Media Productions

In 2004, the combined efforts of Media Production, The William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation, and The Center for the Study of Southern Culture produced a 30-minute video-documentary aimed at teaching Mississippi teens about youth involvement in the Civil Rights Movement. "Freedom Riders: A Documentary" includes background information on segregation, and provides images of how black and white citizens were separated.
"It is an introduction to the Freedom Rides of 1961," said Susan Glisson, Director of the Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation, "and the crucial role that young people played in sustaining those rides which helped to topple segregation."
Glisson, along with the film’s director April Grayson and several graduate students from the Center for the Study of Southern Culture, conducted 40 oral histories in 2001 at a Freedom Riders reunion in Jackson.
"One of the things we found in the interviews was that Freedom Riders were concerned that young people today didn’t know the story of the Freedom Riders," said Grayson.
Since production, "Freedom Riders" has been screened and distributed to middle and high school classrooms across the state. The film was also screened at a special teachers forum in Philadelphia, Miss., during the recent Edgar Ray Killen trial. A companion Web site has also been created which includes lesson plans and tips for children to document their own family’s involvement in the Civil Rights Movement. As of August 10, over 400 dvd’s have been requested.

In other efforts to document Mississippi history, Media Production has joined forces with The University of Mississippi’s Graduate School. Students participating in Dr. Elizabeth Payne’s American History seminar class, History 702, will divide their time between archival research and field study of women in Union County, Miss.
According to Dr. Payne, the opportunity to work with the Center for Media Production is a great way to break the mold of graduate research. By adding the video documentary element to the class, students are able to humanize their research via visual elements such as body language, attire, and setting.
"I am so touched spiritually and personally by the stories myself," said Payne.
"We are working to capture the texture of more ordinary peoples lives. It is a humbling experience to hear people’s stories and to be in some ways invited into the narrative that shares their lives." In addition to composing intensive research papers on the exploration of the path of Northeast Mississippi women from farm to factory, students will also have a collaborative full-length video documentary. In this two-semester research seminar class, History 702 students will spend a total of 14 weeks evaluating archival-based information such as census data, government documents, and secondary literature. Another 14 weeks will be spent documenting field research via audio and video recorders, and piecing it together in the studio.
"By inviting Dr. Payne and her students into our facilities, the students, the University and the Office of Media Production all benefit," said Andy Harper, director of Media Production.
"Not only are students honing a valuable method of documentary study, but they are employing their work in a way that can be easily shared with other academics, students, and communities." The new documentary will be used as an educational film aimed at middle and high school students, furthering one of the Division of Outreach and Continuing Education’s missions to inform the public on the history and culture of Mississippi. Much like "Freedom Riders," the film will be distributed free of charge to interested teachers. A Web site will also be created to accompany the documentary, which will include full-length interview transcripts, photos, and additional information on women in Northeast Mississippi.