Division Director Shares Created Equal Story with Radio Audience

Division of Public Programs Director Karen Mittelman spoke about the new NEH-funded project, Created Equal, on WAMC, Northeast Public Radio. Click here to listen to the interview.

As part of the Endowment’s Bridging Cultures initiative, “Created Equal: America’s Civil Rights Struggle” is a packaged set of NEH-funded films on Civil Rights history offered at 473 communities across the nation. Launched in 2013 to coincide with the 150^th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, "Created Equal" aims to encourage public conversations about the changing meanings of freedom and equality in U.S. history. Four powerful documentary films (The Abolitionists, Slavery by Another Name, Freedom Riders and The Loving Story) are accompanied by in-depth programming resources to help guide productive community discussions.

Deeply grounded in humanities scholarship, these films tell a remarkable story—about grassroots activism, about the power of individuals to effect change, and about the changing contexts in which Americans have understood and struggled with concepts of freedom and equality.

The Abolitionists

A small group of reformers in the 1830s began fighting for the immediate emancipation of millions of African Americans held in bondage, at a time when slavery was one of the most powerful economic and political forces in the United States. Produced and directed by Rob Rapley. Sharon Grimberg, executive producer for American Experience, WGBH.

Slavery by Another Name

Even as slavery ended after the Civil War, new forms of forced labor kept thousands of African Americans in bondage. Based on the 2008 Pulitzer Prize-winning book of the same title by Douglas Blackmon. Produced and directed by Sam Pollard. Catherine Allen, executive producer for Twin Cities Public Television. Douglas Blackmon, co-executive producer.

Freedom Riders

The Freedom Rides of 1961 were a pivotal moment in the long civil rights struggle that redefined America. Based on Raymond Arsenault’s 2007 book, this documentary film offers an inside look at the brave band of activists who challenged segregation in the Deep South. Produced and directed by Stanley Nelson. Mark Samels, executive producer for American Experience, WGBH.

The Loving Story

The moving account of Richard and Mildred Loving, who were arrested in 1958 for violating Virginia’s ban on interracial marriage. Their struggle culminated in a landmark Supreme Court decision, Loving v. Virginia (1967). Directed by Nancy Buirski; produced by Nancy Buirski and Elisabeth Haviland James. A co-production of HBO Documentary Films. Distributed by Icarus Films.

The CREATED EQUAL film set was produced in partnership with the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.

The libraries, museums, NAACP chapters, African American heritage sites, and cultural organizations on the following list will conduct a host of creative public programs around the themes of the NEH-funded films in the Created Equal series, including film screenings, book discussions, theatrical productions, interviews with former activists and intergenerational dialogues, exploring topics that range from the history of fair housing to women in the abolitionist movement.