Primary Sources: The 1960s: Democratic National Convention, 1968

An online exhibit related to the 1968 DNC in Chicago. Contains a variety of images from the DNC meeting as well as others.

"What did it all mean? Was the Chicago Eight Trial merely, as one commentator suggested, "a monumental non-event"? Was it, as others argue, an important battle for the hearts and minds of the American people? Or is it best seen as a symbol of the conflicts of values that characterized the late sixties? These are some of the questions that surround one of the most unusual courtroom spectacles in American history, the 1969-70 trial of eight radicals accused of conspiring to incite a riot at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago..."
The site provides access to various sources including the trial transcript, images, and audio files.

"For over forty years, Studs explored a variety of themes, from architecture to rock music, from poetry to the intricacies of the labor movement. Explore the archive by topic, people, date, or keyword."

from History.com

"Protests against party leadership and policies during the 1968 Democratic Party National Convention, held in Chicago, exploded into violent street confrontations. The 10,000 protesters faced more than 20,000 army troops and police officers. The Walker Report, a federal investigation of the incident, characterized the conflict as “a police riot” and blamed Mayor Richard J. Daley in part for the “unrestrained and indiscriminate police violence.” While only seven police officers faced dismissal proceedings, eight leaders of protesting organizations were indicted for conspiring to violate the 1968 Anti-Riot Act. Documents from the National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam (or Mobe) and the Youth International Party (or “Yippies,”)— two groups central in organizing the protest—appeared in the following testimony of activist Tom Hayden at a House Committee on Un-American Activities hearing to investigate “subversive involvement” in the disruption. Hayden co-authored the Port Huron Statement, the founding document of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), the leading New Left coalition, in 1962. Despite outrage at the current “state of anarchy,” he remained devoted to participatory democracy. Although Hayden and four others were convicted of various charges in the sensationalist Chicago Conspiracy trial, an appeals court reversed the verdicts. " GMU History Matters