Jim Crow was not a person, yet affected the lives of millions of people. Named after a popular 19th-century minstrel song that stereotyped African Americans, "Jim Crow" came to personify the system of government-sanctioned racial oppression and segregation in the United States.
EPISODE 4: Terror and Triumph (1940-1954)
airdate: Tuesday, October 22, 10 pm ET
The final episode, "Terror and Triumph," examines the surge of black activism that took place after World War II. Prolonged legal battles led to Supreme Court decisions that opened doors and restored voting rights for blacks. The battle for freedom, dignity, and opportunity throughout America continued through the'50s and'60s - and in many respects, continues today.
A landmark four-part series, THE RISE AND FALL OF JIM CROW explores segregation from the end of the civil war to the dawn of the modern civil rights movement. Lynchings and beatings by night. Demeaning treatment by day. And a life of crushing subordination for Southern blacks that was maintained by white supremacist laws and customs known as "Jim Crow." It was a brutal and oppressive era in American history, but during this time, large numbers of African Americans and a corps of influential black leaders bravely fought against the status quo, amazingly acquiring for African Americans the opportunities of education, business, land ownership, and a true spirit of community.
EPISODE 1: Promises Betrayed (1865-1896)
airdate: Tuesday, October 1, 10 pm ET
The premiere episode begins with the end of the Civil War and Reconstruction, periods that held so much promise for free black men and women. But as the North gradually withdrew its support for black aspirations for land, civil and political rights, and legal due process, Southern whites succeeded in passing laws that segregated and disfranchised African Americans, laws that were reinforced with violence and terror tactics. By 1876, Reconstruction was over. "Promises Betrayed" recounts black response by documenting the work of such leaders as activist/separatist Benjamin "Pap" Singleton, anti-lynching crusader Ida B. Wells, as well as the emergence of Booker T. Washington as a national figure.
EPISODE 2: Fighting Back (1896-1917)
airdate: Tuesday, October 8, 10 pm ET
The second episode explores the dramatic rise of a successful black middle class and the determination of white supremacists to destroy this fledgling black political power. Through the efforts of men and women like educator Charlotte Hawkins Brown, African Americans continued to move forward. Black artists created new genres of American music and an intellectual elite, personified by the pioneering W.E.B. Du Bois, emerged. Du Bois, a charter member of the newly founded National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), was the editor of its magazine, THE CRISIS. This episode ends with the violence at home giving way to warfare abroad as thousands of black Americans depart for World War I.
EPISODE 3: Don't Shout Too Soon (1918-1940)
airdate: Tuesday, October 15, 10 pm ET
Episode 3 chronicles the years between World Wars I and II, a time of increased mob violence, lynchings, and massacres of blacks. White supremacy was kept in place by terrorism,but three men, each part of the fledgling NAACP, led campaigns to confront these threats. W.E.B. Du Bois called for veterans of World War I to "return fighting." Walter White went among the lynchers to discover the truth behind the rapes and insurrections allegedly committed by blacks, and Charles Hamilton Houston designed and successfully applied a legal strategy that challenged Jim Crow and resulted in the famous "Brown vs. Board of Education" decision, which desegregated public schools in 1954.
TV CREDITS
Series Producers
BILL JERSEY
SAM POLLARD
RICHARD WORMSER
Narrated by
RICHARD ROUNDTREE
Directed by
BILL JERSEY
RICHARD WORMSER
Written by
BILL JERSEY
RICHARD WORMSER
Co-Producer
PIERRE VALETTE
Music by
CHRISTOPHER RIFE
Editors
AARON BUTLER
GARRETT LEVIN
TOM HANAKE
MAX SALOMON
PIERRE VALETTE
ALLISON EVE ZELL
Online Editors
RICK BROWN
MICHAEL DUFFIELD
ANGELA REGINATO
