As part of its Black History Month activities, Franklin College will screen the civil rights documentary “The Abolitionists,” on Monday, Feb. 23, at 1 p.m., in Richardson Chapel. A discussion about the film will follow on Thursday, Feb. 26, at 7 p.m., in the same location.
The film – nominated for an Emmy in 2013 – is being presented as part of the powerful film set Created Equal: America’s Civil Rights Struggle, made possible through 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.
The discussion will be hosted by John Kaufman-McKivigan, the Mary O’Brien Gibson Professor of History at IUPUI and the Project Editor of the Frederick Douglass Papers Collection, and Anne Fairchild, Historic Sites Program Manager for Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites, affiliated with the Levi Coffin House.
“The Abolitionists” is the first of three documentaries that chronicle civil rights history, including slavery and segregation, the college will screen as a result of receiving the grant. Two other films, to be announced at a later date, will be shown in February of 2016.
Franklin College is one of 473 institutions across the country and one of twelve in Indiana to receive the grant to present the films.
“We are enthusiastic to screen this documentary during Black History Month as a way to generate community and campus conversations about diversity, freedom and equality in the American past and present,” said Meredith Clark-Wiltz, assistant professor of history at Franklin College. Clark-Wiltz, who applied for the grant, is also acting as program coordinator to bring the films to campus.
The programs are free and open to the public.
For additional information, contact the college’s Office of Marketing and Communications at (317) 738-8185.
