Scope and Content Note

The Henry Hampton Collection includes film, video, photos, and other materials created and gathered during the production of Blackside’s programs. Blackside conducted hundreds of interviews on film, videotape, and audiotape with a wide variety of individuals--- from highly visible historical players, such as Rosa Parks and Coretta Scott King, to ordinary people who were involved in various American social movements of the twentieth century. The company also collected footage from news agencies across the country. In some instances, the Hampton Collection houses the only known copies of footage documenting significant moments in American history. Users of the Hampton Collection will also find interview transcripts, program scripts, producers’ files, research files, and fact-checking files. Blackside employees meticulously researched and fact-checked the details of the stories that they told in their programs. In some cases, their research and fact-checking files contain copies of important historical records that are not available elsewhere.

 While Eyes on the Prize is perhaps the jewel in Blackside’s crown, the producers did not focus exclusively on the Civil Rights Movement, nor on the African American community. For example, the company produced the documentaries The Great Depression and America’s War on Poverty. Thus, the collection contains materials broadly related to American political, civic, and economic life, particularly in the 20^th century.

The Hampton Collection includes Blackside’s business records, internal book and video libraries which were used for reference, Hampton's personal papers, as well as artifacts and ephemeral materials from the company. The collection also contains materials from the Civil Rights Project, Inc., a non-profit company that was created by Hampton to act as a counterpart to his commercial production company.

Robert C. Weaver, the first US Secretary for Housing and Urban Development, talks about President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's relationship with the bureaucracy and Congress, as well as the meaning of the New Deal.

The contents of the above video are protected under U.S. Copyright Law.  It has been assembled for research purposes only and may not be duplicated or broadcast or otherwise transmitted in whole or in part without written consent of the Washington University Film Archive or the appropriate copyright owner.