Television News of the Civil Rights Era

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In the 1950s and 1960s, the Civil Rights Movement was covered on news stations around the country. This website provides 230 of these video clips from two local television stations in Roanoke, Virginia. Clips feature both national events, such as the speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr. and John F. Kennedy, as well as footage of local school desegregation, protests, and interviews on the street.

Accompanying this footage are 14 oral histories (several from Virginians with firsthand knowledge of the Prince Edward Public Schools closing), and 23 documents that chronicle the official development of Massive Resistance in Virginia, in particularly the involvement of Senator Harry F. Byrd. "Essays and Interpretation" provides important historical context and analysis, with detailed pieces on "Virginia's Massive Resistance to School Desegregation" and the development of television news coverage of the Civil Rights Movement in Virginia and Mississippi.

Mexican-American War and the Media

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These more than 5,500 transcribed newspaper articles related to the Mexican-American War represent five newspapers from the U.S. and England. They span the period from 1845, when the U.S. annexed Texas, through 1848, when Mexico surrendered and the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed.

The contrast between coverage of the war in the U.S. and England is particularly striking. The Times of London fulminated against the immorality of slavery and of the southern scheme to annex Texas as a slave state, while exposing America's imperialist ambitions as, among other things, an attempt to shore up the nation's fragile stability through the escape valve of western migration. By contrast, newspapers from Maryland and West Virginia did not examine the issue of slavery in the articles included here.

Some images and links to watercolor and print collections are also available. The website provides a comprehensive bibliography on the war, but offers little historical background or contextualization beyond links to related materials and an expanded timeline.

Ponzi's Scheme: True Story of a Financial Legend

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Professor Mitchell Zuckoff follows the life of Italian immigrant Charles Ponzi (1882-1949), legendary con man who set up the Securities Exchange Company, which promised investors massive returns on their investments based on the buying and trading of international postal reply coupons. The scheme, begun around 1918, collapsed in 1920 after the Boston Post revealed it to the public. The presentation includes slides.

Audio and video options are available.

George Stevens: D-Day to Berlin

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Filmmaker George Stevens, Jr., introduces and discusses D-Day to Berlin, the Emmy Award-winning documentary he made using color footage that his father, director George Stevens, filmed across Europe at the end of World War II. In 1943, Stevens, Sr., was assigned to follow the invasion of Normandy with the 6th Army for the purpose of recording their operations for army archives; the footage used to make up D-Day to Berlin was discovered after his death and follows Stevens and his crew as they follow the Allied Army.

Audio and video options are available.

Tom Brokaw and Chronicling the Greatest Generation

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Newsanchor Tom Brokaw discusses his chronicling of the Greatest Generation in his book with the same title. The Greatest Generation tells the stories of America's citizens who came of age during the Great Depression and World War II. Brokaw also discusses his career with NBC Nightly News, where he has been the sole anchor and managing editor since 1983.

The lecture audio is available in mp3 format.

Presidents at War

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Former JFK advisor and historian Arthur Schlesinger, journalist Tom Wicker, and veteran political analyst and former Nixon staffer Kevin Phillips explore the varying legacies of the United State's wartime presidents.

African-American Voices of the Civil War

Description

Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Charles Fuller discusses his life and motivations as an African-American author. The presentation also includes discussions and performances which bring the testimonies of slaves, soldiers, reporters, and activists from the Civil War to life, focusing on African-American history during the Civil War and African-American memory of the war.