Civil Rights Programs at the National Archives in January 2008
Press Release · Thursday, December 13, 2007

Washington, DC…The National Archives will present special noontime programs on civil rights throughout January including screenings of the landmark PBS series Eyes on the Prize, the film The Tuskegee Airmen, and an author lecture on civil rights letters written by Jackie Robinson. These events are free and open to the public and will be held in the William G. McGowan Theater of the National Archives Building in Washington, DC, which is located on the National Mall at Constitution Ave. and 7th Street, NW. The building is fully accessible.

Eyes on the Prize—January 8, 11, 15, 18, 22, 25, 29
On Tuesdays and Fridays throughout January (and continuing through February), the National Archives will present this landmark 14-part PBS series first aired in 1987. Produced by Blackside, Eyes on the Prize tells the definitive story of the civil rights era from the point of view of the ordinary men and women whose extraordinary actions launched a movement that changed the fabric of American life, and embodied a struggle whose reverberations continue to be felt today. Winner of numerous Emmy Awards, a George Foster Peabody Award, an International Documentary Award, and a Television Critics Association Award, Eyes on the Prize is the most critically acclaimed documentary on civil rights in America. Each showing is 60 minutes.

Tuesday, January 8: Awakenings (1954–56)
Friday, January 11: Fighting Back (1957–62)
Tuesday, January 15: Ain’t Scared of Your Jails (1960–61)
Friday, January 18: No Easy Walk (1961–63)
Tuesday, January 22: Mississippi: Is This America? (1963–64)
Friday, January 25: Bridge to Freedom (1965)
Tuesday, January 29: The Time Has Come (1964–66)

The Tuskegee Airmen —Saturday, January 19 Film
Based on a true World War II story, The Tuskegee Airmen tells the remarkable story of the U.S. Army Air Corps’ “Fighting 99th,” the first squadron of African American combat fighter pilots, who were forced to battle two powerful enemies—the prejudices at home and the Axis powers in Europe. Stars Laurence Fishburne, John Lithgow, and Cuba Gooding, Jr. Not rated, but appropriate for teenage audiences. (1995, 100 minutes)

First Class Citizenship: The Civil Rights Letters of Jackie Robinson—Wednesday, January 30
To coincide with the 60th anniversary of Jackie Robinson’s entry into major league baseball, which broke the sport’s color barrier, author Michael G. Long discusses Robinson’s absorbing collection of letters. The correspondence ranges from 1946 to 1972, with such pen pals as Dwight Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, Barry Goldwater, and Richard Nixon.

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For Press information, contact the National Archives Public Affairs staff at (202) 357-5300.

To verify the date and times of the programs, the public should call the Public Programs Line at: (202) 357-5000, or view the Calendar of Events online. To contact the National Archives, please call 1-866-272-6272 or 1-86-NARA-NARA (TDD) 301-837-0482.

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