Riot! The Incredibly True Story of How 1,000 Prisoners Took Over Attica Prison
On August 21, 1971, Black Panther leader, George Jackson, was shot dead while trying to escape from California's San Quentin Prison.
Thousands of miles away, inmates of Attica Prison in New York hear the news and believe the death was a racially charged murder.
On September 9, 1971, the unthinkable happens: prisoners riot and are able to completely overtake the prison. This is the remarkably true story—in gripping, page-turning detail!
Thousands of miles away, inmates of Attica Prison in New York hear the news and believe the death was a racially charged murder.
On September 9, 1971, the unthinkable happens: prisoners riot and are able to completely overtake the prison. This is the remarkably true story—in gripping, page-turning detail!
Buy Now!
|
Riot! PDF and ePub |
Excerpt
Introduction
September 1971 was cooler than average in New York State, but that didn't apply to the temperature inside Attica Correctional Center. The hulking high-security prison was packed well past its capacity, with 2,250 prisoners jammed into blocks meant to hold only 1,200, and the strict regime common in American jails at the time was causing tension. Conditions inside Attica were appalling. Some of it was due to the superintendent's harsh policies but much was simply because the infrastructure couldn't cope with the numbers; many of the supply contracts were still based on the prison's official capacity, so each man had a monthly ration of one roll of toilet paper. Showers were restricted to one per week, and with so many men crammed into the cellblocks that made the atmosphere unpleasant in more ways than one.
The tension had risen still further since late August. On August 21 George Jackson, a Black Panther radical jailed in California's San Quentin jail, had a meeting with his lawyer in the visiting room. On the way back to his cell after the meeting a corrections officer spotted a glint of metal under Jackson's hair. He asked him what it was, and Jackson replied by pulling out a 9mm Astra semiautomatic pistol.[1] In the orgy of violence which followed four guards and two white inmates died with gunshot wounds and slit throats. It ended when Jackson was shot dead while trying to escape across the yard and out the gate. Despite the murderous rampage he'd initiated Jackson was a hero to many Attica inmates, especially the political radicals, and his death had infuriated them. Soon that fury would spark an even worse eruption.
Prisons can be dangerous places, especially high-security ones like Attica. When a couple of thousand people are crammed together in one place, and all of them are criminals, you can hardly expect anything else. Beatings, rape and even murder happen inside big jails. Corrections officers do a risky job and quickly learn to watch their backs. What was about to happen at Attica in September 1971 was something completely different, though. Even hardened criminals were shocked at the outpouring of rage and brutality that swept through the inmate population. On September 9, in a matter of minutes, Attica went from a strictly disciplined institution to a killing ground where death could strike anyone, at any time. The riot began with demands for better conditions that were exploited by political extremists for their own purposes. It ended in a frenzy of violence, with inmates killing inmates and guards killing guards. By the time the smoke and drifting clouds of tear gas cleared 39 men were dead, most of them slain in a hail of gunfire as the state police launched a bungled operation to take back control of the prison. Lawsuits, recriminations and compensation claims kept lawyers busy for more than 30 years and legislators are still trying to get at the whole story.
The Attica riot has been the subject of countless articles, books and movies. Most of them were based on media coverage from the time or were sensationalized versions made to push an agenda. In 2002, though, a state task force heard days of testimony from the surviving hostages and the relatives of those who died. Now it's possible to tell the story of Attica through the eyes of those who were at the heart of it.
Chapter 1: Buildup to Riot
The irony of the Attica riot is that the New York prison system was already taking steps towards reform and a more modern, rehabilitative, approach. Governor Nelson Rockefeller had ordered a commission on prison reform in 1966, and by 1970 this was starting to recommend changes in the antiquated system. For nearly 150 years US prisons had been based on the "Auburn System," which had been developed in New York in 1826 at Auburn Prison. This philosophy was based around extremely strict discipline and hard labor. The intention was to redeem prisoners by a combination of religious education, enforced contemplation of their crimes and salvation through work. In 1826 it was fairly typical of prisons worldwide; by the 1970s it was looking very out of date. Most other countries had moved to a system that attempted to rehabilitate inmates and were trying to cut down the number of people in prison, and several US states wanted to follow their example. New York was one of them. On January 1, 1971 the Department of Correction and the Division of Parole were combined into the Department of Correctional Services, in an attempt to create a continuous system that would handle criminals from their arrest to their eventual release from prison. The Division of Probation, which had been part of the Department of Correction, was moved to the new organization's Executive Department and reformed.
