Black Panthers: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A documentary short with the title Black Panthers. It consists of a single reel of color 16mm polyester film with optical sound.

The documentary focuses on protests in Oakland, California following the arrest of Black Panther co-founder Huey Newton. There is also brief footage of the location where Bobby Hutton was killed.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1968
• Directed by: Agnès Varda, French, 1928 - 2019
• Subject of: Black Panther Party, American, 1966 - 1982
• Subject of: Stokely Carmichael, Trinidadian American, 1941 - 1998
• Subject of: Eldridge Cleaver, American, 1935 - 1998
• Subject of: Kathleen Cleaver Ph. D., American, born 1945
• Subject of: Ron Dellums, American, born 1935
• Subject of: James Forman, American, 1928 - 2005
• Subject of: Dr. Huey P. Newton, American, 1942 - 1989
• Type: sound films
• Type: color films (visual works)
• Type: short subjects
• Type: 16mm (photographic film size)
• Medium: polyester film
• Dimensions: Duration: 28 Minutes
• Dimensions: Length (Film): 1000 Feet
• Place used: Washington, District of Columbia, United States, North and Central America
• Place filmed: Oakland, Alameda County, California, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Activism
• Topic: Black power
• Topic: Documentary films
• Topic: Film
• Topic: Justice
• Topic: Police brutality
• Topic: Political organizations
• Object number: 2017.55.58.1a
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Transferred from the DC Public Library
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: Restrictions likely apply. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.