A film screening and discussion of this award winning film about the transformative years following the American Civil War. Presented by SURJ New Haven.
The series explores the transformative years following the American Civil War, when the nation struggled to rebuild itself in the face of profound loss, massive destruction, and revolutionary social change. The twelve years that composed the post-war Reconstruction era (1865-77) witnessed a seismic shift in the meaning and makeup of our democracy, with millions of former slaves and free black people seeking out their rightful place as equal citizens under the law. Though tragically short-lived, this bold democratic experiment was, in the words of W. E. B. Du Bois, a ‘brief moment in the sun’ for African Americans, when they could advance, and achieve, education, exercise their right to vote, and run for and win public office.
The Donald G. Mitchell Memorial Library was founded in 1910, adopted into the New Haven Free Public Library System in 1922, and opened in its current facility in 1966. Situated on the edge of Beecher Park, Mitchell Library has become a cornerstone of the Westville, Amity, Beaver Hills, Edgewood, and West Rock neighborhoods. Residents frequent the library to attend community meetings; borrow the latest bestsellers; enjoy, attend, or participate in a library program; or take advantage of the library’s free Wi-Fi.