A Death in the City
Teaching Cleveland, in association with playwright Faye Sholiton and filmmaker Marquette Williams, with generous support from America250 and Ohio Humanities, is offering facilitated community conversations to accompany the viewing of “A Death in the City: In the Wake of Segregation” as a part of the project called “On Our Watch” focused on using history to empower individuals to create a better future.
Program Overview
The film recounts the stories of nine individuals involved in the tense decades following World War II, when civil rights activists around the country coalesced into a movement to change the racial hierarchy that had dominated so many institutions and systems in this country. Black Americans and their allies fought discrimination in the military, at the voting polls, and in trying to secure housing, bank loans, and jobs. Most notably, they aimed to eliminate racial discrimination in the education system in the hopes that American society would move closer to the promises laid out in the country’s founding documents. Most of the events depicted and described in the film took place in the 1950s and 1960s in Cleveland, Ohio, and the narratives center around the death of civil rights activist Rev. Bruce Klunder in 1964.
The materials and facilitation available can be curated for middle school students, high school students, intergenerational community groups, church groups and other organizations. After completing the form linked above, a member of the team will reach out to determine the focus areas and essential questions that will make this experience most meaningful for your group.
Please reach out to Bri Lazarchik, Teaching Cleveland’s Curriculum Director, with any questions.
