Inmates take over New York State's Attica Prison

Historical Context Note

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.4: American (US) Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary, 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Sofia Ahlberg (Uppsala University), Patrick Chura (University of Akron), Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), Dale Enggass (University of Utah), Christopher Hugh Gair (University of Glasgow), Matthew Hofer (University of New Mexico), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Kerry Myler (Birmingham Newman University), Justin Parks (UiT - The Arctic University of Norway), Nick Selby (University of East Anglia)

Domains

Riots and violent protests

Dates

Date of occurrence 1971-09-09

Places

United States (Location)

Resources

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On the 9th of September, 1971 rioting broke out at the Attica Correctional Facility in Attica, New York. Racism was rife amongst prison officers and over half the inmates were African American. Tensions had grown after news had broken of the killing of black activist George Jackson in a California prison. After 4 days of negotiations with the prisoners, who held a number of staff hostage, the prison was stormed with guns and tear gas by state police. 39 people were killed in the disturbance.

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