Date of Award

Spring 5-7-2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts (BA)

Department

History

College

College of Humanities and Fine Arts

First Advisor

Madison Cates

Abstract/Description

This thesis examines the rise, suppression, and eventual collapse of the Black Panther Party (BPP) between 1966 and 1972, arguing that the organization was dismantled not primarily due to internal failures, financial issues, or criminal activity, but through a sustained campaign of state repression led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Using a document-based historical case study approach, the paper draws extensively on declassified FBI memoranda, COINTELPRO records, congressional testimony from the Church Committee, contemporary newspaper coverage, and the Black Panther Party’s own publications. Placing the BPP within the broader trajectory of the Civil Rights and Black Power movements, the study highlights the Party’s grassroots community programs, namely its free breakfast initiatives and health clinics, as central to its popularity, impact, and perceived threat. The thesis further claims that the FBI’s response to the Panthers was unique, shaped by Cold War anticommunism, the rise of “law and order” politics, J. Edgar Hoover’s singular influence, and fears of the Party’s capacity to unite diverse marginalized groups, most notably through Fred Hampton’s Rainbow Coalition. Through analysis of surveillance, disinformation, legal harassment, infiltration, and outright violence, this thesis argues that COINTELPRO’s efforts not only led to the demise of the Black Panther Party. It further reveals the extent to which state policing and surveillance went to target and counter organizations from mainstream civil rights organizations to Black Power-oriented groups like the BPP.

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