abolitionist
Traveling the Avenue: A Story of History, Faith, Culture and Civic Action
Posted December 6th, 2007 by Scribe Video CenterGermantown Historical Society with Scribe Video Center
Videomaking Consultant - Marlene Patterson and Carter Baker, Humanities Consultant - Richard Green, Post Production - Carter Baker
This video is available for purchase as part of a Precious Places Community History Project Vol.1 compilation DVD.
Germantown, originally known as German Township during its colonial days, is rich with history. The area has numerous historic sites, places of worship, and cultural institutions, making this area one of Philadelphia's great treasures. Through it runs Germantown Avenue. In Traveling the Avenue: A Story of History, Faith, Culture and Civic Action, the Germantown Historical Society takes the viewer on a mini-tour of six diverse points of interest along the avenue. Included are Mt. Zion Baptist Church, founded in 1871, and St.
Best Kept Secret, The
Posted July 18th, 2007 by GretjenDirected by Muneerah Higgs and Produced with the Lawnside Historical Society
Julian Berrian and Donna Lee
$20 for individuals / $35 for Community Institutions ie: libraries, schools, non-profits / $50 for Universities & Businesses
The video takes viewers on a tour of the home of Peter Mott, once a safe haven on the Underground Railroad, for which he served as a "conductor." Mott, a free African American man, abolitionist and real estate entrepreneur, didn't have much by today's standards. But considered by 19th century mores, he was exceptional. And he risked everything to help enslaved Africans be free.
The Lawnside Historical Society's mission is to preserve and protect the heritage of Lawnside, N.J., the state's only African-American incorporated municipality, by restoring the Peter Mott House for use as a museum and station along the Underground Railroad, the clandestine network to freedom for fugitives in the 19th century. The Society conducts tours of the Peter Mott House and provides speakers for groups and organizations. In December 2005, the New Jersey Council for the Humanities awarded Lawnside Historical Society a $3000 grant to create an oral history project.
In addition to her work as a videomaker, Muneerah Higgs is a veteran of the Lawnside Public Schools, where she works as a Social Studies teacher. She won the 2004 Mildred Barry Garvin Teacher of the Year Award, which crowned her the best history teacher on the elementary level in the state. That same year, she went to South Africa in the summer of 2004 as a Fulbright Scholar. Upon her return, she developed a curriculum for New Jersey teachers called "The Soweto Uprisings."
January 26, 2005 - "Small Towns, Black Lives: Photo exhibit explores 17th Century ties between Philly and South Jersey" by Liz Oakley, ConnectionsWeekly.com
December 11, 2002 - Part of Community Visions premiere at the Prince Music Theater (Philadelphia, PA)
July 29, 2003 &
August 2, 2003 - Broadcast on WYBE-TV's Philadelphia Stories, Season 3 (Philadelphia, PA)
2004 - Lawnside Scholarship Club Luncheon (Lawnside, NJ)
February 2004 - Lawnside Public School (Lawnside, NJ)
2004-2005 - Peter Mott House (regular screenings throughout the year)
January 15-April 25, 2005 - A 20-minute version of The Best Kept Secret was shown twice daily at the Atwater Kent Museum as part of its "Small Towns, Black Lives" exhibit (Philadelphia, PA)
March & April 2005 - Kent Atwater Museum (regular screenings)
