- Date:
- 2006
- Main contributors:
- Elwood, William A, Kulish, Mykola
- Summary:
- Part one. After serving in World War II, Wiley Branton returned to discriminatory voter registration laws in his home state of Arkansas. He participated in voter education and was arrested and convicted (wrongfully) of rigging an election. This incident inspired him to go to law school. He participated in forcing the integration of University of Arkansas Law School in 1947. He describes Jim Crow professional schools in the South. Part two. Mr. Branton recalls the Moore v. Dempsey case from his childhood. Mr. Branton goes over a case he tried in eastern Arkansas called State of Arkansas v. Paul Lewis Beckwith. Mr. Branton discusses his childhood. He talks about desegregation in Arkansas and the education situation for African Americans at the time of the Brown v. Board of Education decision. Interestingly, some eastern Arkansas school districts integrated immediately after Brown. Mr. Branton talks about his many legal actions to get Little Rock schools integrated. Part three. Mr. Branton describes the Little Rock Crisis and its legal aftermath. He remembers the Arkansas governor closing public schools after the Army left, an action that damaged the Arkansas economy. Mr. Branton discusses Charles Houston. Branton returns to his own experiences during the Little Rock Crisis: His family lived under armed guard for two years and crosses were burned at his family cemetery. Mr. Branton talks about his legal representation of Freedom Riders in Jackson, Mississippi. Part five. Mr. Branton discusses how bail was raised for Freedom Riders in Mississippi and Arkansas. Mr. Branton discusses the Voter Education Project, which he directed from 1962 to 1965. He tells about the project's programs to support small, local voter registration groups with money and advice on handling obstacles. He recalls registrars blocking African Americans from registering by administering outrageous tests. Mr. Branton reveals that he would let white sheriffs think he was white, too, when talking to them on the phone in order to get people out of jail.
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- Date:
- 2006
- Main contributors:
- Elwood, William A, Kulish, Mykola
- Summary:
- Part one. Footage of Monticello exterior. At 6:18, interview with history professor William H. Harbaugh at Monticello. Mr. Harbaugh talks about John W. Davis as the greatest appellate attorney and outlines Davis's career. Harbaugh discusses Davis's most famous cases, including his unsuccessful defense of the separate but equal doctrine in the Brown v. Board of Education cases. Part one. Harbaugh describes the irony of John W. Davis defending the separate but equal doctrine in Brown and explains why Davis took the case as its appellate lawyer. Harbaugh also comments on Thurgood Marshall's opinion of Davis. At 9:20 interview with engineer and business professor Louis T. Rader begins. Mr. Rader talks about his life and career, as well as his support of public education in the promotion of a successful business climate. During Massive Resistance, he protested closing Virginia public schools using the argument that businesses don't want to operate in a community with poor schooling.
- Date:
- 2006
- Main contributors:
- Elwood, William A, Kulish, Mykola
- Summary:
- Part one. Attorney and former Secretary of Transportation William Coleman reveals the story behind his clerkship appointment to Justice Frankfurter, what Frankfurter was like as a justice, and his experiences being a clerk at the Supreme Court. He discusses other justices, like Black, and their relationships with Frankfurter. Mr. Coleman declares it a tragedy that the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments did not protect African Americans. He says that Charles Houston, William Hastie, and Thurgood Marshall were the ones who plotted civil rights cases' winning strategy. Part two. Mr. Coleman regrets that the Houston, Hastie, Marshall strategy was not being taught in law schools in the 1980s. He proposes it's because most people still don't see African Americans as being intelligent, well-educated strategists. Mr. Coleman describes dealing with racism throughout his life and in the '80s. He talks about South Africa, the Bob Jones University case, and the counsel fee case. Part three. Mr. Coleman discusses the importance of Brown v. Board of Education, how law reflects changes in society, and the Constitution and the right to privacy. He says the Constitution was always supposed to grow, and not stay static. At 8:25 still of photos in Coleman's office.
- Date:
- 2006
- Main contributors:
- Elwood, William A, Kulish, Mykola, Hill, Oliver W., 1907-2007
- Summary:
- Part one. Civil rights attorney Oliver Hill and law professor A.E. Dick Howard discuss the Constitutional Revision Commission of Virginia in 1968 in front of the Capitol in Richmond. They go over Virginia Constitution history, including how the 1902 Constitution was written with the intent to discriminate against African Americans. Mr. Hill speaks about Massive Resistance, and Mr. Howard comments on awkward interpretations of the Virginia Constitution that let public schools close to avoid integration in the 1950s. The 1968 Virginia Constitution finally included an antidiscrimination clause. Mr. Hill and Mr. Howard relate the reasons why they went into constitutional law. Part two. Continuation of discussion about the 1968 Constitutional Revision Commission of Virginia.
