By Jackie Torok
F.D. Bluford Library at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University will showcase rare films that have been digitized during a screening this week.
The event – which coincides with National Library Week, observed April 23-29 this year – will take place from 4 to 6 p.m. in the seminar room at the library, 1601 E. Market St. It will also be livestreamed via Zoom.
Some of the films, such as the Aggie Sports Collection and footage from the Jerald and Constance Marteena Home Movie Collection, have not been seen in decades.
All of the films are among those that were digitized using a $47,570 grant Bluford Library received from the Council on Library and Information Resources’ Recordings at Risk program last year.
The library’s project, guided by archives and special collections librarian James R. Stewart, digitized 163 at-risk films from 1937 to 1979 that document this history of N.C. A&T and African Americans nationwide before, during and after the mid-20th century civil rights era.
The collections include documentaries about alumnus the Rev. Jesse Jackson, home movies depicting African American life in post-World War II America and films about A&T during that time period.
Bluford Library teamed with AV Geeks to digitize the materials, which are available via Digital Commons, so students, scholars and the community can view them.
