"FREE THE NEW HAVEN PANTHERS": The New Haven Nine, Yale, and the May Day 1970 Protests That Brought Them Together
THE MAY DAY RALLY ITSELF
The view from Elm Street, photograph by Thomas Strong, 1970.
“May Day New Haven,” schedule section, circa April 1970.
“SISTERS:
OUR BATTLE IS NEW HAVEN MAY 1.”
Jerry Rubin speaking at May Day Rally with “FREE PANTHER” banner behind him, 1970.
May Day itself constituted a series of events designed to bring together the national community to understand the ways in which those tried in New Haven were being harmed, and the ways in which the Black Panthers as a whole were persecuted by a criminal justice system set on incarcerating them. The rally drew crowds from all over, who congregated on the New Haven Green and on Yale’s Old Campus to show their support for the Black Panther activists who were being wrongfully tried for the murder of Alex Rackley. In the pamphlet featured in this portion of the exhibition, the words speak for themselves: the activists who came to New Haven to protest for the rights of these political prisoners truly believed that their “battle was in New Haven on May 1.” And a battle they fought. Representing different political, socioeconomic, and racial backgrounds, those who marched, rallied, and protested on May 1, 1970, were united in their calls to change the narrative surrounding the Black Panthers, to reclaim the rights and freedoms of the activists being tried in New Haven, and to fight for the liberation of Black people in the United States.
Congregating on the New Haven Green, protesters listened to speakers, made their own voices heard, and built a community as they participated in the May Day Rally.
Black Panther member David Hilliard speaking at a May Day Rally, photograph by Michael Lawler, 1970.
“BY ORDER OF THE SUPERIOR COURT,” a page of “May Day New Haven.”
“MAY DAY LEGAL FIRST AID.”
The protesters were well prepared for what they were worried might greet them by way of police violence or repression. Some activists carried around cards like the “May Day Legal First Aid” card, which told protesters what to do if something were to go wrong while they were protesting.
Along with the protest efforts that happened on the New Haven Green and on Old Campus, several teach-ins occurred on Yale’s campus during the May Day weekend, with many being held at recognizable campus locations like Pierson College and Linsly-Chittenden Hall. All of the workshops were designed around the principle of “each one teach one”: the notion that everyone had something to learn from each other.
“EACH ONE TEACH ONE.”