Springfield College Hosts Screening of Award-Winning Documentary | Springfield College

Springfield College Hosts Screening of Award-Winning Documentary

 

From left, Springfield College Communications/Sports Journalism Professor Martin Dobrow, and Mimi Jones, a lifelong civil rights advocate, who was involved in the most dramatic moment in the St. Augustine story, and filmaker Clennon King.

The Springfield College Division of Inclusion and Community Engagement presented a screening of the award-winning documentary, Passage at St. Augustine: A Bloody Battle for Civil Rights in America’s Oldest City, on Thursday, Feb. 4, 2016, in the Cleveland E. and Phyllis B. Dodge Room in the Flynn Campus Union.

The film provided a detailed account of the racial tension that was taking place in St. Augustine, Fla., in 1963-64.  Following the film, there was a panel discussion and question and answer segment with the audience that included filmmaker Clennon King, Springfield College Communications/Sports Journalism Professor Martin Dobrow, and Mimi Jones, a lifelong civil rights advocate, who was involved in the most dramatic moment in the St. Augustine story.

The film also took the viewers back to the days leading up to one of the most significant events in the history of Springfield College. On June 11, 1964, Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested for trying to order food at a whites-only restaurant in St. Augustine, and spent time in jail in Florida from June 11 through 13. On June 14, King was scheduled to deliver the commencement address at Springfield College, and thanks in large part to Springfield College President at the time Glenn A. Olds, King was able to deliver his speech on the campus.