20 March 1968 & howard u students take over admin building

“[This is] the best thing that has happened at Howard. I'm here to stay.”
                                                                                                 Carmen Hocker (student)

#OTD 20 March 1968 Students at Howard University take over Administration Building to protest administration's decision to discipline students who demonstrated at the Charter Day program on 1 March 1968. More than 1,000 students went to the admin building and many started to engage in a sit-in. In the image above, dozens of students sit in a hallway. 

Click here to see part 1 of a 1968 film on the HU protest. The film was written, produced and narrated by Dick McCutcheon, white. It is a wonderful and problematic documentary. Wonderful because it is a window into Howard in 1968 and you hear from a range of individuals. Problematic because it is framed through the racism and liberalism of McCutcheon. Big thank you to Jazmin Goodwin, Hilltop editor, for telling me about the documentary.

Please comment below. Were you a Howard student in 1968? Did you participate in the takeover? Did you decide not to participate in the takeover? Do you recognize anyone in this photo? You may comment privately here.

Photo: Courtesy DC Public Library Special Collections, 1968. Photographer unknown.
Pearl Stewart, “Together, Most Students Say After Seizure,” Hilltop 22 March 1968.