A Separate Place: The Schools P. S du Pont Built

A Separate Place: The Schools P.S. du Pont Built (2001) tells the surprising - and uplifting -- story of the connection between Pierre S. du Pont's philanthropy and efforts by African Americans to obtain quality education. It begins in the era of racial segregation, and focuses on the 89 schools built by P.S. du Pont in the 1920s that vastly improved the education facilities for Delaware's black community. Once they were completed, the movie shows how committed African American educators turned these schools into effective centers for education and achievement. But legally-mandated racial segregation still limited educational opportunity; consequently, Delaware's African Americans hailed the U.S. Supreme Court's 1954 Brown decision. A Separate Place shows that school segregation in Delaware did not in fact end until 1967 because of white resistance; and even when it did, African Americans still struggled to attain quality education. The film closes by chronicling how the former du Pont schools have become sites of historical preservation efforts by black communities that remember their contribution to their education. The investment of Delaware's African American community in these schools, both in the Jim Crow era and today, is the message viewers are left with.

The voices of former students and teachers in the du Pont schools provide most of the film's content, supplemented by commentary from Dr. Jeanne Nutter, the film's executive producer and herself a product of a du Pont-built school. Their moving recollections have entranced thousands of school children who have seen the movie, along with adult audiences. A curriculum packet produced by Hagley's Education Department supplements the film, especially for school use, with documents from Hagley's research collections, such as before and after pictures of African American schools and letters from children to P.S. du Pont written in the 1920s. A Separate Place is available in two versions, the full 54 minute film suitable for adult and high school audiences, and a shortened 25 minute version specially tailored for use in elementary and middle schools. Directed by Alonzo Crawford and edited by Kendrick Simmons, A Separate Place was generously funded by the Longwood Foundation with partial support from the Delaware Humanities Forum, a state program of the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Hagley Museum and Library.

The Conversation Series on African American History in Delaware

The interviews with former students and teachers in the du Pont schools provide the source for a series of short films on African American history in Delaware. They feature recollections by four of the state's leading African Americans. In the Conversation with Littleton P. Mitchell: Civil Rights Warrior (2002, 9 minutes), the long-time president of the Delaware NAACP recalls several of his formative experiences with racial discrimination. In the Conversation with Jane E. Mitchell: African American Nurse (2003, 25 minutes), Mrs. Mitchell describes her experiences with segregation in Delaware's hospital system and her successful efforts to secure equal medical treatment for blacks. Through the Conversation with Rev. Maurice J. Moyer: Civil Rights Leader (2005, 20 minutes), the former president of the Wilmington NAACP recounts the civil rights protests in the early 1960s that ended discriminatory practices in housing and employment. In the Conversation with Dr. Eugene McGowan: African American School Psychologist and Community Leader (2008, 20 minutes) one of Delaware's leading black educators reflects on the impact of segregation and desegregation on black children, and recounts African American political empowerment efforts in the 1960s and 1970s.

Dr. Jeanne Nutter served as executive producer of the Conversation series films. They all were directed by Alonzo Crawford and edited by Kendrick Simmons, with funding from the Longwood Foundation, the Delaware Humanities Forum, Bloomfield College, the Gilliam Foundation, and the Hagley Museum and Library.

Videos

A Separate Place: The Schools P.S. du Pont Built (long version)

A Separate Place: The Schools P.S. du Pont Built (short version)

Conversation with Dr. Eugene McGowan: African American School Psychologist and Community Leader

Conversation with Jane E. Mitchell: African American Nurse

Conversation with Littleton P. Mitchell: Civil Rights Warrior