Call Number:

Print Collection 76

Repository:

University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts

Extent:

0.3 linear feet (1 box, 1 flat file)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Preferred citation: Black Panther Party material, 1968-1970, Print Collection 76, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania

Date:

1968-1970 (inclusive)

Creator:

Black Panther Party (1966-1982)

Form:

Posters, Newspapers, Pamphlets, Interviews, and Speeches, addresses, etc.

Abstract:

The Black Panther Party material measures 0.3 linear feet in one box and one flat file, dates from 1968-1970, and is comprised of material created by both Black Panther members and external sources. The collection primarily features speeches, articles, and ephemera authored by three Black Panther leaders: Eldridge Cleaver, Huey Newton, and Bobby Seale. External sources include newspapers from the Berkeley Tribe and Chicago Seed, plus a staff study booklet by United States Congress researchers.

The Black Panther Party (BPP) was a Leninist-Marxist, Black Power organization founded in Oakland, California by Huey Newton (1942-1989) and Bobby Seale (1936- ) in 1966. Newton and Seale initially established the BPP to challenge police brutality in Black neighborhoods, but the Party soon after pivoted to protest for social, economic, and political equality for other marginalized groups, as well. At its height in the late 1960s, the Black Panthers had established regional offices in other US cities, including Philadelphia, New York, and Chicago, with as many as 5000 active members.

The BPP was a controversial civil rights movement that advocated for equal protection of Black Americans' Second Amendment rights; collaborated with its contemporaries for LGBTQ, women, and immigrant rights; and clashed with local law enforcement agencies. Considered an "internal threat" to the United States by lawmakers and J. Edgar Hoover, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the BPP was subsequently targeted and infiltrated by the latter. The movement began to decline by the early 1970s in response to law enforcement counterintelligence efforts; the murders of nearly 30 Black Panthers; and increasing rates of incarceration amongst its members. By 1982, the Black Panther Party ceased to exist, but its legacy continues to influence modern social movements like Black Lives Matter and Defund the Police.

Sources:

Carson, Clayborne, and David Malcolm Carson. "Black Panther Party." Encyclopedia of the American Left, vol. 502, Garland Publishing, 1990, https://web.stanford.edu/~ccarson/articles/am_left.htm.

Henry, Carmel. "A Brief History of Civil Rights in the United States: The Black Panther Party." Vernon E. Jordan Law Library, Howard University School of Law, 6 Jan. 2023, https://library.law.howard.edu/civilrightshistory/bpp.

"The Black Panther Party: Challenging Police and Promoting Social Change." National Museum of African American History and Culture, https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/black-panther-party-challenging-police-and-promoting-social-change.

The Black Panther Party material measures 0.3 linear feet in one box and one flat file, dates from 1968-1970, and are comprised of materials created by both Black Panther Party members and external organizations.

This collection is of value to researchers hoping to learn about the Black Panther Party's activities at its height in 1968, 1969, and 1970. During this time the movement's founders, Huey Newton and Bobby Seale, had been convicted of crimes and imprisoned by the State. In response, Party members organized protests and designed artwork to call for Newton and Seale to be released from prison. The collection also provides the United States Government's perspective and notes on the revolutionary movement.

This collection is organized into two series, I. Material created by the Black Panther Party and II. Material created by external sources.

Series I. includes collection material, such as a handbill, pinback buttons, publications, speeches, and a poster, which were created by active members of the Black Panther Party.

Series II. includes material that were produced by entities outside of Party membership. The following items are included: a handbill, newspapers, pamphlets, and a poster.