Eyes on the Prize

The seminal and most comprehensive documentary on the Civil Rights Movement, Eyes on the Prize, aired on PBS in 1987. The documentary is split up into various volumes. Volumes 1-3 cover the years 1954-1965 and are known collectively as Eyes on the Prize I: America’s Civil Rights Years 1954-1965.  Volumes 4-7 are known as Eyes on the Prize II:  America at the Racial Crossroads 1965-1985. The documentary is available to be checked out or viewed (Mirlyn record for DVD version) at the Askwith Media Library in Shapiro.

More information about the documentary can be viewed at the Eyes on the Prize PBS site where you can also find downloadable transcripts and further readings. Two companion volumes to the documentary are available in Mirlyn:

• The Eyes on the Prize Civil Rights Reader: Documents, Speeches, and Firsthand Accounts from the Black Freedom Struggle (edited by Clayton Carson et al.) – A collection of important primary materials from the Civil Rights Movement, including speeches, court decisions, interviews, and other documentary materials.
•  Eyes on the Prize : America’s civil rights years, 1954-1965  by Juan Williams – A historical summary of the Movement written by Juan Williams and the PBS production team, includes many photographs and the perspectives of participants in the Movement.

The Washington University Film and Media Archive hosts the complete transcripts of all interviews conducted in the course of the making of the documentary, including segments not used in the final version of Eyes on the Prize.

Soundtrack for a Revolution

A documentary centered on the music of the Civil Rights Movement, Soundtrack for a Revolution premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2009 and features performances of civil rights songs by artists such as John Legend, The Roots, Wyclef John and others. The documentary tells the story of the music that fueled the movement. Though the documentary was originally a theatrical release, it was later aired on PBS’s American Experience which now hosts an important companion website to the documentary. On the site you can find useful resources such as lyrics of the freedom songs, a collection of timelines related to the Civil Rights Movement as a whole and important individuals in the movement, and further readings related to the music of the Civil Rights Movement.

Soundtrack of a Revolution (Mirlyn record for DVD) is available to be viewed or checked out at the Askwith Media Library.

Other Documentaries

There have been numerous other documentaries which focus on other aspects of the Civil Rights Movement.  A list of these documentaries can be found on here. Highlights from this list include:

• February One: The Story of the Greensboro Four (Mirlyn DVD Record) – the story of a sit-in in Greensboro, North Carolina, which served as a spark for later protests. More information hosted on the PBS Independent Lens site.
• Freedom Riders (Mirlyn Blu-Ray Record) – how segregation on public transportation in the South came to an end through the courageous actions of the “Freedom Riders.” The entire documentary can be streamed for free here on PBS American Experience. The companion website contains many useful resources including an interactive map of the freedom rides, biographies of the Riders, and a roster of all the freedom rides.
• King: A Filmed Record… Montgomery to Memphis (Mirlyn DVD Record) – originally screened for one night only in 1970, for many years this documentary was unavailable to the public. The documentary uses mostly original newsreel footage to narrate the story of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s  campaign for social justice. More information on the film can be found on the documentary’s website and in this New York Times review from the original screening.
• Malcolm X: Make It Plain (Mirlyn VHS Record) – another PBS American Experience documentary, this one narrating the life of Malcolm X, a controversial human rights activist tangentially associated with the Civil Rights Movement. Documentation of the documentary is available on the PBS American Experience site.