Library News
Civil Rights era video, streaming for all the world to see @Booth
Posted on September 29th, 2016
This collection of African American Civil Rights Movement era film and television is available to stream through Booth’s subscription to Alexander Street Press. The selected videos build on the bibliography compiled by Marlene Slough in the program booklet for the For All the World to See exhibit currently at Booth. The videos are subtitled and accompanied by text transcripts. (Please note that viewing access is restricted to Eastern Illinois University patrons.)
All Power to the People!
Documentary on the historical context for the establishment of the civil rights movement and the formation of the Black Panther Party. (1996, 1 hr. 57 min.)
A Child Shall Lead Them
Tells the story of public school desegregation in Nashville, Tennessee, beginning with first graders in September 1957. (2008, 23 min.)
The Color of Justice
Explores judicial decisions that have shaped America’s racial attitudes—the Dred Scott case, Plessy vs. Ferguson, the 1970 court order to integrate the schools of Lamar, South Carolina—and reviews the efforts of modern political and judicial leaders to help break the color line in the nation’s schools, voting booths, courtrooms, and public accommodations. (1970, 24 min.)
February One
Documentary on the sit-in staged by four Black college students at the lunch counter of the Greensboro, North Carolina, Woolworth five and dime store. (2003, 57 min.)
Freedom Summer
Spotlights the murder of three civil rights workers in Mississippi on June 21, 1964. From the History Channel television miniseries 10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America. (2006, 38 min.)
The Freedom Train
Documents the National Negro Labor Council, formed in 1951 to advance Blacks in the workplace and eliminate racism inside the unions. (1996, 30 min.)
Freedom’s Call
Dorothy Gilliam and Ernest Withers, two African-American journalists who covered the events of the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s, return to the deep South where it all took place. Their journey to Memphis, Little Rock, Oxford, Jackson and the Mississippi Delta brings back memories of those turbulent times. (2007, 47 min.)
Home of the Brave
Documentary on the civil rights activist Viola Liuzzo, who was murdered in 1965 as she campaigned for Black suffrage in Selma, Alabama. (2003, 1 hr. 14 min.)
July ’64
Using archival footage and interviews with those who were present, this film explores the genesis and outcome of a three-night riot that erupted in two predominantly Black neighborhoods in downtown Rochester, New York—the culmination of decades of poverty, joblessness and racial discrimination. (2004, 54 min.)
Never Turn Back
This tribute to Fannie Lou Hamer, a nonviolent motivator in the civil rights movement, includes an interview with her, comments from individuals who knew her or her work, and scenes of her galvanizing civil rights workers. (1983, 59 min.)
Off the Pig / Mayday / Repression
A trio of early documentaries about the Black Panther Party, by the Newsreel film collective. From the What We Want, What We Believe: The Black Panther Party Library collection. (1968, 14 min.; 1969, 13 min.; 1969, 13 min.)
Oh, Freedom!
Traces the Black civil rights movement from 1955 when a Black woman refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white man, to the cry for Black power nearly a decade later. Explores the movement and its impact through the words of the people involved, and through examinations of the concept of Black Power. (1970, 27 min.)
Revolution ’67
Focuses on the explosive urban rebellion in Newark, New Jersey, in July 1967, to reveal the long-standing racial, economic, and political forces which generated inner city poverty and perpetuate it today. (2007, 1 hr. 14 min.)
The Road to Brown
This documentary tells the story of the battle to overturn Plessy v. Ferguson and of the man who led the charge, lawyer Charles Hamilton Houston. Moving from slavery to civil rights, the program provides a concise history of how African Americans finally won full legal equality. (1990, 57 min.)
Rosa Parks: The Path to Freedom
Biography of the dynamic but quiet woman whose demand for her civil rights led to the social changes of the 1960s. This documentary contains an overview of the events that took place in Montgomery, Alabama: Mrs. Parks’ arrest, the bus boycott, and the segregation laws that were finally overturned. (1996, 25 min.)
The Strange Demise of Jim Crow
Not all civil rights victories of the 1960s played out in front of television cameras. This documentary focuses on Houston, Texas, as an example of how many Southern cities were desegregated in a quieter fashion, with behind-the-scenes negotiations, secret deals, and controversial news blackouts. (1997, 57 min.)
Voices of Civil Rights
Personal narratives of everyday people who lived through this transformative era, from bus boycotts in Birmingham to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. From the History Channel “Save Our History” series. (2005, 45 min.)
US presidential elections and other uncivilized brawls
Posted on September 27th, 2016
Our presidential elections are passionate, contentious, full of soaring rhetoric, beautiful oratory, underhanded, back-room, dirty-pool, cultural spectacles, and among the most important events in the life of citizens in a representative democracy.
The list below represents books and DVDs, (documentary and fiction films) representing every presidential election since 2000 and many other political contests besides. Come take a look and check a few out along the 3rd floor corridor of Booth.
Scary movies for Halloween!
Posted on September 25th, 2016
Library Technology Services staff member Lee Whitacre wants to scare you! She has curated several of the scariest, funniest, and classic supernatural and/or horror movies from Booth’s film and TV collection. See below and come to the 4th floor LTS corridor to check them out!
Story times for children offered
Posted on September 19th, 2016
Children ages 3 to 7 are invited to a free story time in the Ballenger Teachers Center of Booth Library, located on the Eastern Illinois University campus.
