Boundary Stones

Hostage Standoff at the DC Jail: Shirley Chisholm and the 1972 Jail Uprising

On October 11, 1972, a group of inmates in cellblock of the DC Jail in Washington, DC, took several guards hostage, sparking a jail uprising. DC Corrections Director Kenneth Hardy and a Washington Post reporter attempted to negotiate an end to the standoff, as well as future Mayor Marion Barry and DC Delegate Walter Fauntroy. All were unsuccessful. And then Shirley Chisholm arrived.

Hostage Standoff at the DC Jail: Shirley Chisholm and the 1972 Jail Uprising

4m 55s

On October 11, 1972, a group of inmates in cellblock of the DC Jail in Washington, DC, took several guards hostage, sparking a jail uprising. DC Corrections Director Kenneth Hardy and a Washington Post reporter attempted to negotiate an end to the standoff, as well as future Mayor Marion Barry and DC Delegate Walter Fauntroy. All were unsuccessful. And then Shirley Chisholm arrived.

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