historic preservation
From A Seed To This : A History Of Fairmount Park
Posted July 19th, 2007 by Gretjen2005 Documentary History Project for Youth
Hidden among the skyscrapers, townhouses, mansions and museums of Philadelphia lies the 9000-acre Fairmount Park. Opening with a stunning rap that colorfully and thoroughly encapsulates the history of the park from the days of the original Native Americans to the multicultural assortment of Philadelphians who use the park system now, the video is an open invitation to explore the poetic past, present and future of the world's largest city park. Special attention is devoted to the Centennial celebrations of 1876, the Fairmount Park Waterworks, and the system's natural and man-made parks.
The student video makers who participated in this 2005 Documentary History Project for Youth production are: Ahmadu Ekpaji (Philadelphia Mennonite High School), Tahirah Garrett (Germantown Settlement Charter), Kerry Gilbert (homeschooled), Lee Givhan (Central High School), Hannah Horwitz (Upper Darby High School), Brett Johnson (Roxborough High School), Alyssa Kreilick (Springfield Township High School) and Sophavy Phuong (Bodine High School for International Affairs).
Deborah Rudman is Media Coordinator for Drexel University Television (DUTV), an access channel providing diverse cultural programming. She has collaborated in all phases of the video production process, including curating and producing Through the Lens, a showcase of independent work for WYBE. She guided Scribe Video Center's Documentary History Project for Youth in both 2004 and 2005 in her role as project facilitator and instructor.
Rodney Whittenberg is president of Melodyvision, a music and video production studio and community service and education provider. A composer, producer, songwriter, and educator, Rodney has developed a variety of music and art education programs for youth, adults, and senior citizens. He has taught at Temple University, the University of the Arts, and Drexel University and is an active member on the board of the American Society of Composers and Publishers (ASCAP), the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS). She guided Scribe Video Center's Documentary History Project for Youth in 2004 and 2005 in his role as project facilitator and instructor.
Several local humanities scholars came on board as project consultants, and they met with the facilitators and the student artists to help them map out and focus what often seemed like an overwhelming amount of project research. The Fairmount Park project humanities scholars included: Penny Balkin Bach (executive director of the Fairmount Park Art Association), Ed Grusheski (the Philadelphia Water Department's general manager of public affairs and director of development for the Fairmount Water Works Interpretive Center), Peter Rose (an experimental filmmaker commissioned by the Fairmount Park Art Association to produce 1994's Pavilion in the Trees), the late Ernesta Ballard (a former Fairmount Park Commissioner and board member of the Philadelphia Parks Alliance), Fairmount Park historic preservation planner Theresa Stuhlman, and University of Pennsylvania Urban Studies professor Dominic Vitiello. The students also held meetings with biologists at Cobbs Creek Park, and did extensive research at the Library Company and the Urban Archives.
Fall 2005 - Brief listing mention on MediaSmartPhilly.com
Ocotber 5, 2005 - Brief mention in Repertory Film listings, Philadelphia Weekly
October 6, 2005 - Premiered at International House (Philadelphia, PA)
October 21, 2005 - Screened at Scribe Video Center offices in West Philadelphia (Philadelphia, PA)
Broad Street History Project
Posted July 18th, 2007 by GretjenProduced, directed and edited entirely by local high school students from Scribe's Documentary History Project for Youth
From the Naval Yard to Progress Plaza, from the Civil War to Yellow Fever -- these are the themes of The Broad Street History Project, ten video documentaries produced by middle and high school students as part of Scribe Video Center's Documentary History Project for Youth. The series celebrates the exciting and often unknown stories of Broad street, Philadelphia's longest thoroughfare, with a history dating back to the days of William Penn and even earlier.
Student filmmakers and the schools they attended during their participation in Scribe's Documentary History Project for Youth are Brooke Asman (Central High School), Jodi Cantor (Central High School), Corey Cohen (Central High School), Krystle Colon (Stoddard-Fleischer/Dobbins HS), Omar Estrada (Camden County Tecnical Schools), Kitty Garrett (Ben Franklin High School), Rayna Guy (Central High School), Taren Hall (Camden County Technical Schools), Julian Harris (University City High School), Christina Ortiz (Stoddard-Fleischer/Mastbaum ATVS), Melissa Rowe (CAPA), Marchelle Smalls (Parkway Center City High School), and Eric K. Willie (Central High School).
Filma nd videomakers Sarah Poindexter, Erica Pennella, Pablo Colapinto, Shakti Jaisang, Christina Choe and Jessica Lakis served as Project Facilitators. Dr. Charles Hardy was the project's chief historian, Dr. Steve Parks served as humanities consultant, and Maria Cortese was the Project Coordinator for the overall Broad Street History Project.
November 25, 1999 - "Coming Soon: Broad Look at Philadelphia's Most Famous Street" by Elisa Ludwig, Philadelphia Weekly's [behind the lines], Philadelphia, PA
June 19-25, 2003 - Screen Picks, Philadelphia City Paper, Philadelphia, PA
May 29, 2003, Premiere at the Prince Music Theater, Philadelphia, PA, part of the Prince's Youth Media Jam 4
June 20, 2003, Street Movies screening at Project Home, Phildelphia, PA
June 21, 2003, Street Movies screening at Whole Foods Market, Phildelphia, PA
August 2003, USS Battleship New Jersey, Camden, N.J.
October 19 & October 22, 2003, Broadcast on WHYY TV-12, Philadelphia, PA
