Video stories show deep PB connection to civil-rights drive
The Delta Civil Rights Legacy Trail delivers 22 short, powerful video stories about people and places with Pine Bluff connections who figured large in the civil rights movement, according to ExplorePineBluff.com.
“Pine Bluff boasts credentials on par with Selma, Little Rock and Montgomery,” said Sheri Storie, executive director of Explore Pine Bluff.
“Pine Bluff was the site of boycotts, sit-ins, demonstrations and bombings as African Americans demanded an end to segregated public facilities and jobs in the early 1960s.”
The Delta Civil Rights Legacy Trail includes segments dedicated to attorneys Harold Flowers, Wiley Branton and Leo Branton, all of whom played prominent roles in groundbreaking cases like the Little Rock Central High crisis, the integration of the University of Arkansas Law School and the drive to register black voters.
Federal District Judge George Howard Jr., Martin Luther King Jr. and Black Panther Bobby Hutton, all key figures in the fight for equality, are also featured, along with Paul Greenberg, who won a Pulitzer in 1969 for editorials about civil rights he wrote in 1968 at the Pine Bluff Commercial; Dick Gregory; Delores Jean York; George Edmund Haynes; Sarah E. Howard; William Levan Sherrill; James Nabrit Jr.; and Vernon Jordan Jr.
One segment explains the groundbreaking psychological research performed by the husband and wife team of Drs. Kenneth and Mamie Clark, research that was ultimately
“Every one of these stories is riveting, but most of them have gone untold until now. Thanks to the efforts of Jimmy Cunningham, Explore Pine Bluff’s interpretive coordinator, we are finally able to bring this history to anyone with a smartphone or digital device.” — Sheri Storie, executive director of Explore Pine Bluff
presented before the U.S. Supreme Court.
People aren’t the only stars of the show. The Delta Civil Rights Legacy Trail also tells the stories of places in Pine Bluff that served as backdrops for history, including the UAPB/ AM&N Freedom House, the Missouri Pacific/Greyhound Bus Station, Saint James United Methodist Church, the Woolworth’s Store, McDonald’s Restaurant, the Jefferson County Courthouse and the Williams Building.
“Every one of these stories is riveting, but most of them have gone untold until now,” Storie explained. “Thanks to the efforts of Jimmy Cunningham, Explore Pine Bluff ’s interpretive coordinator, we are finally able to bring this history to anyone with a smartphone or digital device.”
Storie noted that more civil-rights-related digital historical products will be added to ExplorePineBluff.com, including an in-depth video docu-series relaying mostly untold civil-rights and freedom stories, and a virtual museum that will provide even more in-depth coverage of Pine Bluff ’s connection to civil rights history.
“Until it’s safe to travel again, Explore Pine Bluff is committed to providing educational and informative online experiences,” added Storie. “These stories deserve wider recognition and that’s what we’re giving them.”
Access the Delta Civil Rights Legacy Trail at https://www.explorepinebluff.com/the-delta-civilrights-legacy-trail.
This article is among features at ExplorePineBluff.com, a program of the Pine Bluff Advertising and Promotion Commission.