The head of the new Department of Correctional Services was Russell G. Oswald, a former high school athlete, law school graduate and U.S. Navy officer who had been working in correctional departments since the early 1950s.[i] Oswald's philosophy was "no case is hopeless" and he had built a reputation as a humanitarian and dedicated prison reformer. He had already been serving on the New York State Parole Board since 1957 and was well respected by many in the legal system. He also faced opposition, however. Many prison administrators and corrections officers disagreed with Oswald's proposed reforms. They believed that relaxing discipline inside prisons would be dangerous for the staff, and that liberalizing the rules would be unpopular. Many prison administrators had political ambitions and were concerned that if they implemented better conditions inside their prisons they could be accused of "coddling" the inmates.
There was also another, more practical problem with reforming New York's overcrowded jails - there wasn't any money. New York was suffering serious financial difficulties and the correctional budget had already been slashed to the bone. Unless Oswald got more funding for his department he wouldn't be able to make any improvements to the conditions the inmates were living in. This wasn't just a matter of making the facilities more comfortable or supplying more toilet paper; to give prisoners more freedom of movement inside a jail you need to hire more staff. Unfortunately for Oswald the trend was against him; between 1967 and 1971 the correctional slice of the state budget fell from 4.8 percent to only 3.0 percent. In simple dollars it increased by $19 million, but rising prices had eaten up any effect of that and in real terms the budget was falling behind. Through the early part of 1971 Oswald managed to get an extra $8 million to spend on Attica but it wasn't anywhere near enough. The prison was nearly 40 years old and had been built to an old-fashioned design, where prisoners were expected to spend most of their time locked down in the cells.
Oswald was well aware that conditions inside Attica were explosive. The regime in the old prison was exactly what he'd spent the last 15 years campaigning against and he wanted to see it changed, but his options were limited. He did what he could though. Early reforms allowed the media more access to prisons, so the American people could get a better look at what was happening inside the walls. Inmates' mail had been routinely censored by guards, but now this was restricted so that letters should only be read where there was a genuine need to. Visiting rights were improved. Oswald also ordered the department to serve better food to prisoners. He wasn't concerned with making it more appetizing but it could certainly do with being more nutritious, and he gave catering officials permission to go over budget if that was what it took to raise standards. Another change in the kitchens was that from now on Muslim prisoners would be offered alternatives to pork.
The issue of Islamic dietary requirements was becoming a significant one in 1971. The U.S. prison population hadn't yet begun the explosive growth that started in the mid-1970s and only began slowing down slightly in 2008, but the demographics of that population were changing. An increasing percentage of inmates were black or Hispanic - 54% of those in Attica were black[ii] - and particularly among black prisoners jailhouse conversions to Islam were becoming common. Louis Farrakhan of the controversial Nation of Islam was a spiritual leader to many inmates, but there were also a large number of more mainstream Muslims among the prisoners. U.S. prisons didn't have a lot of experience when it came to prisoners with special dietary needs; the number of religious Jews in prison had always been so tiny that it was easy to make special arrangements with a local delicatessen or simply pretend the problem wasn't there. Now, though, a prison the size of Attica could contain several hundred Muslims and they weren't happy to be handed a plate of beans and franks. Providing them with suitable food would play a part in reducing tension within the prison.
The growing number of Hispanic prisoners caused problems, too. Many of them were from families where the first language was Spanish, so naturally letters from parents and wives were written in that language. Few of the guards spoke it, though, and this led to problems with censorship of incoming mail. Often letters - as well as magazines and newspapers - in Spanish were simply assumed to be contraband and went straight in the trash.[iii] For inmates whose parents spoke little English this made staying in touch with the outside world almost impossible.
Poor living conditions and over-zealous censorship weren't the only problems in Attica that summer. As well as the normal racial and religious tensions inevitable when nearly 3,000 inmates and staff are crammed into a confined space there was another factor at work - radical politics.
The Black Panther Party was formed in Oakland, California in 1966. It began as part of the widespread Black Power movement, and originally its goal was to improve the conditions of black Americans and defend their communities against the police violence that was widespread at the time. Its philosophy evolved rapidly though, and by 1971 it had cut back its emphasis on racial issues and become more of a communist revolutionary movement. Every member of the party was encouraged to read Mao's "Little Red Book" as an introduction to revolutionary tactics, and the leaders formed links with other extreme left-wing groups both in the USA and abroad.
