We don’t like to boast around here, but with the arrival of Black History Month, we want to shout from the rooftops about Durham Tech Libraries’ robust collection of documentary films about famous Black activists, artists, athletes.
Have you seen a movie about New York slam poets?
How about a survey of the history of Black Feminism?
Click “Continue Reading” to see what films we’re talking about!
Explore the powerful stories of influential women throughout history!
This documentary about the trajectory of an African-American girl wonder whose mathematical genius would catapult astronauts into space. Born in 1918, Johnson graduated high school at the age of 14, college at 18, and went on to a career with NASA where she broke race and gender barriers. Johnson not only succeeded in a white, male-dominated field, she excelled.
In July of 1920, all eyes were on Nashville, Tennessee as anti- and pro-suffragists fought for their vision of a socially evolving United States. This program chronicles the dramatic vote to ratify the 19th amendment granting women the right to vote, and the years of debate about women’s suffrage that preceded it.
This film explores the role of women in revolutions that transformed the modern world. It includes women in the French and Russian revolutions as well as women in America, like Margaret Sanger, who coined the term birth control and developed the pill which would finally give women control over when to have children.
For generations women have been seen as secondary or supplementary earners. Now women outnumber men graduating from higher education, and are taking their place in the global job market, and enjoying ever-greater financial independence. In this episode, we meet the women challenging professional expectations – from the Amazon to Iran – and transforming society around them in the process.
This detailed program traces the lifelong odyssey of a woman who literally walked out of bondage, changed her name in 1843, and traveled the country as an abolitionist and women’s rights advocate. Along the way she would meet Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln and be further cast into fable by Harriet Beecher Stowe. Interviews with scholars and dramatic readings from Truth’s speeches and autobiography conjure more clearly a picture of this truly heroic woman.
This is the amazing true story of pioneering women, who for a brief moment in the darkest days of WWII, shattered the glass ceiling to become the first women to pilot American military aircraft. Surviving WASP relive their personal experiences and the challenges they faced while ferrying aircraft, flying as test pilots and towing targets for live anti-aircraft practice. They also bring to light their sixty-six year long struggle for recognition and veterans rights.
Films on Demand features more than 40,000 educational films and clips in many subject areas and disciplines. Content from these reputable producers is included: A&E, PBS, BBC Learning, National Geographic, ABC News, NBC News, CNBC, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, HBO Documentary Films, Films for the Humanities & Sciences, and more.
The Library’s three Films on Demand collections can be found at this link:
http://durhamtech.libguides.com/az.php?a=f
You can also visit our book display on the lower level of the library for lots of inspirational reading. Pick up a Women’s History Month bookmark at the Main Campus library desk.