• Login
  • Register
  • FAQ
  • Contact Us
  • Home
  • Documents
  • Activities
  • Activity Tools
    • All Tools
    • Analyzing Documents
    • Discussion Topic
    • Compare and Contrast
    • Zoom/Crop
    • White Out / Black Out
    • Spotlight
    • Finding a Sequence
    • Making Connections
    • Mapping History
    • Seeing the Big Picture
    • Weighing the Evidence
    • Interpreting Data
  • Popular Topics
    • See All
    • National History Day
    • The Constitution
    • Labor History
    • Sports: All-American
    • Rights in America
    • American Indians
    • Women's Rights
    • American Revolution
    • The Civil War
    • World War I
    • World War II
    • The Vietnam War
    • 1970s America
    • Congress
    • Amending America
    • Elections
    • What Americans Eat
    • Signatures
    • Nixon and Ford Years
  • Resources
    • Getting Started
    • Document Analysis
    • Activity-Creation Guide
    • Manage Assignments
    • iPad App
    • Presentation Materials
    • Webinars
      • Recorded Webinars
      • Live Webinars
MENU
DocsTeachThe online tool for teaching with documents, from the National Archives National Archives Foundation National Archives

Washington riots, Washington, D.C.

4/1968

Print
Add to Favorites:
Add
Saving document...
Your document has been saved.
Add all page(s) of this document to activity:
Within a few hours of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination on April 4, 1968 in Memphis, Tennsessee, riots had broken out in several cities across the United States.

In the Washington, DC, where four days earlier King had delivered a sermon at the National Cathedral entitled “Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution,” 14th and U Streets became the center of civil unrest.

Rioting and protests continued in Washington, D.C. through April 8th. In the end, 13 people were killed, around 1000 were injured, and over 6100 individuals were arrested.

The National Archives Catalog's shot list describes this film as the following: 
"VS, broken windows at McDonald's Drive-In. Night and day scenes, firemen hose down burning building at 7th and O streets. VS, soldiers of the 3rd Infantry, patrol streets walking past store wreckage. CUs, faces of soldiers. VS, smashed mannequins and store fronts. VS, sanitation front loader picks up debris from streets and loads it onto truck. Soldiers at jeep talk on radio. Civil police and military talk on phone. Firemen hose down burning building. Gas inspector checks street with meter. Travel shot past burned and boarded up stores. CS, gas grenade goes off. People rush away. Injured photographer is helped by soldiers. VS, people walk past soldiers. VS, burning buildings. People stand about watching the firefighters."
This primary source comes from the Records of the Office of the Chief Signal Officer.
National Archives Identifier: 31907
Full Citation: 111-LC-52729; Washington riots, Washington, D.C.; 4/1968; Motion Picture Films from the Army Library Copy Collection, 1964–1980; Records of the Office of the Chief Signal Officer, Record Group 111; National Archives at College Park, College Park, MD. [Online Version, https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/washington-dc-riots, June 16, 2025]
Return to ResultsReturn

Rights: Public Domain, Free of Known Copyright Restrictions. Learn more on our privacy and legal page.

  • Explore Primary Source Documents
  •  
  • Discover Activities You Can Teach With
  •  
  • Create Fun & Engaging Activities
Follow us on X:X
Follow us on Facebook:facebook
Please enter a valid email address

View our webinars:youtube

Get our iPad app:apple
New Documentsshare
New Activitiesshare

The National Archives

DocsTeach is a product of the National Archives education division. Our mission is to engage, educate, and inspire all learners to discover and explore the records of the American people preserved by the National Archives.

The National Archives and Records Administration is the nation's record keeper. We save documents and other materials created in the course of business conducted by the U.S. Federal government that are judged to have continuing value. We hold in trust for the public the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights — but also the records of ordinary citizens — at our locations around the country.
  • All Education Programs
  • Student Visits
  • Distance Learning
  • Professional Development
  • National Archives Museum
  • Presidential Libraries
  • Archives.gov
  • National Archives Foundation




Creative Commons License

Except where otherwise noted, DocsTeach is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Primary source documents included on this site generally come from the holdings of the National Archives and are in the public domain, except as noted. Teaching activities on this site have received the CC0 Public Domain Dedication; authors have waived all copyright and related rights to the extent possible under the law. See our legal and privacy page for full terms and conditions.
Safest and most reliable Czech online casinos! isitfair.eu – a trusted platform with expertly ratings & reviews, and top choise exclusive bonuses for Czech players.