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Construction Workers' Rally

Videofreex

1970 00:32:34 United StatesEnglishB&WMono4:31/2" open reel video

Description

Though this video segment bears the title Construction Workers Rally, much more than issues of labor are addressed. On May 8th of 1970, approximately two hundred demonstrating construction workers, mobilized by the New York State AFL-CIO, had attacked 1,000 high school and college students and others protesting the Kent State shootings, the American invasion of Cambodia, and the Vietnam War. In response to this event, which would become known as the “Hard Hat Riot,” several thousand construction workers and white-collared workers marched through New York City on May 11th, May 16th, and again on May 20th, to protest violent demonstrations, as well as Mayor John Lindsey’s perceived mismanagement of the riot on May 8th, and his overall failure to the city and its citizens.

In this tape, the Videofreex take viewers to the ground level of action and debate then unfolding in New York in May 1970. With the advantage of a portable Portapak device and its recording capabilities, the Freex move freely through the crowd, pursuing investigative interviews with demonstrators that span the range of opinions present that day. In addition to gathering a multiplicity of perspectives about Nixon's actions in Vietnam and Mayor Lindsey’s status as a leader, the Videofreex ask each individual to speak about what newspapers they read and why, effectively revealing historical information about Americans' behavior as cultural consumers.

The documenting of the demonstrators and the gathered spectators offers unique insight into the “look ”of a protest in the 1970s, recording the soundscape and energy of the event. We hear demonstrators sing, “Goodbye Lindsey, we’d love to see you go,” and chant “Lindsey Must Go!,” whereas other individuals interviewed by the Freex speak of their commitment and support of the current administration. As a result, this tape offers contemporary viewers a taste of the confusion and excitement felt by those experiencing the events first-hand.

— Faye Gleisser 

VDB Videofreex

Videofreex, one of the first video collectives, was founded in 1969 by David Cort, Mary Curtis Ratcliff and Parry Teasdale, after David and Parry met each other, video cameras in hand, at the Woodstock Music Festival. Working out of a loft in lower Manhattan, the group's first major project was producing a live and tape TV presentation for the CBS network, The Now Show, for which they traveled the country, interviewing countercultural figures such as Abbie Hoffman and Black Panther leader Fred Hampton.

The group soon grew to ten full-time members--including Chuck Kennedy, Nancy Cain, Skip Blumberg, Davidson Gigliotti, Carol Vontobel, Bart Friedman and Ann Woodward--and produced tapes, installations and multimedia events. The Videofreex trained hundreds of makers in this brand new medium though the group's Media Bus project.

In 1971 the Freex moved to a 27-room, former boarding house called Maple Tree Farm in Lanesville, NY, operating one of the earliest media centers. Their innovative programming ranged from artists' tapes and performances to behind-the-scenes coverage of national politics and alternate culture. They also covered their Catskill Mountain hamlet, and in early 1972 they launched the first pirate TV station, Lanesville TV. An exuberant experiment with two-way, interactive broadcasting, it used live phone-ins and stretched cameras to the highway, transmitting whatever the active minds of the Freex coupled with their early video gear could share with their rural viewers.

During the decade that the Freex were together, this pioneer video group amassed an archive of 1,500+ raw tapes and edits.

In 2001, the Video Data Bank began assembling this unique archive of original 1/2-inch open-reel videos, collecting them from basements and attics where the tapes were stored. A restoration plan was hammered out in 2007 and a distribution contract was signed between VDB and the newly formalized Videofreex Partnership (administered by Skip Blumberg).

The Videofreex Archive, now housed at VDB, chronicles the countercultural movement of the 1960s and 1970s. The  titles listed here are the first wave of an ongoing project to preserve and digitize important examples of this early video.

More About the Videofreex Archive Preservation

Also see:

Parry Teasdale: An Interview

Videofreex Official Website