The Panther Party is difficult to categorize. It was deeply committed to revolutionary politics and hated the authorities - especially the police - but it also spent a lot of time working on social programs. One of its early activities, beginning in January 1969, was a program to give free breakfasts to children from poor families; this started at one Oakland church but by the end of the year was feeding over 10,000 children daily in cities across America. The Panthers set up free medical clinics, rehabs for alcoholics and drug addicts and an emergency ambulance service. They were often the only ones providing these services in poor areas and they made life better for tens of thousands of people, of all races. At the same time groups of armed Panthers were following the police, allegedly to "monitor" them and watch for cases of brutality or racism. At least one group of these "monitors," led by Panther leader Eldridge Cleaver, decided to carry out some brutality of their own; on April 6 1968 they ambushed an Oakland police patrol, and 17 year old Panther Bobby Hutton was killed in the gunfight that followed. He was the first Panther to die violently, but he wasn't the last. By 1970 the Panthers had murdered 15 policemen and 34 of their own were dead, killed by the police or by other Panther factions. By the mid-1970s the conflict between various political factions and the members who were more interested in fighting the police had started to tear the organization apart, and membership nosedived. By 1980 it was down to just 27 members, and the free school started by the Panthers closed in 1982 after founder Huey Newton was caught stealing its funds to pay for his drug habit.[iv]
In 1971, though, the Black Panthers were at the height of their popularity. They were also at the height of their conflict with the police, and most big prisons had a few Panthers among the inmates. Worse, they had a lot of wannabes - gang members and other criminals who were inspired by the Panthers, but ignored the social justice aims of the movement and just enjoyed the violence. These hangers-on weren't exactly sophisticated thinkers, and a lot of them couldn't see the difference between someone who was in prison for their political beliefs and someone who was in prison with their political beliefs. The USA in 1971 could be a bad place to be poor and black, but the inmates of Attica weren't being oppressed because of their race and social class; they were being oppressed because they were convicted criminals. The harsh conditions were a result of tight budgets and an outdated correctional policy, but many inmates saw it as part of the capitalist system and began to think of themselves as political prisoners.
Staff found it harder to relate to these politicized inmates than they had with more traditional jailbirds. Up until the mid-60s the guards and the convicts they supervised shared the same value system, even if they approached it from different sides. Corrections officer Richard Fargo told his son that the old-time convicts accepted they had committed a crime and were in prison to pay for it. The new class of inner city criminals was different. They blamed society, not themselves. They "felt that if they could steal from you, if they could take your life, it was your fault."[v] This different attitude opened up a divide between staff and convicts. The guards couldn't understand how the prisoners thought; the prisoners saw the guards as part of a system that oppressed them to maintain white superiority. There were other problems too. The Department of Corrections didn't seem to have recognized the changing nature of the prison population, so they didn't give officers any training on how to deal with it. Shift policy also changed in the late 1960s. Before, each guard was assigned to a specific company of inmates. He could get to know them, understand their issues and watch their moods. If a prisoner got bad news from home staff could help them through the problem. The new system was different. Guards rotated through companies and didn't build up the same rapport with the inmates. It was an explosive combination.
On September 9, 1971 a minor fight broke out between two inmates. This isn't exactly uncommon in prisons; after all there are a lot of violent people in there. As usual the guards separated them and locked them in the isolation cells to cool down.[vi] In Attica this was pretty much a daily event and usually would have been forgotten about in a few days. This time was going to be very different.
[1] Attorney Stephen Bingham always denied having smuggled the gun into San Quentin, but immediately after the visit with Jackson he fled to Europe and didn't return to the USA for 13 years. In 1986 he was acquitted on all charges arising from the incident. It should be noted that Jackson had been strip-searched before meeting Bingham and the attorney was carrying a briefcase with a large tape recorder in it. The pistol, with its grip scales removed, was flat enough to fit inside the recorder's empty casing.