Story time is planned from 10 to 11 a.m. on Nov. 12. Programs will feature stories, crafts and activities. All children must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. More specific information about the theme of each story time will be posted on the library’s Facebook and Twitter pages.
For more information about the Ballenger Teachers Center at Booth Library, visit http://www.library.eiu.edu/btc/ or call 581-8442.
African American movie theaters in Chicago
Posted on September 16th, 2016
On the 4th floor of Booth library near the Library Technology Services desk is a new exhibit featuring movie theaters in Chicago that catered to African American movie-goers. The display features the buildings and their history, as well as books on African American film studies and DVDs of black films from the era that might have been screened in the theaters. See below for a sample of the titles available and pictures of some of the fantastic old theaters. Thanks to LTS staff member Lee Whitacre for her research and curation of the exhibit.
The Roosevelt Theater
The Black owned Black operated Pekin Theater opened n 1904.
Regal Theater
The famous Chicago Theater
‘Oh, Freedom! Music of the Civil Rights Movement’ to be presented
Posted on September 15th, 2016
A free music program, “Oh, Freedom! Music of the Civil Rights Movement,” will be presented at 2 p.m. Sept. 23 in the West Reading Room of Booth Library, Eastern Illinois University.
The music will be performed by Chris Vallillo, a nationally acclaimed singer/songwriter and folk musician. Vallillo performs on six-string and bottleneck slide guitars and harmonica while discussing the impact of music upon the Civil Rights Movement. His program is sponsored through a grant from Illinois Humanities.
Vallillo’s program is part of Booth Library’s fall exhibit and program series, “For All the World to See: Visual Culture and the Struggle for Civil Rights,” a national traveling exhibition on display through Oct. 20. The exhibit and all programs are free and open to the public. More details are available at http://library.eiu.edu/exhibits/civilrights/ or by contacting project director Ellen Corrigan, ekcorrigan@eiu.edu or 581-8456.
“For All the World to See: Visual Culture and the Struggle for Civil Rights” is sponsored by The Center for Art, Design, and Visual Culture, University of Maryland, Baltimore; National Museum of African-American History and Culture, Smithsonian Institution; NEH on the Road, a special initiative of the National Endowment for the Humanities; and Mid-America Arts Alliance. Local sponsors of the series are the Tarble Arts Center, Academy of Lifelong Learning and Illinois Humanities.
Public invited to participate in book discussion
Posted on September 12th, 2016
A book discussion is planned as part of Booth Library’s fall exhibit and program series, “For All the World to See: Visual Culture and the Struggle for Civil Rights.”
All are invited to participate in a discussion of “Citizen: An American Lyric,” a 2014 book by American poet Claudia Rankine. “Citizen” is described as both criticism and poetry. In it, Rankine shares examples of racial aggressions – some intentional and some seemingly slips of the tongue — in the media and in daily life, including in the classroom, at the supermarket and on TV.
The first 15 who register in advance for the discussion will receive a complimentary copy of the book to read prior to the event (additional copies are available for checkout). Rehema Barber, director of the Tarble Arts Center, will lead discussion of the book at 4:30 p.m. Oct. 17 in the West Reading Room of the library. To register for the book discussion, visit click here.
“For All the World to See: Visual Culture and the Struggle for Civil Rights,” a national traveling exhibition, will be on display at Booth Library through Oct. 20. The exhibit and all programs are free and open to the public. More details are available here or by contacting project director Ellen Corrigan, ekcorrigan@eiu.edu or 581-8456.
This exhibit at Booth Library is held in conjunction with “A Dark Matter …,” a visual conversation about violence, economics and power featuring contemporary artists, which will be on display through Oct. 30 at the Tarble Arts Center on the EIU campus.
“For All the World to See: Visual Culture and the Struggle for Civil Rights” was curated by Dr. Maurice Berger, research professor, The Center for Art, Design, and Visual Culture, University of Maryland, Baltimore. It was co-organized by the National Museum of African-American
History and Culture, Smithsonian Institution, and The Center for Art, Design, and Visual Culture. “For All the World to See” has been made possible through NEH on the Road, a special initiative of the National Endowment for the Humanities. It has been adapted and is being toured by Mid-America Arts Alliance.
Local sponsors of the series are the Tarble Arts Center, Academy of Lifelong Learning and Illinois Humanities.
During the spring semester, Booth Library’s regular hours will be from 8 a.m. to 1 a.m. Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and noon to 1 a.m. Sunday.
Lanham named a luminary by Illinois Library Association
Posted on September 8th, 2016
The Illinois Library Association recently granted luminary status to Allen Lanham of Charleston, dean of library service at Booth Library.
Illinois Library Luminaries honor those who have made a significant contribution to Illinois libraries during a career that has positively served the library profession.
Lanham has served as professor and dean of library services at EIU for 25 years. He also served on the Charleston Public Library and library system boards, and was elected president of the Illinois Library Association. He was named ILA Academic Librarian of the Year in 2008 and has been a regular contributor to the ILA Reporter.
During his tenure at Eastern, he has encouraged a wide range of library programming in the arts and humanities, and has been the principal investigator for Art and Architecture in Illinois Libraries since 2006. He has consulted for libraries in Central and South America and Africa.
Prior to his career in libraries, Lanham was a professor of music in Puerto Rico and an instrumental music teacher, holding a doctorate in music education from the Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester. He received a master’s in library science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
