Links to films
Sharecrop (Amazon | Vimeo | Youtube)
Sharecrop showcases the experience of ten individuals who were involved in sharecropping during the segregation era. Featuring oral history and period images, the film conveys stories from cotton sharecroppers in the Mississippi Delta, tobacco sharecroppers in the Carolinas, and others. It explores their lives, the way they worked and celebrates the resilience of the South's forgotten farmers.
Lessons from the Rosenwald Schools (Amazon | Vimeo)
Lessons from the Rosenwald Schools is a short documentary film using clips selected from hundreds of interviews with alumni and former teachers highlighting thematic experiences alumni had at African-American schools. Film reveals practices that were common in Rosenwald and other historic African-American schools, specific teaching strategies that are validated by current research, and recommends ways that we can move forward together.
Under the Kudzu (Youtube | Vimeo)
Under the Kudzu traces the history of two Rosenwald schools in Pender County, NC. built during the segregation era. Alumni and former teachers share their experiences in this moving documentary about the African American sacrifice for education. Under the Kudzu won the Director's Choice Award at the Cape Fear Independent Film Festival and was screened at the NTHP Rosenwald School Conference.
Carrie Mae: An American Life (Amazon | Vimeo)
Carrie Mae Sharpless Newkirk was one of fifteen children in a sharecropping family. She attended the Chinquapin Colored School and dreamed of becoming a teacher. Carrie Mae taught in Pender County's segregated schools, then in 1966 she became one of the first African American teachers to integrate a white faculty. Her life reflects the major shifts in southern education after the 1920s.