Preserving the Interviews with African American Athletes in William Miles’ ‘Black Champions’ (1986)

William Miles’ 1986 three-part TV program Black Champions is a classic of the sports documentary genre, partially for its interview with African American athletes, and American heroes, including Althea Gibson, Curt Flood, Jim Brown, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Wilma Rudolph.  While the original series is, unfortunately, difficult to see, the Washington University Libraries has preserved the full-length versions of the thirty-two interviews from the series and made them accessible online, thanks to a grant from the National Historic Publications & Records Commission.

This event will discuss the process of conserving and digitizing these thirty-four-years-old film reels, play a variety of clips from the interviews, and discuss the documentary work of Mr. Miles and the importance of Black Champions.

Free and open to all, pre-registration required.

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