6. Unlikely Historians: Materials Collected by NYPD Surveillance Teams, 1960-1975

During the 1960s-70s, the NYC Police Department conducted surveillance of individuals and organizations that challenged the administration. Much of this information was gathered by the Bureau of Special Services and Investigation, also known as BOSSI or Special Services Division. The Municipal Archives acquired BOSSI records as a result of a class action settlement in 1985, and this material is now on view in the exhibit, Unlikely Historians: Materials Collected by NYPD Surveillance Teams, 1960-1975. It includes documentation on the 1967 march organized by the Spring Mobilization Committee to end the War in Vietnam, the activities of the Weather Underground, anti-nuclear activism, feminist and gay liberation causes, and class issues like education, fair pay, tenant’s rights, prisoner’s rights and safe working conditions.

Unlikely Historians: Materials Collected by NYPD Surveillance Teams, 1960-1975 will be one view at the Municipal Archives Gallery, NYC Department of Records & Information Services, 31 Chambers Street, to February 28, 2018.