An immensely overdue event, the integration of the New York Police Department was marked by Mr. Samuel Battle’s appointment to the New York City police force in 1911. As the first African-American officer in the department, Mr. Battle’s various accomplishments were monumental, inducing him to hire Langston Hughes, famed poet, to write his biography in 1949. Although Hughes largely dismissed Samuel Battle’s biography in pursuit of larger stories, Arthur Browne was inspired to write a book with Mr. Battle as the subject. Browne, a man of Irish descent and journalist during the 1970’s, compiled and built off of the work by Samuel Battle and Langston Hughes. Although Browne’s book is to be published long after the deaths of both Battle and Hughes, it marks the importance of continued remembrance of both the triumphs and failures of U.S. race relations. To find out more about Samuel Battle’s contributions and Arthur Browne’s literary process, click here.
With just one week after the tragic shooting at Emanuel A.M.E. Church in Charleston, South Carolina, large companies such as Walmart, Ebay, Etsy, Google, Amazon, Kmart, and Sears have decided to no longer sell merchandise surrounding the Confederate flag. Items from T-shirts to mugs to shower curtains have all displayed the flag in some form or fashion. “The killings have renewed a focus on the Confederate flag, which had been displayed in a photograph of the accused gunman”. Much of the public nationwide have asked for the removal of the flag at the State House grounds in Columbia. “On Tuesday, as the flag continued to be held up as a symbol of hatred and slavery, South Carolina lawmakers are considering whether to have it taken down”. To read more about it in the New York Times, click here.
Rosenwald was made in loving memory of the Martyrs of the Emanuel A.M.E. Church.
During the week of June 17-20 Aviva Kempner travelled to Durham, NC for the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s 2015 Rosenwald Schools Conference. This annual gathering is a chance for everybody directly or indirectly involved with Rosenwald Schools and Rosenwald’s legacy to come together to discuss the current state of the schools and celebrate the long lasting positive effects of his philanthropy. Many schools today are abandoned and neglected, and in 2002 the schools were placed on the 11 Most Endangered Historic Places list. People from all walks of life, including artists, teachers, and historians attended the events. Aviva was able to discuss her documentary in front of a large crowd. During her screening on June 19th, she offered them a glimpse into her film and her extensive research about Rosenwald and his extraordinary life. She hopes that when people see the film, they will be inspired to donate to the restoration of the schools. Rosenwald hits theaters in August. Don’t miss it!
Pictured (left to right): Stephanie Deutsch (interviewee/consultant), Peter Ascoli (consultant, Julius Rosenwald’s grandson), David Porter, Aviva Kempner (director), Rick Powell (art historian, interviewee), Elizabeth Varet (interviewee, Julius Rosenwald’s granddaughter)
On May 13th, Rosenwald was screened at Boston for the JEWISHFILM.2015 film festival to an enthusiastic audience. The sponsors of this event, the National Center for Jewish Film, are now our official distributors for the theatrical release of Rosenwald! The NCJF has served as distributor for all of the Ciesla Foundation’s productions and it is a pleasure to be working with them again.
Pictured: Peter Ascoli (grandson of Julius Rosenwald) and Professor Marian Sears Hunter
A trip to Toronto provided Aviva with a great opportunity to catch up with her family in the area. After the reunion, Aviva’s family joined her in attending a new festival screening of Rosenwald.
Aviva and her family in Toronto, Canada
Aviva Kempner enjoyed returning to the Toronto Jewish Film Festival to screen another one of her films on May 10th for the showing of Rosenwald. It should be to no surprise that Julius Rosenwald’s contributions are even less known in Canada than they are in the United States. Being the case, it was exciting to spread the story to more people who would not normally have heard it. The audience was still very receptive and appreciated the movie and it’s message.
Loretta Lynch was just confirmed as the first black female attorney general after a 166-day wait for the vote. Loretta’s father, Rev. Lorenzo Lynch, says her story begins with Julius Rosenwald, who built 5,300 public schools for African American children around the country. Loretta’s mother went to one of the Rosenwald schools. Loretta herself was very intelligent, doing so well on a standardized test that her white teachers made her take it again. She graduated top of her senior class from Durham High School. But still, Lorenzo was shocked when he found out about his daughter’s nomination. Republicans used her nomination as a “proxy fight against Barack Obama’s executive actions on immigration.” Lorenzo believes that his daughter’s legacy will be, “Don’t give up.”
To read more about Lynch’s connection to the Rosenwald schools, click here for the article from Politico, and to learn more about Julius Rosenwald, don’t forget to check out Rosenwald when it hits theaters all over America later this year.
Last night, April 19th, Rosenwald screened at the Nashville Film Festival. After the screening, a Q & A was held with director Aviva Kempner, interviewees Frank Brinkly and Peter Ascoli (grandson of Julius Rosenwald), and editor Marian Sears Hunter. It was exciting to show the film near Fisk University, where so much research had been done for the film, and the Cairo school, whose restoration we had filmed.
Pictured (left to right): Aviva Kempner, Peter Ascoli, Marian Sears Hunter, Frank Brinkley
At the end of the festival, the was named the winner of the Lipscomb University Prize of the Ecumenical Jury.
Brinkley, Kempner, and Ascoli after the screening.
On April 10th, Olympic gold medalist Jesse Owens was honored on a 15′ by 15′ mural, created by Duke Ellington students under the guidance of artist Mark Walker and presented by newly-elected Mayor Muriel Bowser.
It was presented on behalf of the students of The Duke Ellington School of the Arts, a DC public school. Winner of four gold medals in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Owens was the son of a sharecropper and the grandson of a slave. At the height of his fame, he lived in the Michigan Boulevard Garden Apartments, also know as the Rosenwald. He would go for his daily run and slow up so the children who ran with him could keep up.
The mural project was done in partnership with Duke Ellington, the DC Office of Motion Picture and Television Development, and the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.
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