Historical Civil Rights documentaries to be shown at Purdue
February 9, 2015
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Several episodes from the award-winning documentary film series "Eyes on the Prize" will be shown starting Feb. 19 at Purdue University.
The events, which are free and open to the public, are sponsored by the Purdue Social Justice Coalition, the Black Cultural Center, the Department of Political Science, the American Studies Program, the African American Studies Program, the College of Health and Human Sciences, the Purdue Peace Studies Program, and NAACP branch #3056 (Lafayette/West Lafayette).
In recognition of Black History Month, as well as increased public attention to issues involving diversity and racial equality, a group of Purdue programs and community organizations are sponsoring the showing of the films, produced by Henry Hampton, and narrated by Julian Bond. They originally aired on PBS from 1987-1990, and have won numerous awards.
The showings will take place at 7 p.m. on Feb. 19 and 26 and March 5 in Beering Hall, Room 2290. There also will be a showing at 7 p.m. on March 12 in Rawls Hall, Room 1086. The Purdue showings will be followed by discussions in which the attendees will be encouraged to consider the meaning of the events described, both for people at the time, and in terms of contemporary issues.
The films document the struggles to desegregate schools, end discrimination in public facilities, and gain voting rights for black Americans. The series covers most of the important events of the movement, from the Montgomery bus boycott to the Freedom Rides through the South to the Black Power Movement. The videos incorporate extensive historic footage of the events plus interviews with participants and opponents of the movement, looking back over many years.
Writer: Amy Patterson Neubert, 765-494-9723, apatterson@purdue.edu
Source: Frank Rosenthal, event co-coordinator and associate professor of health sciences, 765-494-0812, frank@purdue.edu
