Description: Carmen Fields reports on the restoration of the African Meeting House on Beacon Hill. The Meeting House is the oldest African American church in the nation and it was gutted by fire in 1973. Interview with Philip Hart (Board of Directors, African Meeting House) and Ruth Batson (Director, African Meeting House). Hart talks about the significance of the Meeting House. Batson talks about plans for music, scholarly debate, and religious services at the Meeting House. Fields notes that a series of rededication programs will begin soon. Footage of construction workers and staff at the Meeting House and photographs documenting the history of African Americans in Boston.
1:00:01: Visual: Footage of woodworkers and construction workers doing restoration work at the African Meeting House on Beacon Hill. Carmen Fields reports that the African Meeting House is being restored; that the African Meeting House is the oldest African American church in the nation. V: Shots of the exterior of the Meeting House; of a commemorative stone reading, "A gift to Cato Gardner. First promoter of this building, 1806." Footage of Fields interviewing Philip Hart (Board of Directors, African Meeting House). Hart says that Frederick Douglass (abolitionist) spoke at the Meeting House; that the Meeting House was important to the Underground Railroad. Hart talks about the history of the Meeting House. Hart says that the Meeting House hosted notable figures and the average citizens. Shots black and white images of Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison (abolitionist). Fields reports that the Meeting House was gutted by fire in 1973; that a series of rededication programs begin on Sunday. V: Shots of the interior of the Meeting House with scaffolding; of white and African American workers involved in the rededication programs. Shots of Ruth Batson (Director, African Meeting House); of a black and white image of the Meeting House; of a 19th century photograph of a group of African Americans. Footage of Batson saying that she would like to have music, scholarly debate, and special religious services in the Meeting House. Batson says that the building will serve multiple purposes; that she hopes it will unite the people of Boston. Shots of photographs by Hamilton Smith, documenting the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century African American community. Fields notes that photographs by Hamilton Smith will be part of a permanent exhibit at the Meeting House. Field adds that the nineteenth-century African American community was centered on the north slope of Beacon Hill. V: Shot of a black and white photo of three African American women; of a black and white image of the Meeting House. Footage of Batson saying that the African American community began on Beacon Hill; that the African American community must celebrate their heritage. Footage of Hart saying that the building is a reminder of the role of the African American community in the history of Boston. Shots of black and white images of African Americans in the nineteenth century. Shot of the exterior of the Meeting House. Footage of Batson saying that she can hear the voices of past generations when she stands in the building.
Collection: Ten O'Clock News
Date Created: 10/09/1987
Description: Story on church and clergy involvement in the Vietnam War protest movement. Report on a panel discussion held at Arlington Street Church, which supports the role the church and clergy have been taking. Interviews with three panelists: Rudolph Tuck, President of Unitarian Fellowship Conference; Truman Nelson, novelist; and Johnny Frazer, graduate student at Crane Theological Seminary at Tufts and member of the Unitarian Black Caucus Steering Committee.
Collection: WHDH
Date Created: 01/22/1968
Description: Feature story on anti Vietnam War services at Protestant churches across Massachusetts. Excerpt from a sermon given at Centre Congregational Church in Lynnfield. Reporter standup. Feature followed by b-roll, including exteriors of the church, interiors of the church, and more of the sermon.
Collection: WHDH
Date Created: 03/07/1971
Description: Christian Science Center environs. Ornate facade of Mother Church. Reflecting pool, surface of water. Flower beds, close-up of begonias. Christopher Lydon interviews an expert about architect I.M. Pei, particularly his work in Boston.
Collection: Ten O'Clock News
Date Created: 05/01/1983
Description: Winnie Mandela speaks to churchgoers at the Twelfth Baptist Church. South African exile Themba Vilakazi stands by her side. Children from the congregation stand at the front of the church. Mandela talks about the importance of love and says that South Africans must relearn the values taken for granted by the rest of the world. She talks about the political climate in apartheid South Africa and about how South African children suffered under the apartheid regime. Mandela thanks the audience for supporting the black South Africans in their quest for liberation. The audience applauds for Mandela. Mandela embraces Reverend Michael Haynes. This edition of the Ten O'Clock News also included the following item: Byron Rushing campaigns for re-election
1:00:05: V: Footage of Reverend Michael Haynes (Twelfth Baptist Church) speaking from the pulpit of the Twelfth Baptist Church. Shots of two African American women seated in a pew. Haynes sings from the pulpit accompanied by a choir standing behind him. A group of African American children file toward the front of the church. The church attendees stand and applaud, then seat themselves. Footage of Winnie Mandela (wife of South African leader Nelson Mandela) speaking to the congregation. Themba Vilakazi (South African exile) stands by her side. Mandela thanks the congregation for their warm reception. Mandela says that the kind of love shown by the congregation does not exist in South Africa. Mandela says that the people of South Africa must relearn the values taken for granted by the rest of the democratic world. Shot of an African American man in the audience. Mandela says that South Africans must relearn how to love one another, themselves, and their children. Mandela says that apartheid has deprived South African children of their childhood. Mandela tells the children in the congregation that they are lucky to grow up in a loving community. Shots of two young girls sitting in the audience. Mandela says that South Africans have lost faith in God; that they must restore their faith in God. Mandela says that South Africans wonder why God has let them suffer for so long. Mandela says that South African mothers did not know how to teach their children to love; that South African mothers could not teach their children the difference between wrong and right. Mandela says that most black South Africans have spent time in jail for political crimes; that South African children do not learn that people go to jail for doing something wrong. Mandela says that people who have not spent time in jail may be sympathizers with the government. Shots of a group of African-American children standing at the front of the church. Mandela says that South Africans have a lot to learn from the congregation. Mandela talks about Hector Peterson. Mandela says that Peterson was seven years old when he was killed by South African government forces; that Peterson was the first victim during an uprising in 1976. Mandela says that the white government had passed a law calling for black children to be taught in the Afrikaaner language; that Peterson was among a group of children protesting the law. Mandela says that people should have the right to protest in a democratic society. Mandela says that thousands of South African children were killed while protesting against apartheid. Mandela thanks the congregation for recognizing the efforts made by South Africans for liberation. Mandela says that liberation in South Africa means liberation in the US. Shot of an African American woman seated in the audience. Mandela raises her clenched fist. She embraces Haynes. The members of the audience applaud and rise to their feet.
Collection: Ten O'Clock News
Date Created: 10/22/1990
Description: Compilation of footage concerning women's liberation. People parachuting. A ceremony honoring servicewomen. Auditorium full of people. Exteriors of Harvard building (888 Memorial Drive) taken over by women and renamed the "Boston Women's Center." Crowd of children outside the taken over building. People outside the door to the Massachusetts House of Representatives Gallery. Governor Frank Sargent outside of the State House, with women addressing crowd about women's liberation. Older people eating meals in a cafeteria. Friends of Louise Bryun Walk for Peace gathered at Copley Square and march through downtown Boston. Louis Bruyn is a woman who walked from her home in Newton, Mass. to Washington, D.C. to protest the Vietnam War in 1971. Exteriors of the Boston Public Library. People on benches at the Boston Common. Women, and a few men, at a banquet. Riverside community resident holds a press conference. Dormitory, possibly a women's prison. Press conference in front of "Boston Women's Center." Exteriors of Old Cambridge Baptist Church. Exteriors of Lyons Hall and other campus environs at Boston College. Women march out of "Boston Women's Center" with banners. Women wrapped in blankets guard the door. Closeups on the electric box outside the building. International Women's Day demonstration on Boston Common in front of the State House. Women speaking at an event.
Collection: WHDH
Date Created: 03/1971