Print friendly
E-mail story
Tip Us Off
iPod friendly
Comments
Share Article
Facebook
Twitter
Google+1
del.icio.us.
Digg!
Yahoo! Buzz
Diigo
google
newsvine
reddit
technorati
Yahoo!
MyspaceMuch like today, Isla Vista circa 1970 was a sleepy seaside student ghetto, known for its raucous weekend atmosphere. However, then, unlike now, there existed a general unrest among college students on campuses across America that set the stage for what was to turn the streets of the small community into a virtual war zone. At UCSB, the breaking point was the firing of Bill Allen, a popular left wing anthropology professor. “I wouldn’t say the UCSB campus was as motivated as Berkeley, but students got motivated when they felt they weren’t being paid attention to,” said Joe Melchione, whose photographs of the ensuing riots are currently displayed at the Brooks Institute’s Cota Street Gallery.
Joe Melchione
Nearly 3,000 UCSB students gather at a rally where Professor Dick Flacks decries the invasion of Cambodia.
What began as growing discontentment amongst UCSB’s student population led to the now famous February, 1970 Isla Vista riots, and the burning of the Bank of America building which once stood where Embarcadero Hall stands today. “What was important about Santa Barbara from a global perspective is that nobody ever thought it would ever happen there-these were the kids who came to party and surf,” said Melchione. “From the beginning, the police reaction was bellicose.”
Joe Melchione
In one day of rioting, police arrest 667 people.
Melchione, who in 1970 had recently become the photo editor of El Gaucho-the predecessor of the Daily Nexus-snapped all of his photographs of the riots on 35mm black-and-white film, using available lighting. Images of dumpster barricades across a smoke-filled Embarcadero del Mar, with police on one side and angry students and protestors on the other, are indeed shocking, but there are also scenes of people gathered in peaceful protest at UCSB’s lagoon and peace marchers lining State Street near the Granada Theatre that capture a more hopeful spirit. “I wanted to convey the sense that people banding together can make a difference,” said Melchione. “It’s getting to the point where my generation is moving on, and most young people don’t know this history.”
Joe Melchione
For those who want to learn more, there will be a panel discussion at the gallery at 6 p.m. on August 17, with speakers including Melchione; UCSB professor emeritus of sociology Dick Flacks; Jean Voss, who was a dispatcher for the Sheriff’s Department; and Becca Wilson, the editor of El Gaucho at the time of the riots.
Previous Month
Comments
Thanks for the images. And, the memories. I walked thru the B/A that night, with my girlfriend. And, 19 others who were photographed and later identified and arrested for arson and other crimes. I distinctly remember the dumpster being filled with papers and ignited against the drapes...
Amazing times, for sure.
jdd
jddartdds (anonymous profile)
August 13, 2008 at 7:19 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I was there, however the writer should get some facts straight. It was not the police, but the Sheriff's Department deputies and LA and San Francisco. Eventually the National Guard was also deployed. The rioters would not leave and several received wounds. Tear gas employed. When the shooting occurred at the Bank of America, two Santa Barbara Sheriff's deputies were escorting a trespasser. The radio announcer at the time let us believe it was a deputy. The shooter shot the trespasser and all of the guns were checked. The shot was not fired by a law enforcement officer. Get your facts correct before publishing. A deputy was injured for life by some unknown person throwing a rock. The deputy was hit in his temple and his brain was injured. He lost most of his faculties of remembering and motor skills. This whole thing ended up with the Black Student Union being blamed as an instigator of the riots. Mr. Preston you are using the freedom of speech without checking your facts.
jarob (anonymous profile)
June 6, 2011 at 11 p.m. (Suggest removal)