- Date:
- 2006
- Main contributors:
- Elwood, William A, Morgan, Charles, 1930-2009, Kulish, Mykola
- Summary:
- Part one. Attorney Charles Morgan and US Congressman John Lewis discuss many topics, including: Alabama legally disenfranchising African Americans with voting registration requirements like the poll tax and literacy tests; Reynolds v. Sims, the one-man, one-vote case; Bull Connor; Lewis being jailed because he was with an interracial group using public transportation; Lewis being beaten in Montgomery; Freedom Rides; the voter registration drive; Brown v. Board of Education; the importance of the Christian Church, the one place where African Americans could have control; Lewis meeting Dr. King and Rev. Abernathy. Part two. Morgan and Lewis continue their conversation, agreeing that in spite of symbols like the Confederate Flag flying over the Alabama Capitol, things are better because African Americans are allowed into positions of power. They discuss the racism deeply embedded in American society, as well as the most important aspect of the civil rights movement, its law-based nonviolence. Lewis recalls his involvement in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and the difficulties he had meeting with white activists like Morgan because it was against the law. Part three. Morgan and Lewis describe the 1960s civil rights movement as a family, especially on the inside, and its informal, organic progress. They say that historians ignore Charles Hamilton Houston because they are ignorant of much of history. They review Sweatt v. Painter. Part four. Morgan and Lewis remark upon Charles Houston and suggest that integration is still, in the 1980s, in the embryonic stage. Lewis reminisces about the Sears and Roebuck catalog being his wish book as a child; he wanted to buy incubator to have chickens because he used to preach to the family's chickens. The two men talk about the Voter Education Project and the vote as a tool of liberation. They say that voter registration really did work because white politicians started speaking to African Americans and, at low levels of government, African Americans were starting to get elected. Part five. The relationship between Lewis and Morgan is discussed. Footage of Lewis walking to Capitol building to cast vote, then exiting the Capitol building after vote. Footage of Congressional office building.h
- Date:
- 2006
- Main contributors:
- Elwood, William A, Norton, James A. (James Adolphus)
- Summary:
- Part one. Dr. Stephen Wright, former president of Fisk University and prominent educator, is presented by James "Dolph" Norton for the Center for Public Service at the University of Virginia. Dr. Wright delivers remarks concerning historically African American colleges and universities. He covers the emergence and growth of these schools. Part two. Dr. Wright says that the development of African American colleges in America has been influenced by seven events: publication of two Department of the Interior studies, "Negro Education" by Dr. Thomas Jesse Jones in 1917 and "Survey of Negro Colleges and Universities" by Arthur Klein in 1928; accrediting African American institutions in the South in 1930, which enabled African American collegians to enter graduate school programs; the US Supreme Court's Gaines decision of 1938; the Brown v. Board of Education decision of 1954; the Civil Rights Act of 1964; and the Adams v. Richardson case filed in 1970. Part three. Dr. Wright talks about public policy, student enrollment trends, and educational needs. He relates stories of African American educators' struggles for equal salaries in the 1930s in the South. The African American teachers made 50% of what white teachers did, with the same teaching certificate. Part four. Dr. Wright explains the effects of desegregation, especially concerning its impact on the fulfillment of the educational needs of African American students at traditionally African American schools. He addresses the special case of Berea College, which was integrated before Plessy v. Ferguson, and therefore had to be segregated after that court decision. It was reintegrated immediately after the Brown v. Board of Education decision. He talks about the influence of Myles Horton. Dr. Wright also discusses student financial aid programs and Rosenwald schools. Part five. Dr. Wright describes being an expert witness in desegregation cases in the South, especially Bulah v. Gebhart in Delaware, one of the cases combined to become Brown v. Board of Education. He evaluated the schools involved in the case and documented their differences. He also assisted NAACP Legal Defense Fund lawyers during cross examinations, as in the Durham, N.C., city schools case. At 12:45, footage of different camera angles of Dr. Wright with no sound. At 15:33, interview resumes with discussion of higher education. Part six. Dr. Wright advocates for strong general education curricula, especially at the college level. He also describes the functions of boards of education, student assessments, and testing.
- Date:
- 2006
- Summary:
- Parts one to four. Footage of Washington DC during the Bicentennial of the Constitution Parade.
- Date:
- 2006
- Summary:
- Part one. Journalist John Norton describes the education situation in Clarendon County, South Carolina. At 7:18, footage of Clarendon County, South Carolina, including rural roads, Liberty Hill Church, cotton gin. Part two. Footage of Clarendon County, South Carolina, including cotton picking. Part three. Footage of Clarendon County, South Carolina, including cotton picking, cemetery and church, sunset.
- Date:
- 2006
- Summary:
- Footage of different places at Howard University.
- Date:
- 2006
- Summary:
- Part one. James Duren explains how he became an activist for education in Clarendon County, South Carolina, by uncovering corruption in Clarendon School District One. He formed a parents group that grew into 200 members to fight the misuse of money by the district. Other parents describe how they became involved and actions they took to try to change the situation. Summmerton in Clarendon County, South Carolina, was the district involved in Briggs v. Elliott, one of the cases in Brown v. Board of Education. Part two. Clarendon County business people and parents of students in Clarendon School District One describe the fraud, mismanagement and extremely low educational standards of the district. Part three. Similar content to Disc 204. Part four. Clarendon County business people and parents of students in Clarendon School District One discuss race relations in South Carolina in the 1980s, as well as the many problems with Clarendon School District 1. Part five. Similar content to Disc 206.