amistad research center

Preservation work has now been completed on rare home movie footage of Ruby Bridges, thanks to a grant from the National Film Preservation Foundation. The brief, silent 8mm film was shot by Josie Ritter, who was a teacher at William Franz Elementary School when Ruby became the first black student to integrate it in 1960. The first portion of the film, shot through a window from inside the school, records white protesters picketing outside, carrying signs and Confederate flags

Amistad has good news for everyone who has enjoyed our programming. Our Conversations in Color series, 50th Anniversary performance, and more are now available for streaming online. Whether you were unable to make it to hear Charles Blow speak or have been wishing you could re-watch Deacon John’s one-time-only musical performance based on our collections, stop by Amistad’s Vimeo page and spend some time browsing. Be sure to keep an eye out as we continue to update the page wi

Amistad has recently added the film Lion’s Tale (2000) to its online digital collections. The film was written, directed and produced by Mary Anne Mushatt. For her MFA thesis project, Mushatt collected the oral histories of residents along Louisiana’s River Road, between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, including members of the African American community and the Houma Nation. The result is a documentary challenging the dominance of the “plantation country” narrative that most kno