Capstones
Graduation Date
Fall 12-14-2018
Grading Professor
Yoruba Richen
Subject Concentration
Documentary
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Abstract
My hometown, Great Barrington, MA, has one famous former resident: NAACP co-founder W.E.B. Du Bois. For generations, his legacy in the predominantly white town was hardly acknowledged. People actively protested the landmarking of his birth site in the 1960s. When I was a kid, plans to name a new middle school after him were scrapped after the uproar grew too loud. Even in this supposedly liberal enclave in western Massachusetts, people continued to object to his membership in the Communist Party. As former NAACP president Cornell Brooks said recently, this would be like Princeton, N.J., ignoring that Einstein had ever lived there.
My capstone documentary film, titled Revival, focuses on a renewed interest in celebrating the local origins and legacy of this native son. The story coincides with Du Bois’ 150th birthday, and culminates in the restoration of the AME church where he came of age. At a time when communities around the country are tearing down monuments to white supremacy, this is a story of a community memorializing a person who has been notably, intentionally ignored. It’s the story of reckoning with a challenging history, and working towards a different, more integrated future.
LINK HERE: https://anyavw.com/2019/01/03/van-wagtendonk-cuny-capstone/
Recommended Citation
van Wagtendonk, Anya, "Revival" (2018). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gj_etds/657