The Great Migration: A City Transformed (1916-1930)

Scribe Video Center

2014
$200,000

scribe-video-center-great-migration-2014-03

Ancestral Correspondence, Lonnie Graham, film still.

scribe-video-center-great-migration-2014-06

Standing at the Scratch Line, Julie Dash, film still.

scribe-video-center-great-migration-2014-04

Sonic Migration by Mendi and Keith Obadike. Photo by Carlton Jones.

scribe-video-center-great-migration-2014-05

Standing at the Scratch Line, Julie Dash, film still.

Scribe Video Center will explore the history and impact of the Great Migration (1916–30) on Philadelphia, when blacks fled the South for economic opportunities in the Northern states, giving rise to new African-American neighborhoods. A body of oral histories will serve as the core inspiration for this multimedia project, told by Philadelphia residents who experienced the Great Migration firsthand. Selected media artists will create site-specific installations, interactive games, and audio tours on the subject, using material from these archival interviews and input from local community groups, for public debut in 2016, the Great Migration's centennial. The project will challenge participants and audiences to consider the compelling and transformative history that led to huge shifts in the culture and makeup of Philadelphia.


Additional unrestricted funds are added to each grant for general operating support.