[i] The New York Times, March 11, 1991, Obituaries: Russell Oswald
http://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/11/obituaries/russell-oswald-82-prison-chief-in-new-york-during-attica-siege.html
[ii] BlackPast.org, Attica Prison Riot (1971)
http://www.blackpast.org/?q=aah/attica-prison-riot-1971
[iii] Democrat and Chronicle, Attica Prison Riot: Memories Strong After 40 Years
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/section/ATTICA/Attica-Prison-Riot
[iv] Perkins, Margo V. Autobiography As Activism: Three Black Women of the Sixties. University Press of Mississippi. Jackson,2000. p. 5
[v] Attica Task Force Public Hearing, May 9, 2002, Written statement of Thomas Fargo
http://www.albany.edu/talkinghistory/attica/forgottensurvivors/FS5092002.pdf
[vi] PBS: American Experience, Attica Prison Riot
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/rockefellers-attica/
September 1971 was cooler than average in New York State, but that didn't apply to the temperature inside Attica Correctional Center. The hulking high-security prison was packed well past its capacity, with 2,250 prisoners jammed into blocks meant to hold only 1,200, and the strict regime common in American jails at the time was causing tension. Conditions inside Attica were appalling. Some of it was due to the superintendent's harsh policies but much was simply because the infrastructure couldn't cope with the numbers; many of the supply contracts were still based on the prison's official capacity, so each man had a monthly ration of one roll of toilet paper. Showers were restricted to one per week, and with so many men crammed into the cellblocks that made the atmosphere unpleasant in more ways than one.
The tension had risen still further since late August. On August 21 George Jackson, a Black Panther radical jailed in California's San Quentin jail, had a meeting with his lawyer in the visiting room. On the way back to his cell after the meeting a corrections officer spotted a glint of metal under Jackson's hair. He asked him what it was, and Jackson replied by pulling out a 9mm Astra semiautomatic pistol.[1] In the orgy of violence which followed four guards and two white inmates died with gunshot wounds and slit throats. It ended when Jackson was shot dead while trying to escape across the yard and out the gate. Despite the murderous rampage he'd initiated Jackson was a hero to many Attica inmates, especially the political radicals, and his death had infuriated them. Soon that fury would spark an even worse eruption.
Prisons can be dangerous places, especially high-security ones like Attica. When a couple of thousand people are crammed together in one place, and all of them are criminals, you can hardly expect anything else. Beatings, rape and even murder happen inside big jails. Corrections officers do a risky job and quickly learn to watch their backs. What was about to happen at Attica in September 1971 was something completely different, though. Even hardened criminals were shocked at the outpouring of rage and brutality that swept through the inmate population. On September 9, in a matter of minutes, Attica went from a strictly disciplined institution to a killing ground where death could strike anyone, at any time. The riot began with demands for better conditions that were exploited by political extremists for their own purposes. It ended in a frenzy of violence, with inmates killing inmates and guards killing guards. By the time the smoke and drifting clouds of tear gas cleared 39 men were dead, most of them slain in a hail of gunfire as the state police launched a bungled operation to take back control of the prison. Lawsuits, recriminations and compensation claims kept lawyers busy for more than 30 years and legislators are still trying to get at the whole story.
The Attica riot has been the subject of countless articles, books and movies. Most of them were based on media coverage from the time or were sensationalized versions made to push an agenda. In 2002, though, a state task force heard days of testimony from the surviving hostages and the relatives of those who died. Now it's possible to tell the story of Attica through the eyes of those who were at the heart of it.
Chapter 1: Buildup to Riot
The irony of the Attica riot is that the New York prison system was already taking steps towards reform and a more modern, rehabilitative, approach. Governor Nelson Rockefeller had ordered a commission on prison reform in 1966, and by 1970 this was starting to recommend changes in the antiquated system. For nearly 150 years US prisons had been based on the "Auburn System," which had been developed in New York in 1826 at Auburn Prison. This philosophy was based around extremely strict discipline and hard labor. The intention was to redeem prisoners by a combination of religious education, enforced contemplation of their crimes and salvation through work. In 1826 it was fairly typical of prisons worldwide; by the 1970s it was looking very out of date. Most other countries had moved to a system that attempted to rehabilitate inmates and were trying to cut down the number of people in prison, and several US states wanted to follow their example. New York was one of them. On January 1, 1971 the Department of Correction and the Division of Parole were combined into the Department of Correctional Services, in an attempt to create a continuous system that would handle criminals from their arrest to their eventual release from prison. The Division of Probation, which had been part of the Department of Correction, was moved to the new organization's Executive Department and reformed.
