« Media archivist David Rowntree examines a film. film & media archive: History in the Making « Henry Hampton uses a Steenbeck 16mm editing in march , the documentary and television production table to edit film. 1965 a 25-year-old editor named Henry Hampton boarded a plane from Boston industry. Series such as The Great Depression; to Selma, Alabama, where he marched with Malcolm X: Make It Plain; America’s War on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and 600 other men Poverty; and I’ll Make Me A World: A Century of and women to support voting rights for all African-American Art all brought acclaim and a Americans. He was there when Alabama police long list of prestigious awards to Blackside. confronted the marchers on the Edmund It was the landmark series Eyes on the Prize that Pettus Bridge. As Robert Hohler, another Hampton and Blackside were best known for, young man who marched that day and a however. The series, the first half of which long-time friend of Hampton, said, “Henry aired in 1987, is still regarded as the seminal was changed that year. We all were.” work on the civil rights movement. Garnering Hampton, a St. Louis native and Washington more than 20 awards in broadcasting, education, University graduate, was, according to Hohler, and history, the Eyes on the Prize documentary “an activist, a writer and editor, filmmaker and set viewership records on public television stations poet, interpreter and analyst, facilitator and as millions tuned in. The 14-part series is rich conciliator…in the middle of it all.” And in the with archival footage, interviews, photos, and years of mid-1960s, “he discovered the power of personal stories of the movement’s leaders and film and decided that as a filmmaker he could the ordinary citizens who shaped the course of combine all of his interests and concerns.” American history. The film riveted audiences who were able to see a comprehensive view of Hampton established the film production the civil rights movement for the first time. company Blackside, Inc. in 1968. By the mid- 10 1980s, Blackside had become the largest The series became an invaluable classroom tool, African-American-owned company of its kind, purchased by more than half the universities in and Hampton had become a leading force in the country. According to Judy Richardson, an EYES ON THE PRIZE national discourse that The series covers events, High School in Little Rock, (3-hour reserve) or at the REVISITED continues today. This fall, such as Emmett Till’s mur- Arkansas, the civil rights Film & Media Archive, Eyes on the Prize: America’s for the first time since the der and the Montgomery movement’s challenges located at the West Civil Rights Years, 1954 to original broadcast, public bus boycott, that first in Mississippi, and the Campus Library. To see 1965, the first six hours of television stations aired focused the nation’s climactic march from outtakes, transcripts, and the series, was originally the series, two episodes attention on the struggle Selma to Montgomery. other materials related per evening, 9-11 p.m., on in the South. They reveal, to the series, contact the broadcast on public televi- Episodes of the series can October 2, October 9, and in first-person interviews, Archive at (314) 935-8679 sion in 1987, prompting a be viewed at Olin Library October 16. the integration of Central or [email protected]. « Film frame from interview HAMPTON COLLECTION with activist and singer OUTREACH Bernice Reagon that was done for Eyes on the Prize. One of the key considera- tions in placing the Hampton Collection with the University Libraries was that the materials would be made as « Books from Blackside’s library, now in the Film accessible as possible. Archive, cataloged in the The Libraries have brought Libraries’ catalog.Alison Carrick the collection to the public through various Eyes on the Prize producer, many teachers said it and students all began using this rich source of educational programs. was “the single best video history series of its previously unseen primary source materials. type that they had ever used.” Most recently, on the growing importance September 23, 2006, In the process of creating all their documen- of film archives the Libraries and KETC/ taries, Hampton and his staff devoted themselves The past few decades have seen a growing Channel 9 held a profes- to thorough and even-handed research, and awareness of the importance of film as a primary sional development Blackside accumulated 35,000-plus items, tool for communicating American history, workshop for area teachers, including film and videotape (570 hours of along with a recognition of the need to save in conjunction with the original footage and 730 hours of stock film for future use. This is even more true for re-broadcast of Eyes on footage), photographs, scripts, storyboards, works created by and about under-represented the Prize: America’s Civil producer’s notes, interviews, music, narration, groups