LSU Libraries Awarded Grant to Show Films in “Created Equal: America’s Civil Rights Struggle” Program
BATON ROUGE – LSU Libraries has been awarded a grant to show four films chronicling the history of the civil rights movement as part of the program, “Created Equal: America’s Civil Rights Struggle.” LSU Libraries will screen the films between Jan. 20, 2014 and Feb. 28, 2014.
The powerful documentaries, “The Abolitionists,” “Slavery by Another Name,” “Freedom Riders” and “The Loving Story,” include dramatic scenes of incidents in the 150-year effort to achieve equal rights for all. “Freedom Riders” received an Emmy Award in 2012, while “The Loving Story” and “The Abolitionists” have each been nominated for Emmys in 2013.
In conjunction with the screenings, LSU Libraries will host discussions on the issues raised by the films, which will focus in part on Baton Rouge’s history during the civil rights struggle of the 20th century. Related exhibitions and other events are also planned. LSU Libraries will also provide the films to other community organizations and encourage them to host similar discussions.
“Created Equal: America’s Civil Rights Struggle” is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Humanities, or NEH, that uses the power of documentary films to encourage community discussion of America’s civil rights history. NEH has partnered with the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History to develop programmatic and support materials for the 473 sites across the nation that are receiving the films.
Each of the films was produced with NEH support, and each tells remarkable stories of individuals who challenged the social and legal status quo of deeply rooted institutions, from slavery to segregation. Created Equal programs bring communities together to revisit our shared history and help bridge deep racial and cultural divides in American civic life.
“These films chronicle the long and sometimes violent effort to achieve the rights enumerated in the Declaration of Independence – life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness – for all Americans,” said Paul Hrycaj, an LSU Libraries faculty member who helped author the grant. “We hope to involve local organizations in our program. We will be reaching out to scholars outside of the LSU community, as well as to the general public.”
The Created Equal film set is made possible through a major grant from NEH, as part of its Bridging Cultures initiative, in partnership with the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.
Details of this program will be forthcoming. For additional information and updates, visit http://createdequal.blogs.lib.lsu.edu.
Organizations and individuals who would like to collaborate with LSU Libraries can contact Hrycaj at firstname.lastname@example.org or at 225-578-2629.
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