The head of the new Department of Correctional Services was Russell G. Oswald, a former high school athlete, law school graduate and U.S. Navy officer who had been working in correctional departments since the early 1950s.[i] Oswald's philosophy was "no case is hopeless" and he had built a reputation as a humanitarian and dedicated prison reformer. He had already been serving on the New York State Parole Board since 1957 and was well respected by many in the legal system. He also faced opposition, however. Many prison administrators and corrections officers disagreed with Oswald's proposed reforms. They believed that relaxing discipline inside prisons would be dangerous for the staff, and that liberalizing the rules would be unpopular. Many prison administrators had political ambitions and were concerned that if they implemented better conditions inside their prisons they could be accused of "coddling" the inmates.
There was also another, more practical problem with reforming New York's overcrowded jails - there wasn't any money. New York was suffering serious financial difficulties and the correctional budget had already been slashed to the bone. Unless Oswald got more funding for his department he wouldn't be able to make any improvements to the conditions the inmates were living in. This wasn't just a matter of making the facilities more comfortable or supplying more toilet paper; to give prisoners more freedom of movement inside a jail you need to hire more staff. Unfortunately for Oswald the trend was against him; between 1967 and 1971 the correctional slice of the state budget fell from 4.8 percent to only 3.0 percent. In simple dollars it increased by $19 million, but rising prices had eaten up any effect of that and in real terms the budget was falling behind. Through the early part of 1971 Oswald managed to get an extra $8 million to spend on Attica but it wasn't anywhere near enough. The prison was nearly 40 years old and had been built to an old-fashioned design, where prisoners were expected to spend most of their time locked down in the cells.
Oswald was well aware that conditions inside Attica were explosive. The regime in the old prison was exactly what he'd spent the last 15 years campaigning against and he wanted to see it changed, but his options were limited. He did what he could though. Early reforms allowed the media more access to prisons, so the American people could get a better look at what was happening inside the walls. Inmates' mail had been routinely censored by guards, but now this was restricted so that letters should only be read where there was a genuine need to. Visiting rights were improved. Oswald also ordered the department to serve better food to prisoners. He wasn't concerned with making it more appetizing but it could certainly do with being more nutritious, and he gave catering officials permission to go over budget if that was what it took to raise standards. Another change in the kitchens was that from now on Muslim prisoners would be offered alternatives to pork.
The issue of Islamic dietary requirements was becoming a significant one in 1971. The U.S. prison population hadn't yet begun the explosive growth that started in the mid-1970s and only began slowing down slightly in 2008, but the demographics of that population were changing. An increasing percentage of inmates were black or Hispanic - 54% of those in Attica were black[ii] - and particularly among black prisoners jailhouse conversions to Islam were becoming common. Louis Farrakhan of the controversial Nation of Islam was a spiritual leader to many inmates, but there were also a large number of more mainstream Muslims among the prisoners. U.S. prisons didn't have a lot of experience when it came to prisoners with special dietary needs; the number of religious Jews in prison had always been so tiny that it was easy to make special arrangements with a local delicatessen or simply pretend the problem wasn't there. Now, though, a prison the size of Attica could contain several hundred Muslims and they weren't happy to be handed a plate of beans and franks. Providing them with suitable food would play a part in reducing tension within the prison.
The growing number of Hispanic prisoners caused problems, too. Many of them were from families where the first language was Spanish, so naturally letters from parents and wives were written in that language. Few of the guards spoke it, though, and this led to problems with censorship of incoming mail. Often letters - as well as magazines and newspapers - in Spanish were simply assumed to be contraband and went straight in the trash.[iii] For inmates whose parents spoke little English this made staying in touch with the outside world almost impossible.
Poor living conditions and over-zealous censorship weren't the only problems in Attica that summer. As well as the normal racial and religious tensions inevitable when nearly 3,000 inmates and staff are crammed into a confined space there was another factor at work - radical politics.
The Black Panther Party was formed in Oakland, California in 1966. It began as part of the widespread Black Power movement, and originally its goal was to improve the conditions of black Americans and defend their communities against the police violence that was widespread at the time. Its philosophy evolved rapidly though, and by 1971 it had cut back its emphasis on racial issues and become more of a communist revolutionary movement. Every member of the party was encouraged to read Mao's "Little Red Book" as an introduction to revolutionary tactics, and the leaders formed links with other extreme left-wing groups both in the USA and abroad.
