Saturday, February 1, 2014

Litchfield and Torrington Historical Society's present Civil Rights Programs

The Litchfield and Torrington Historical Society's have teamed up to present two civil rights programs based on the Created Equal Film Series and will be presented on February 20 and March 20th.  These documentaries with riveting new footage illustrate the history of civil rights in America.  Created Equal: America's Civil Rights Struggle is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Humanities that uses the power of documentary films to encourage community discussion of America's civil rights history.



On February 20, (snow date Thursday, Feb. 27) at the Torrington Historical Society located on 192 Main Street in the heart of Torrington will host Tom Hogan who will discuss the film, The Loving Story, which examines the groundbreaking U.S. Supreme Court decision on interracial marriages.  Tom Hogan, former lawyer and legal history professor at UConn, we will take a look at a groundbreaking case that dealt with the legality of interracial marriages. The documentary brings to life the Lovings' marriage and the legal battle that followed through little-known filmed interviews and photographs shot for Life magazine. Participants will view film clips from the HBO documentary as well as supplemental materials provided by Mr. Hogan.

The second event in this civil rights series takes place on March 20 (snow date March 27) at the Litchfield Historical Society located on 7 South Street in Litchfield  with the film, Freedom Riders. Litchfield blogger and history professor Pete Vermilyea brings to light the activities of the freedom riders in the last of our film series. Freedom Riders tells the terrifying, moving, and suspenseful story of a time when white and black volunteers riding a bus into the Deep South risked being jailed, beaten, or killed, as white local and state authorities ignored or encouraged violent attacks. The film includes previously unseen amateur 8-mm footage of the burning bus on which some Freedom Riders were temporarily trapped, taken by a local twelve-year-old and held as evidence since 1961 by the FBI. 

All program are free and open to the public. To register for any of these programs please call the Litchfield Historical Society at 860-567-4501 or email registration@litchfieldhistoricalsociety.org.  For more information visit  http://www.litchfieldhistoricalsociety.org/tours/createdequal.php


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