The 1968 Democratic National Convention protests were a series of protest activities against the Vietnam War that took place prior to and during the 1968 Democratic National Convention. Anti-Vietnam War protest groups began planning protests and demonstrations in response to the convention but the protesters were met by the Chicago Police Department in the streets and parks of Chicago before and during the convention, including indiscriminate police violence against protesters, reporters, photographers, and bystanders that was later described by the National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence as a “police riot”.
Research Projects
Narrative Cartography of Chicago Police Riots 1968
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Tags
Narrative Cartography, Chicago Riot, Visualisation, Mapping, Riot mapping
Author: Abhilash Barbade + Krushna Lahoti
Tutors: Victor Cano-Ciborro + Mansi Shah
The cartography attempts to retrace the protest and riot that happen in the city of Chicago in 1968 and demonstrates the spatial situation as a peaceful protest turned to incited riot. The mapping attempts to visualise the enthusiasm of the protesters and the tension and fear during the riots. Based on the study of events that happened during the riots of Chicago in 1967. The Cartography is based on the events that took place in grant park around the John Logan statue.
Peaceful Protest : August 26 Grant Park
Demonstrators climbed on a statue of General Logan on a horse, leading to violent skirmishes with police in Grant Park. Police hauled a young man down and arrested him, breaking his arm in the process. The cartography retraces the aspect of peaceful protest and marks all the elements of protest on Aug 26 in grant park where people occupied the grant park and climbed the Logan statue. Symbolising the collection of the people as a cyclone that has been pulling the active citizens to stand for their rights with the statue at its centre.
Riot: August 28 Grant Park
A march was stopped at 18th Street and Michigan Avenue by the National Guard. Arrests were followed by tear gas and mace, while marchers chanted “The whole world is watching” and retreated to Grant Park. The cartography depicts the clash between the police and protestor symbolised in the form of waves crashing over one another. Where one wave is of the protestors and second is of the police trying to vacate the park and remove protestors form the park.
About Authors:
Abhilash Barbade
Abhilash is an architect and urban designer. He holds a Master’s degree in urban design from CEPT University. Currently, he has founded an Architecture and urban design studio and is working on the development of institutional campus and public realm projects.
Krushna Lahoti
Krushna is an architect and an urbanist by education, with a Master’s degree in Urban Design from CEPT University. Having worked both in the private and public sector, he has co-founded a multidisciplinary design firm in Aurangabad. Apart from this, he also partakes collaborative architectural and urban design projects.