Freedom summer Mississippi. 1964

Starred Review. Gr 7 Up-Documentary filmmaker and MacArthur "Genius" Fellow Stanley Nelson brings viewers up close and personal with the events of 1964, when civic-minded (mostly) college students canvassed Mississippi, encouraging voter registration among the black population. The film covers the three goals of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee's "Mississippi Summer Project": to register blacks to vote, to teach black history and literature, and to send an integrated delegation to challenge the all-white delegation at the Democratic National Convention. There is also pointed coverage of the disappearance of civil rights workers James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner, whose fates are revealed about 75 minutes into the two-hour film. Nelson mixes historic footage and photographs with interviews of those who organized, participated in, campaigned for, and, in one case, opposed voter registration efforts. Nelson's current-day interviews often juxtapose 70something participants' wisdom with their starry-eyed and articulate younger selves from 50 years ago. Despite a few tough scenes of white police officers wielding batons and hate-filled comments, the film could be used with older middle school students for an initial foray into broad civil rights topics and with high school classes ready for a more complex examination of specific issues. Discussion questions and supplemental educational material is available in the teachers' resources section at PBS.org. This valuable, compelling film will hold the attention of audiences and will attract viewers even outside the classroom.-Maggie Knapp, Trinity Valley School. Fort Worth, TX (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.