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MEDIA CONTACT: Frederick Douglass Institute (585) 275-7235 or Sharon Dickman 585.275.4128
October 13, 2004
Award-winning documentary filmmaker Stanley Nelson’s The Murder of Emmett Till will be screened at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 28, in Hubbell Auditorium of Hutchison Hall on the University of Rochester’s River Campus. Journalist Moses Newson, who reported on the trial of Emmett Till’s killers for the Memphis-based Tri-State Defender, will be present to discuss the film.
The showing is free for University of Rochester faculty, staff, and students; $25 tickets for the general public will be available at the door. It is co-sponsored by the Frederick Douglass Institute for African and African-American Studies and WXXI Public Broadcasting.
At 2 a.m. on Aug. 28, 1955, 14-year-old Emmett Till was abducted from his uncle’s house in Money, Miss., by two white men who accused him of whistling at a white woman in a store. A Chicago resident on a visit with family, Till wasn’t accustomed to the unspoken laws of the racially segregated South and was killed. The film explores Till’s story and legacy.
The murder is considered a crucial piece of history in mobilizing the Civil Rights Movement. The arrest of Rosa Parks, who violated Alabama’s segregation laws by refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger on a city bus, occurred just 100 days after Till’s death. Her arrest, in turn, led to a citywide bus boycott and the emergence of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., in the Civil Rights Movement.
The Murder of Emmett Till earned Nelson a 2003 Emmy award for best nonfiction direction from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, as well as an Emmy nomination for screenwriting. Nelson also received a Special Jury Prize at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival for the film.
Shortly after reporting on the case in Tennessee, Newson moved to Baltimore and worked as a reporter, city editor, and executive editor for the Afro-American Newspapers. Newson will take questions after the screening. For more information, contact the Frederick Douglass Institute at (585) 275-7235.
The University of Rochester (www.rochester.edu) is one of the nation's leading private universities. Located in Rochester, N.Y., the University gives students exceptional opportunities for interdisciplinary study and close collaboration with faculty through its unique cluster-based curriculum. Its College of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering is complemented by the Eastman School of Music, Simon School of Business, Warner School of Education, Laboratory for Laser Energetics, Schools of Medicine and Nursing, and the Memorial Art Gallery.
PR 1904, MS 341