Assistant Editors
DAVID IWAMOTO
WALKER KOPPELMAN BROWN
JASON POLLARD
CHRIS TOW
Additional Editing
AMY YOUNG
Director of Photography
BRIAN DOWLEY
Cinematography
RICHARD CHISHOLM
MIKE COALE
BRIAN DOWLEY
BILL JERSEY
JERRY PANZER
BOBBY SHEPARD
MAX SALOMON
CHAD SMITH
PIERRE VALETTE
Additional Camera
BOB BOCCACCIO
REGE BECKER
ROBERT ELFSTROM
BOBBY SHEPARD
MAX SALOMON
Sound Recording
MICHAEL BOYLE
JOHN H. CAMERON
DOUG DUNDERDALE
JONATHAN GAYNOR
DAVID HOCS
MIKE SEXTON
SEKOU SHEPARD
HANS VAN DEN BOLD
Sound Editors
JONATHAN BLOOM
JAY BOEKELHEIDE
Sound Design
WILLIAM MARKLE
Location Sound Recording
WELLINGTON JON BOWLER
JOHN CAMERON
DOUGLAS DUNDERDALE
MICHAEL FIGLIO
SEKOU SHEPARD
DENNIS TOWNES
Sound Mix
MARK BERGER
SAUL ZAENTZ FILM CENTER
Gaffers
GEOFF HERBERT
DAVID MARGOLIS
JOHN REYNOLDS
GEORGE WINCHELL
Grips
BILL ALLANSON
JASON CONTINO
FLEATHER D. THOMAS
DENNIS ZOPPE
Production Design
MARK RUBIN
Production Art
JARED MORGAN
Jib Arm
WALLY ARGILE
PAT GLEASON
Animal Handler
AMMONS ARK
Special Effects
DAVID HILL
MIKE HUDSON
WILL PURCELL
Associate Producers
SHIRLEY KESSLER
AMY KOHN
MARK PAGE
Co-Line Producer
AMY KOHN
Production Manager
KEITH W. STANDBERG
Construction Coordinator
BILLY DANIEL
Location Managers
ROBERT HOWARD
HERMAN ROBERTSON
GEOFF RYAN
KEITH STRANDBERG
Production Associates
LAURA APPELTON
SVENJA SOLDOVIERI
Production Assistants
DANA BINGHAM
LUCY BLACKBURN
KATIE BUCK
HEATHER CASTLE
SHARON COFER
HILLARY CONROY
LEAH ELLIS
JOCELYN EVANS
MARCELLO GARAFOLO
LAYLA HALLE
HEATHER HUDDLESTEIN
BRIAN KNOX
AMY MURRELL
ERIC OBARME
ALICE PESCHL
BLUE JAY SKARDIS
KREG THORNLEY
STACEY WAXTON
LAURA WEXLER
Assistants to the Producers
HEATHER CASTLE
STEPHEN CEDARS
LAYLA HALLE
VEDA IGBINEDION
RITA LEWIS
JARED MORGAN
Script Consultant
RICHARD WILLIS
Research and Clearances
JUDITH ALEY
SASHA BELL
FLORENCE BORDERS
ROBIN ESPINOLA
SHOLA LYNCH
ROBIN MCARTHUR
CLAUDIA MOGUL
BONNIE ROWAN
EILEEN WILKINSON
Archival Research Coordinators
JOHN MIKULENKA
MARY NICOLE NAZZARO
Archival Research
SASHA BELL
FRANCESCA GESSNER
PAUL LEE
MARY NICOLE NAZZARO
BONNIE ROWAN
HELEN WEISS
Additional Archival Research
SUSAN HORMUTH
TAMARA MARTIAL
JAY MUHLIN
GRAHAM PERRY
HELEN WEISS
Archival Assistants
VEDA IGBINEDIAN
RITA LEWIS
Transcribers
HEATHER LARSEN
ACHEL SCHNEIDER
Opening Title Design
BOBBY CHANG
Opening Title Producer
MARA POSNER
Title Music
MICHAEL BACON
Promo and Tease Editor
MARK SUTTON
Promo and Tease Narration
HUGH MORGAN
Animation Motion Control Photography
GARY BECKER
BERLE CHERNEY
Special Effects
DAVE HILL
MICHAEL HUDSON
WILL PURCELL
Digital Retouching
JODY WALDRON
Music by
MICHAEL BACON
Additional Music by
COREY HARRIS
JAMAL MILLNER
Post Production Supervisor, WNET
TARA THOMAS
Project Manager, WNET
JULIE SCHAPIRO THORMAN
Financial Officer
TURID LARSEN
Accounting
GENE BANDLER
Board of Advisors
EDWARD L. AYERS
WILLIAM H. CHAFE
ROBIN DAVIS GIBRAN KELLEY
RAYMOND GAVINS
GLENDA ELIZABETH GILMORE
LEON F. LITWACK
NEIL RAYMOND MCMILLAN
THEODORE ROSENGARTEN
PATRICIA SULLIVAN
NAN ELIZABETH WOODRUFF
Executive Administrator
SHIRLEY KESSLER
Executive Producers
BILL JERSEY
WILLIAM R. GRANT
Additional Funding
ALABAMA HUMANITIES FOUNDATION
ARKANSAS HUMANITIES COUNCIL
HUMANITIES COUNCIL OF WASHINGTON D.C.
HUMANITIES COUNCIL OF SOUTH CAROLINA
NEW YORK HUMANITIES COUNCIL
NORTH CAROLINA HUMANITIES COUNCIL
SOUTHERN HUMANITIES MEDIA FUND
TENNESSEE HUMANITIES COUNCIL
VIRGINIA FOUNDATION FOR THE HUMANITIES AND PUBLIC POLICY
WINTHROP ROCKEFELLER FOUNDATION OF ARKANSAS
A co-production of Quest Productions, Videoline Productions, and Thirteen/WNET New York.
© 2002 Quest Productions, VideoLine Productions and Educational Broadcasting Corporation.
WEB CREDITS
ORDERING INFORMATION
The order the home video, please call 1-800-336-1917 or write to:
The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow
P.O. Box 2284
South Burlington, VT 05407
To order the tapes for educational use, please contact California Newsreel: 877-811-7495.
TAPING RIGHTS
Off-air taping rights for THE RISE AND FALL OF JIM CROW are avilable to educators for one year following each broadcast release.
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