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Notes & Quotes
News from the AV Library
by Mary Lou Neighbour, AV Librarian
"The tortuous road that had led from Montgomery to Oslo is a road over which millions of Negroes are traveling to find a new sense of dignity. It will, I am convinced, be widened into a superhighway of justice."
Martin Luther King, Jr., on receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.
February is African American History Month. The AV Library has a wealth of material on the subject on DVD, video, compact disc, and audiocassette. The following are some of our most recent DVD and video additions to the collection. Please come and check out any of these or other items we have on the civil rights struggle, African American literature and music, and the contributions of African Americans to our culture.
A Philip Randolph: For Jobs and Freedom Video 3554
This documentary program presents the life and work of the African American labor leader, journalist, and civil rights activist, A. Philip Randolph, who helped the union of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters to organize and to win a national labor agreement. Additionally, Randolph headed protests that led to President Roosevelt's banning of segregation in the federal government and defense industries and Truman's banning of segregation in the military. Randolph also led the 1963 March on Washington. The program features music of the labor and civil rights movement.
(87 min.)At the River I Stand Video 3556
This documentary program presents two events which occurred in 1968 and marked the climax of the Civil Rights movement: the sanitation workers strike in Memphis, Tennessee; and the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The program reveals how the black community and local civil rights leaders mobilized behind the strikers in mass, non-violent demonstrations and a boycott of downtown businesses, forcing the Memphis City Council to capitulate to the demands of the strikers. (58 min.)August Wilson (The South Bank Show) Video 3610
This interview with August Wilson, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, returns to Wilson's home, the Hill District of Pittsburgh, in 1990, to review his life and career. In addition to the interview with Wilson, the program features archival footage, excerpts from Wilson's plays, and interviews with fellow writers and critics who provide insight into the African American experience. (51 min.)Jubilee Singers: Sacrifice and Glory Video 3652
This program presents the story of the Jubilee Singers, who started as an ex-slave choir singing spirituals on fundraising tours to keep Fisk University from folding. Includes recreations of their historic performances and draws on letters, photographs, and diaries to portray their early years. (56 min.)The Massachusetts 54th Colored Infantry Video 3539
This documentary program tells the story of the first officially sanctioned regiment of northern black soldiers formed in Boston during the Civil War. The 54th roster included shopkeepers, musicians, clerks, cobblers, seamen, and other skilled hands, as well as Frederick Douglass' two sons and Sojourner Truth's grandson. In relating the story of the 54th Regiment, the words of the black soldiers themselves are presented, as culled from rare, recently discovered letters. (60 min.)The Negro Ensemble Company Video 3968
This documentary program explores the history of the Negro Ensemble Company, the premier Black theater company founded in 1967 by actor and playwright Douglas Turner Ward, actor Robert Hooks, and theater manager Gerald Krone, with the goal of creating a "theater of Black life." In celebrating the company's first twenty years, the program includes scenes from some of its most outstanding plays together with interviews with the co-founders and some of the company's actors. (58 min.)Ralph Ellison: The Self-taught Writer Video 3904
This documentary program covers the life of African-American writer Ralph Ellison from his early years of poverty in Oklahoma City to his vault to world fame. (25 min.)Ralph Ellison’s Legacy Video 3645
This program examines the legacy of African American author, Ralph Ellison, on the occasion of the publication of his unfinished novel, Juneteenth. The impact of this posthumous novel on Ellison's literary reputation, first established with the publication of The Invisible Man, is discussed. The program features interviews with Ellison's literary executor, John Callahan, and critics. (12 min.)Speak of Me as I Am: The Story of Paul Robeson Video 3494
This program, narrated by Pam Grier, presents an overview of the life of Paul Robeson, who was a star athlete, world-renowned singer and actor, political activist and Communist sympathizer. The program features interviews with academic experts and contemporaries including Studs Terkel, Martin Duberman, Pete Seeger, and Oscar Brown, Jr. (59 min.)The Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr. Video 3894
This program presents a collection of Martin Luther King's major speeches and minor asides, tracing the development of his oratorical style. (60 min.)The Story of Gospel Music Video 3109
This program presents rare, vintage recordings and modern performances from Mahalia Jackson to Tramaine Hawkins, and Aretha Franklin to Shirley Caesar, in an examination of the origins of gospel music, the fusing of early European Methodist and Presbyterian hymns with West African rhythms. (90 min.)A Time for Justice: America’s Civil Rights Movement Video 3742
This program recalls the battles for civil rights fought by ordinary people, many of them young, who risked their lives for justice in Montgomery, Little Rock, Birmingham, and Selma. (38 min.)Toni Morrison Video 3898
Toni Morrison discusses slavery and its legacy and the difficulties of writing about the painful subjects that occur in her novel, Beloved. (52 min.)Underground Railroad DVD 291
This documentary program traces the journey to freedom taken by countless slaves, showing how they were guided, protected and pursued along the way. This story is told through historical documents, visits to important sites, interviews with the descendants of noted abolitionists and commentary from experts. (150 min.)Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narratives Video 3994
This documentary program presents the memories of the last generation of African-Americans born into bondage, as recorded by journalists and writers who traveled the country in the midst of the Great Depression. Over 2,000 interviews were transcribed as spoken, in the vernacular of the time, to form a unique historical record. (75 min.) Also available on DVD 279.Zora is my Name Video 3995
Based on the play by Ruby Dee, this dramatization presents the life of Zora Neale Hurston who wrote of the folklore of the rural south. (88 min.)
