Documenting racism
Subtitle: African Americans in U.S. Department of Agriculture documentaries, 1921-42
By: by J. Emmett Winn
Publisher: Continuum
Published: 2012
Place of publication: New York, NY
Language: eng
Number of pages: 231
ISBN-13: 9780826405555
Subjects: United States. Dept. of Agriculture. Motion Picture Service; Stereotypes (Social psychology) in motion pictures; African Americans in motion pictures; Racism in motion pictures; Documentary films; United States; History
Description: This book is open access and available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. It is funded by Knowledge Unlatched. From the silent era through the 1950s, the U.S. Department of Agriculture was the preeminent government filmmaking organization. In the United States, USDA films were shown in movie theaters, public and private schools at all educational levels, churches, libraries and even in open fields. For many Americans in the early 1900s, the USDA films were the first motion pictures they watched. And yet USDA documentaries have received little serious scholarly attention. The lack of serious study is especially concerning since the films chronicle over half a century of American farm life and agricultural work and, in so doing, also chronicle the social, cultural, and political changes in the United States at a crucial time in its development into a global superpower. Focusing specifically on four key films, Winn explicates the representation of African Americans in these films within the socio-political context of their times. The book provides a clearer understanding of how politics and filmmaking converged to promote a governmentally sanctioned view of racism in the U.S. in the early 20th century
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Preface; title: A brief history of the USDA motion picture service to 1943; title: Helping Negroes to become better farmers and homemakers; title: The Negro farmer; title: Three counties against syphilis; title: Henry Browne, farmer; title: USDA motion picture representations of African Americans.