Adam Clayton Powell III

The Disappearance of Miss Scott chronicles Hazel Scott’s meteoric rise as a jazz talent and major Hollywood star before being blacklisted during the Red Scare.

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Inspired by the critically acclaimed Hollywood film The Great Debaters, The Real Great Debaters of Wiley College unveils the true story of Wiley College’s 1935 debate team and their groundbreaking defeat of the all-white reigning national championship debate team at the University of Southern California. Shattering racial stereotypes and overcoming adversity against great odds, these courageous young debaters emerged triumphant, commanding not only the respect of their peers... but of the nation. Influenced by their coach Melvin B. Tolson, the Wiley College debaters would go on to devote their talents to the causes of civil justice and social progress and become leaders in the Civil Rights Movement. The film comes full-circle, as the legacies of The Great Debaters inspire Wiley’s new debate team as it seeks to reclaim its glory on the national stage.

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A look at the confluence of the Red Scare, McCarthyism, and blacklists with the post-war activism by African Americans seeking more and better roles on radio, television, and stage. It begins in Harlem, measures the impact of Paul Robeson and the campaign to bring him down, looks at the role of HUAC, J. Edgar Hoover and of journalists such as Ed Sullivan, and ends with a tribute to Canada Lee. Throughout are interviews with men and women who were there, including Dick Campbell of the Rose McLendon Players and Fredrick O'Neal of the American Negro Theatre. In the 1940s and 1950s, anti-Communism was one more tool to maintain Jim Crow and to keep down African-Americans.

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