The Panther Party is difficult to categorize. It was deeply committed to revolutionary politics and hated the authorities - especially the police - but it also spent a lot of time working on social programs. One of its early activities, beginning in January 1969, was a program to give free breakfasts to children from poor families; this started at one Oakland church but by the end of the year was feeding over 10,000 children daily in cities across America. The Panthers set up free medical clinics, rehabs for alcoholics and drug addicts and an emergency ambulance service. They were often the only ones providing these services in poor areas and they made life better for tens of thousands of people, of all races. At the same time groups of armed Panthers were following the police, allegedly to "monitor" them and watch for cases of brutality or racism. At least one group of these "monitors," led by Panther leader Eldridge Cleaver, decided to carry out some brutality of their own; on April 6 1968 they ambushed an Oakland police patrol, and 17 year old Panther Bobby Hutton was killed in the gunfight that followed. He was the first Panther to die violently, but he wasn't the last. By 1970 the Panthers had murdered 15 policemen and 34 of their own were dead, killed by the police or by other Panther factions. By the mid-1970s the conflict between various political factions and the members who were more interested in fighting the police had started to tear the organization apart, and membership nosedived. By 1980 it was down to just 27 members, and the free school started by the Panthers closed in 1982 after founder Huey Newton was caught stealing its funds to pay for his drug habit.[iv]
In 1971, though, the Black Panthers were at the height of their popularity. They were also at the height of their conflict with the police, and most big prisons had a few Panthers among the inmates. Worse, they had a lot of wannabes - gang members and other criminals who were inspired by the Panthers, but ignored the social justice aims of the movement and just enjoyed the violence. These hangers-on weren't exactly sophisticated thinkers, and a lot of them couldn't see the difference between someone who was in prison for their political beliefs and someone who was in prison with their political beliefs. The USA in 1971 could be a bad place to be poor and black, but the inmates of Attica weren't being oppressed because of their race and social class; they were being oppressed because they were convicted criminals. The harsh conditions were a result of tight budgets and an outdated correctional policy, but many inmates saw it as part of the capitalist system and began to think of themselves as political prisoners.
Staff found it harder to relate to these politicized inmates than they had with more traditional jailbirds. Up until the mid-60s the guards and the convicts they supervised shared the same value system, even if they approached it from different sides. Corrections officer Richard Fargo told his son that the old-time convicts accepted they had committed a crime and were in prison to pay for it. The new class of inner city criminals was different. They blamed society, not themselves. They "felt that if they could steal from you, if they could take your life, it was your fault."[v] This different attitude opened up a divide between staff and convicts. The guards couldn't understand how the prisoners thought; the prisoners saw the guards as part of a system that oppressed them to maintain white superiority. There were other problems too. The Department of Corrections didn't seem to have recognized the changing nature of the prison population, so they didn't give officers any training on how to deal with it. Shift policy also changed in the late 1960s. Before, each guard was assigned to a specific company of inmates. He could get to know them, understand their issues and watch their moods. If a prisoner got bad news from home staff could help them through the problem. The new system was different. Guards rotated through companies and didn't build up the same rapport with the inmates. It was an explosive combination.
On September 9, 1971 a minor fight broke out between two inmates. This isn't exactly uncommon in prisons; after all there are a lot of violent people in there. As usual the guards separated them and locked them in the isolation cells to cool down.[vi] In Attica this was pretty much a daily event and usually would have been forgotten about in a few days. This time was going to be very different.
[1] Attorney Stephen Bingham always denied having smuggled the gun into San Quentin, but immediately after the visit with Jackson he fled to Europe and didn't return to the USA for 13 years. In 1986 he was acquitted on all charges arising from the incident. It should be noted that Jackson had been strip-searched before meeting Bingham and the attorney was carrying a briefcase with a large tape recorder in it. The pistol, with its grip scales removed, was flat enough to fit inside the recorder's empty casing.
[i] The New York Times, March 11, 1991, Obituaries: Russell Oswald
http://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/11/obituaries/russell-oswald-82-prison-chief-in-new-york-during-attica-siege.html
[ii] BlackPast.org, Attica Prison Riot (1971)
http://www.blackpast.org/?q=aah/attica-prison-riot-1971
[iii] Democrat and Chronicle, Attica Prison Riot: Memories Strong After 40 Years
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/section/ATTICA/Attica-Prison-Riot
[iv] Perkins, Margo V. Autobiography As Activism: Three Black Women of the Sixties. University Press of Mississippi. Jackson,2000. p. 5
[v] Attica Task Force Public Hearing, May 9, 2002, Written statement of Thomas Fargo
http://www.albany.edu/talkinghistory/attica/forgottensurvivors/FS5092002.pdf
[vi] PBS: American Experience, Attica Prison Riot
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/rockefellers-attica/