like African Americans, whose culture has Rights Years, 1954 to 1965. posters, study guides, books and other materi- historically received less attention. For libraries, With the goal of offering als. The Eyes on the Prize series alone contains media archiving is a natural extension of existing educators ways to engage close to a thousand original interviews. preservation work. Libraries are a natural fit as a new generation in the a new home for hampton’s archives repositories for these national treasures. discussion on race, class, and civil rights, the work- Henry Hampton died in 1998, and in 2001 Even so, preserving, housing, and making film shop was led by Judy Washington University was selected to serve accessible is entirely different from storing Richardson, one of the as the repository for all the materials used in books or journals. Film media require specialized producers of Eyes on the creating Blackside’s films. The selection was types of storage and demand more complex Prize and frequent work- fitting because, in addition to Hampton’s being cataloging techniques, since film combines shop leader. Drawing on a WU alumnus, his family was rooted in the so many elements. Though the process is her experiences making St. Louis community. The University pledged demanding, the benefits of preserving film are the documentary, to “preserve and promote the Henry Hampton enormous. Not only are important expressions Richardson shared the Collection for educational and scholarly use by of history preserved, but the art of the film- stories of those who students, faculty, and filmmakers as well as by maker is kept alive, revealing the filmmaking participated in the civil institutions and individuals in the surrounding process to others. rights movement. community and beyond.” At WU, the Hampton a special collection with Collection would be a focal point. And it would special challenges The workshop was free serve as an inaugural collection that would and open to teachers of The University Libraries have faced a number attract other related collections. middle and high school of challenges in housing a premier film archive. 11 students. Its content was Once the University knew the collection was Creating the specialized space was just the begin- aligned with the Missouri coming, it created the Film & Media Archive, ning. The more daunting challenge involved Show-Me Standards and a unit of the Libraries’ Department of Special organizing the material to make the collection the Illinois Learning Collections. A state-of-the-art facility was con- accessible to researchers and the public. Standards. 06 FALL structed within the West Campus Library, with To describe the complex relationships among compact shelving and sophisticated environ- For information on future the Archive’s materials, the Libraries needed a mental controls. In 2001, Blackside’s archives, programming involving powerful cataloging system. They selected a tool which filled three semi-truck trailers, arrived. the Hampton Collection, called MAVIS, a “media asset management sys- please see the Events With the opening of the Archive in 2002, the tem” designed by film and video archivists and Highlights on the back of tens of thousands of materials created in the used by national archives such as the Library of the magazine. production process became available for use. Congress, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts Scholars, teachers, television stations, filmmakers, and Sciences, and the National Film & Sound « Rowntree and Miles examine part of the collection. Mary Butkus Archive of Australia. Washington University was received dozens of awards, including an Oscar the first university to adopt the system. nomination. Miles spent years researching his films and often gathered old photographs, « Preserving these films is another challenge. Filmmaker Bill Miles with part film, and newsreels to use as a visual counter- Because film, videotape, audiotape, CDs, DVDs, of his archive behind him. part to the interviews he conducted. His photo Mary Butkus and other media have limited lifespans, the collection alone is estimated at more than Archive must evaluate the condition of all media 10,000 images, all now held in the Film & in the collection, act to save deteriorating items, Media Archive. and transfer the recorded information onto today’s preferred mode of storage. This is time- Miles’ best-known work, I Remember Harlem consuming and expensive, often involving (1981), traces the rise, decline, and resurgence sending items away to be repaired or digitized by of Harlem from its founding to the early 1980s. companies that specialize in such work. Once The only African-American independent film- repaired, materials can often be accessed elec- maker based at Thirteen/WNET in New York, tronically, allowing viewers to see and hear them Miles produced more than 12 films for the PBS visit the film & over the internet, and making materials poten- system.