The Ciesla Foundation, D.C. Basketball Institute and the Historical Society of Washington D.C. joined forces last Thursday night for a very special Black History Month event. Clips from the work in progress of Aviva Kempner’s upcoming documentary, The Rosenwald Schools, were screened along with the trailer of the exciting upcoming documentary (produced by Pennington Greene, John Ershek and Bijan C. Bayne) Supreme Courts: How Washington DC Basketball Changed The World.
From left: Bijan Bayne, Pennington Greene, Aviva Kempner, Stephanie Deutsch, Bob Kuska and Edwin B. Henderson II.
Photo credit: The Ciesla Foundation, February, 2014
The panel, moderated by Bijan Bayne and consisting of Aviva Kempner, Stephanie Deutsch, Bob Kuska (author of Hot Potato: How Washington and New York Gave Birth to Basketball and Changed America’s Game Forever) and Edwin B. Henderson II (grandson of Dr. E.B. Henderson) shared their knowledge on a wide variety of topics. Ms. Kempner spoke about what drove Julius Rosenwald to support black education, Ms. Deutsch discussed the shared interest of J.R. and Booker T. Washington in black YMCAs, Mr. Kuska talked about the rise of basketball in early 20th century urban neighborhoods and Mr. Henderson shared some amazing anecdotes about his well-known grandfather, an educator, basketball coach, and as we learned, a prolific newspaper editorialist. It was also great to hear from Bijan Bayne about his new project.
From left: Bijan Bayne, Aviva Kempner, Edwin B. Henderson II, unknown, Bob Kuska, Stephanie Deutsch and Pennington Greene
Photo credit: The Ciesla Foundation, February, 2014
The panelists’ projects all overlap at the 12th Street YMCA, a building funded by Rosenwald, where Dr. Henderson played and coached and where many great young players who contributed to the vibrant D.C. basketball scene (the subject of Supreme Courts) got their start.
Thanks to the panelists for illuminating these historic connections.