New College Hosts PBS Documentary, “Sisters of Selma,” on February 17
Panel discussion participants include film’s director, a sister of Selma, and film researcher Dr. Greg Hite, a New College religion professor

(February 9, 2007) - New College of Florida is pleased to announce a screening of the new PBS documentary film, “Sisters of Selma: Bearing Witness for Change” on Saturday, February 17 at 7 pm at Sainer Auditorium, 5313 Bay Shore Road in Sarasota. The event is free and open to the public; advance reservations are not necessary.

The one-hour film will be followed by a panel discussion featuring Jayasri Majumdar Hart, the film’s director; Sister Roberta Schmidt, a nun who marched in the Selma voting rights protests; and Gregory Hite, visiting assistant professor of religion at New College of Florida. Sr. Schmidt is currently Director of Education for the Diocese of Venice, FL. Professor Hite was a senior research associate on the film.

The film is being shown on local and national PBS affiliates during February in honor of Black History Month.

The backdrop for “Sisters of Selma” is the turbulence of the American Civil Rights Movement. For decades, local laws had all but prevented Blacks from voting. Those who did venture to protest often faced harassment--even death. Black Selmians, supported by Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., decided to march to the state capital of Montgomery to draw attention to their plight. On a Sunday in early spring in 1965, dozens of peaceful protesters on their way out of the city were brutally beaten back by state troopers and the sheriff's posse on horseback. The violence of "Bloody Sunday" stunned Americans, focusing nationwide attention on civil rights.

Shortly afterwards, Catholic sisters from around the country followed their faith to join the voting rights protests in Selma. A group of American nuns from St. Louis were among the first to protest the violence. At a time when many church leaders were reluctant to address the treatment of Blacks in the South, these courageous women defied authority--and a long history of simply praying for causes--to take their message to the streets of Selma. The Missouri sisters were welcomed by Selma’s Black residents. This was due in large part to the decades of bridge-building by sisters from Rochester, New York who had met the education and health care needs of the poor Blacks of Selma. The Archbishop of Mobile-Birmingham had prohibited them from joining the marches, so they fed, housed, and cared for waves of civil rights activists from elsewhere. Never before in American history had avowed Catholic women made so public a political statement.

In 2003, director Jayasri Hart reunited the nuns to view themselves and the protests on tape for the fist time. In her powerful, affirming story of faith and justice, the nuns –now in their 60’s and 70’s-- reassess their roles in the Civil Rights Movement and Selmians, Catholic and Protestant, offer their views on the nuns’ contributions to history.

Gregory Hite, assistant professor of religion at New College since 2004, wrote his dissertation, “The Hottest Places in Hell: Catholics and Civil Rights in Selma, Alabama,” on these events. His research chronicles the role that Catholics played in the Voting Rights Movement in the city from 1937 to 1965, as well as the involvement of national Catholic groups in promoting interracial justice in the church and society. His manuscript provided a historical framework for much of the film. Professor Hite specializes in modern American religious history and holds a Ph.D. from the University of Virginia.

“Sisters of Selma” is a co-production of Hartfilms and Alabama Public Television. Major funding was provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

For more information on New College of Florida, contact the Office of Public Affairs at (941) 487-4150 or email publicaffairs@ncf.edu.