Footage of Sojourners for Truth and Justice Eastern Seaboard Conference
date: label: Date
content: March 23, 1952
name: label: Created by
content: Sojourners for Truth and Justice, American, 1951 - 1952
label: Edited by
content: Tee Beveridge, American, 1923 - 1993
label: Subject of
content: Paul Robeson, American, 1898 - 1976
label: Subject of
content: Doxey Alphonso Wilkerson, American, 1905 - 1993
label: Subject of
content: Yolanda Barnett Wilkerson, American, 1915 - 2001
label: Subject of
content: Alice Childress, American, 1912 - 1994
label: Subject of
content: Alphaeus Hunton, American, 1903 - 1970
label: Subject of
content: Dorothy Hunton, American
label: Subject of
content: Louise Thompson Patterson, American, 1901 - 1999
label: Subject of
content: Claudia Jones, Trinidadian, 1915 - 1964
label: Owned by
content: Pearl Bowser, American, 1931 - 2023
notes: label: Caption
content: This 16mm film features footage of the Sojourners of Truth and Justice Eastern Seaboard Conference held on March 23, 1952, at the YMCA in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City. It was attended by nearly 100 women and this footage captures the group’s last major gathering.
label: Description
content: A 16mm black-and-white-film strip (2012.79.1.4.1a-d) containing footage of the Sojourners of Truth and Justice Eastern Seaboard Conference held on March 23, 1952, at the YMCA in Harlem, New York City. Nearly 100 women attended the event and this footage captures the group’s last major gathering. Actor and organizer Paul Robeson can be seen seated at the far left of the onstage table. To Robeson’s right, educator and Communist Party leader Dr. Doxey Wilkerson and his wife Yolanda are seated. To the right of the Wilkersons, is activist and intellectual Alphaeus Hunton, husband of Dorothy Hunton, who is the first speaker. Civil rights activist Claudia Jones can be seen in the foreground, seated at the far right of the onstage table. Activist Louise Thompson Patterson can be seen wearing a Sojourners for Truth and Justice ribbon. The second-to-last speaker is Alice Childress. The footage mostly consists of the speakers on the stage, but there is also footage of the audience.
label: Description
content: The film opens with a view of the stage and Dorothy Hunton approaching the microphone. As she approaches the microphone, the conference attendees seated at a table on the stage applaud. The camera then pans the table and captures all attendees seated at the table while Hunton speaks. The next speaker is Doxey Wilkerson, and the footage shows him approaching the microphone, as those on the stage and in the audience applaud. The camera then pans back to the audience and to those seated at the table onstage. Many of the shots are out of focus. The footage of the speakers ends and then there is brief footage of a collection basket with hands placing money into it. Following that, there is footage of Louise Thompson Patterson wearing a Sojourners for Truth and Justice ribbon, and then the footage cuts to two women also wearing Sojourners for Truth and Justice ribbons. In the next scene, men and women can be seen exiting the building, dressed in formal attire. The film then cuts back to the event inside with another speaker at the microphone and shots of the attendees at the table onstage. Following that speaker, three men approach the microphone and appear to sing. Three women appear at the microphone after the singers, and then Alice Childress approaches the microphone and speaks. She reads from some prepared remarks, and then the camera briefly shows the table onstage. The footage then shows one last speaker before the film ends.
place: label: Place filmed
content: Harlem, New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Activism
label: Topic
content: Associations and institutions
label: Topic
content: Civil Rights
label: Topic
content: Justice
label: Topic
content: Politics
label: Topic
content: Social reform
label: Topic
content: U.S. History, 1945-1953
label: Topic
content: Women
label: Topic
content: Women's organizations
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Collection title
content: Pearl Bowser Collection
label: Classification
content: Time-based Media - Moving Images
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Pearl Bowser
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2012.79.1.4.1a-d
objectType: label: Type
content: silent films
label: Type
content: black-and-white films (visual works)
label: Type
content: 16mm (photographic film size)
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: No known copyright restrictions
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: acetate film
label: Dimensions
content: Duration: 9 min.
label: Dimensions
content: Physical extent (film): 260 ft