking contentious debate and going so far as to describe the May Day Rally as constitutive of “desecration.”
In regard to the trial, the aftermath of the protests was significant. Ericka Huggins and Bobby Seale, two members of the Panthers who were tried along with the other activists, were released after the judge found that they would likely not be able to stand for a fair trial, just as the May Day protesters and President Brewster worried. Ultimately, the May Day Rally represented one significant protest effort of many during the late 1960s and early 1970s, indicating the multiple examples of political violence inflicted upon activists, as well the robust community that came together to support them.
“Dear.”