dominick spina

Advance Newspaper (Jan 6, 1966)

Issue of the African-American newspaper, Advance, from January 6, 1966. The issue contains coverage of demands made by the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) for the dismissal of Police Director Dominick Spina. CORE demanded Spina’s ouster in a meeting with Mayor Addonizio after a Black teenager, Walter Mathis, was fatally shot by Newark police. This issue also details several high-profile cases of police brutality from 1962-1966, a period in which Newark’s Black and Puerto Rican communities continuously advocated for police reform and accountability to no avail from City Hall. — Credit: Newark Public Library

Temple of Kawaida Press Release from Amiri Baraka (Nov 27, 1972)

Press release issued by Amiri Baraka on November 27, 1972 criticizing the lack of police protection from mob violence at the construction site of Kawaida Towers. Kawaida Towers, a high-rise housing project that Baraka planned to build in Newark’s predominantly white North Ward, was met by fierce opposition from white residents and politicians. — Credit: The Black Power Movement, Pt. 1 (microfilm)

Newark Police Dept Report on Willie Wright (Capt Charles Kinney)

Report submitted by Newark Police Captain Charles Kinney, regarding his “Investigation Into Possible Criminal Conspiracy During Riots of July 1967.” Wright was one of several figures under surveillance from the Newark Police Department before and after the 1967 Newark Rebellion. The report relied mostly on word-of-mouth accounts from informants, with little hard evidence to support its allegations. — Credit: Seton Hall University Libraries

Witness Testimony of Harry Wheeler- Dec 8, 1967-ilovepdf-compressed

Testimony of Harry Wheeler, director of the Committee Against Negro and Puerto Rican Removal, before the Governor’s Select Commission on Civil Disorder on December 8, 1967. The Commission was held following the 1967 Newark rebellion to investigate the causes of the rebellion and called witnesses to testify like a Grand Jury. –Credit: Rutgers University Digital Legal Library Repository

Witness Testimony of Earl Harris Before the Governor’s Select Commission on Civil Disorder (Dec 8, 1967)-ilovepdf-compressed

Witness Testimony of Earl Harris before the Governor’s Select Commission on Civil Disorders on December 8, 1967. The Commission was formed to investigate the causes of the 1967 Newark rebellion and operated much like a Grand Jury investigation. –Credit: Rutgers University Digital Legal Library Repository

Newark Police Department Memo (July 17, 1967)

Memo from the Newark Police Department regarding attempts to “organize white citizens against Negroes in the city.” The organization, known as Loyal Americans for Law and Order (LALO), was formed during the 1967 Newark rebellion by a man named Don Gottwerth. The organization supported the police, most notably in the campaign for a police canine corps immediately after the rebellion.

Letter to Police Director Dominick Spina

Letter received by Newark Police Director Dominick Spina, congratulating him on his “firm stand” against civil rights organizations in Newark. The author of the letter states that African Americans had “developed a complex of superiority…and they will stop at nothing to achieve their ridiculous demands.”

Alexander Mark Press Release- Police Advisory Board (March 3, 1963)

— Credit: Newark Public Library

Excerpt on Parker-Callaghan from Report for Action- Governor’s Select Commission on Civil Disorder, State of New Jersey, Feb 1968

Excerpt from the Governor’s Select Commission on Civil Disorder regarding the influence of the Parker-Callaghan fight on the 1967 Newark rebellion. The excerpt includes testimony from Police Director Dominick Spina saying ‘The types of speeches that were made before the Planning Board and the Board of Education tell you, almost predict, that there is going to be blood running in the streets.’ — Credit: Report for Action: Governor’s Select Commission on Civil Disorder, State of New Jersey

Newark Police Report on UCC Subversive Activities (June 19, 1967)-ilovepdf-compressed

Police report forwarded to Newark Legal Services Project director, Oliver Lofton, from Newark Police Director Dominick Spina on June 19, 1967. The report was based on information provided by the City Clerk regarding alleged plans of the UCC Area Boards 2 and 3 to bring the Black Panthers to Newark. The report names several influential Black and Puerto Rican community leaders, including Lofton, Robert Curvin, Louise Epperson, Honey Ward, George Richardson, and Jesse Allen, as accomplices to a planned “revolt” by the “Spanish and Negro population” on June 27. The UCC and other community organizations in Newark were continuously subjected to official surveillance and later blamed for the outbreak of the 1967 Newark rebellion. — Credit: Junius Williams Papers

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