Fifty years ago this month, nearly 1,300 prisoners seized control of a large part of Attica Correctional Facility in upstate New York, holding guards and staff members hostage for several days in an attempt to gain basic civil and human rights.

The Attica uprising that began on September 9, 1971, remains one of the most well known prison rebellions in U.S. history -- infamous for how violently the state regained control of the prison but also how it ultimately led to some reforms that benefited inmates.

After the inmates took hostage 42 guards and staff members, they issued a manifesto with nearly three dozen demands, including responsible medical treatment, legal representation at parole hearings, better food and visitors’ facilities, living wages for work done behind bars, and an end to guards’ brutalization of prisoners. 

While the state eventually agreed to some of the demands, it didn’t come without a cost: Despite efforts at negotiating a resolution, Governor Nelson Rockefeller ultimately sent in law enforcement officers to retake the prison. They dropped tear gas onto the prison yard and blindly shot into through the clouds of smoke and tear gas to retake the prison, killing both guards and inmates. By the time the state regained control of the facility prison, a total of 43 people had died.