To introduce four documentaries with riveting new footage illustrating the history of civil rights in America, SC Humanities will make the Created Equal: America’s Civil Rights Struggle film series available to libraries, museums, churches, and other nonprofit organizations through our Let’s Talk About It: Reading and Discussion program.
Created Equal: America’s Civil Rights Struggle is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Humanities 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 sites.
SC Humanities is one of 473 institutions across the country awarded a set of four films chronicling the history of the Civil Rights Movement. The powerful documentaries, The Abolitionists, Slavery by Another Name, The Loving Story, and Freedom Riders, and, include dramatic scenes of incidents in the 150-year effort to achieve equal rights for all. Freedom Riders received an Emmy in 2012, and The Loving Story and The Abolitionists have been nominated for Emmys in 2013.
The Humanities CouncilSC will make this film series available through our Let’s Talk About It program by giving grants to sponsoring organizations to support scholar participation in public screenings. “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 Randy Akers, Executive Director of SC Humanities. “We are pleased to receive a grant from NEH to provide programming around these films. They will spark remembrance of community involvement and sacrifice and encourage discussion of what needs to happen in the future in South Carolina.”
Let’s Talk About It is a reading and discussion program offered free to public libraries and nonprofit organizations through a partnership of SC Humanities and the South Carolina State Library. Created Equal: America’s Civil Rights Struggle is one of several film series available through our roster. Grants of up to $400 are available to pay for scholar honoraria for this four-part series. To reserve the series, please contact T.J. Wallace at 803-771-2477 or tjwallace@schumanities.org.
Learn more about the Let's Talk About It program and see our full roster of series
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. Visit www.createdequal.neh.gov for more information.
The Created Equal film set and public programs have been made possible by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, as part of its Bridging Cultures initiative, in partnership with the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.
Image: Courtesy Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division NYWT&S Collection
About SC Humanities
The mission of SC Humanities is to enrich the cultural and intellectual lives of all South Carolinians. SC Humanities programs and initiatives are balanced, reflecting sensitivity to the diversity of ideas, encourage open dialogue, demonstrate integrity, and are ethical in operations. www.schumanities.org
About the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Founded in 1994, the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History is a nonprofit organization that promotes excellence in the teaching and learning of American history. Programs include publications, teacher seminars, a national Affiliate School Program, traveling exhibitions, and online materials for teachers, students, and the general public. www.gilderlehrman.org
About the National Endowment for the Humanities
Created in 1965 as an independent federal agency, the National Endowment for the Humanities supports learning in history, literature, philosophy, and other areas of the humanities. NEH grants enrich classroom learning, create and preserve knowledge, and bring ideas to life through public television, radio, museum exhibitions, and programs in libraries and other community places. www.neh.gov
