slavery
Love of Nationality and Citizenship
Posted July 18th, 2008 by Scribe Video CenterMoorish Science Temple of America, Inc.
This video is available for purchase as part of a Community Visions compilation DVD.
Taking video cameras to the street, members of Philadelphia’s branch of the Moorish Science Temple of America ask interviewees of various ethnic backgrounds a provocative question: can the term “African American” accurately describe one's nationality?
Petty's Island: A Sacred Part of America’s Story
Posted July 18th, 2008 by Scribe Video CenterCamden City African American Commission with Scribe Video Center
This video is available for purchase as part of the Precious Places Community History Project Vol. 3 compilation DVD,
Narrated by Danny Glover, Petty's Island: A Sacred Part of America’s Story reveals the legacy of an island with a unique place in the historic encounter between Africans, Europeans and Native Americans in the Philadelphia region. Situated in the Delaware River between Philadelphia and Camden, Petty’s Island was Lenni-Lenape land before colonial European slave traders utilized it as a depot for enslaved Africans in the 1600s. The 292 acre island is now a defunct oil terminal owned by the Citco Corporation.
Putting the "Nice" Back in "the Town."
Posted July 17th, 2008 by Scribe Video CenterNicetown Community Development Corporation with Scribe Video Center
This video is available for purchase as part of a Precious Places Community History Project Vol.2 compilation DVD.
The Nicetown neighborhood in North Philadelphia has been known to suffer from an undeserved joke: that there is nothing "nice" here. However, many residents are quick to differ, pointing to the neighborhood's community life and historic attractions. The Nicetown Community Development Corporation, for example, offers a wealth of neighborhood programs including housing counseling, adult basic education, computer literacy, and social service referrals.
Fair Hill: To Badlands and Back Again
Posted December 13th, 2007 by Scribe Video CenterFair Hill Cemetery with Scribe Video Center
Videomaking Consultant - Martin Lautz; Humanities Consultant - Miriam Camitta; Post Production - Martin Lautz
This video is available for purchase as part of a Precious Places Community History Project Vol.2 compilation DVD.
Fair Hill: To Badlands and Back Again the history of a 300-year-old Quaker cemetery in North Philadelphia on Germantown Avenue. Deeded to local residents by Quakerism founder George Fox in the 1700s, the burial ground is the resting place of many of women and men who were active in the Underground Railroad. Philadelphians such as feminist and abolitionist Lucretia Mott and abolitionist Robert Purvis are buried here.
Unhushed!
Posted December 6th, 2007 by Scribe Video CenterThe Still Standing Project with Scribe Video Center
Production Facilitator - Iain Conliffe; Humanities Consultant - Biko Agonzino; Post Production - Brain Cook
This video is available for purchase as part of a Precious Places Community History Project Vol.1 compilation DVD.
Before artist and community historian Beverly Collins-Roberts set to work researching the topic, few living people knew that Pomona Hall in Camden, New Jersey, now the headquarters of the Camden Historical Society, had been the "big house" of an 18th century slave plantation. Owned by Marmaduke Cooper, Camden's founder, the plantation spanned 400 acres and covered much of what is now the Parkside neighborhood of Camden. Unhushed!
Next Stop: Freedom
Posted December 6th, 2007 by Scribe Video CenterFrankford Group Ministry with Scribe Video Center
Videomaking Consultant - Carla Lyndale Carter, Humanities Consultant - Rona Buchalter, Post Production - Carla Lyndale Carter
This video is available for purchase as part of a Precious Places Community History Project Vol.1 compilation DVD.
Frankford, one of the oldest communities in the county that came to be called Philadelphia, has a rich legacy of involvement in the Underground Railroad. Located just above the Mason-Dixon line, Pennsylvania—and Philadelphia in particular—was a major hub of anti-slavery activity. An 1830 Black political convention in Philadelphia to protest and organize against slavery encouraged abolitionists to use churches as sanctuaries for fugitive slaves. Next Stop: Freedom was shot by a group of Philadelphia high school students. They focus on Campbell A.M.E.
Lawnside: A Haven to Freedom
Posted July 19th, 2007 by GretjenE. Muneerah Higgs
$20 for individuals / $35 for Community Institutions ie: libraries, schools, non-profits / $50 for Universities & Businesses
This documentary, produced by a life-long resident of Lawnside, New Jersey, tells the story of the historically African-American town founded in the early 1800s as a well-known stop of the Underground Railroad. Using interviews with resident storytellers and footage of its prosperous, tree-lined streets, this video chronicles the history of a town framed by the memories of those who loved it. Since its completion in 1992, the video has been screened annually at the Lawnside Public School, among other places, where it is used as a teaching tool.
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 adition to her work as a videomaker, E. 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."
May 15, 1992 - Philadelphia Inquirer, "Putting Focus on Lawnside and Role As Ex-Slave Haven", by Edward Engel
August 8, 1999 - Philadelphia Inquirer, "New Program Takes Films Out of Theaters and Into the Streets", by Daniel Rubin
May 1992 - Philadelphia Festival of World Cinema (Philadelphia, PA)
November 1992 - Third World Newsreel exhibition series, D'Ghetto Eyes: Films and Videos by New Black /Asian/ Latina/o makers, at The Kitchen (New York, NY)
February 1993 - Camden County Cultural and Heritage Commission (Philadelphia, PA)
February 1993 - Lawnside Public School, first of ongoing annual screenings (Lawnside, NJ)
April 1993 - Lawnside Historical Society (Lawnside, NJ)
June 1993 - Rutgers University (Camden, NJ)
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)
