Chapter 19: Documentary Film Coverage
The centennial commemoration offered new media platforms for exploring the history of the Ocoee Massacre, race, and access to the election process. The digital availability of contemporary documents, official reports, and 1920 newspaper accounts and images placed the means of studying the event in the hands of everyone with internet access. Television stations, podcasters, documentary filmmakers, scholars, and independent researchers took advantage of their access to the historical resources to explore the history of the Ocoee Massacre and post their findings. These studies have been collected here for your convenience and in the hope that they will continue to spark conversations on race and the election process.
WFTV Channel 9
“WFTV tells the Ocoee Massacre story through its documentary that premiered on Eyewitness News, Nov. 1, 2020, one day before the 100th anniversary of the event. WFTV journalists spent hours interviewing more than two dozen individuals impacted directly or indirectly by the Ocoee Massacre.
Many of the records related to the Ocoee Massacre don’t exist or have been purged. Our team relied on oral history, historical documents obtained from historians, researchers and community members. They have pushed to tell the story for decades, but no one would listen. It’s an episode painful to study, but at a time when our nation still struggles with its racial identity, it is perhaps one too dangerous to ignore one century later.”
“The Ocoee Massacre: A Documentary Film” (November 1, 2020)
“Why We Produced the Ocoee Massacre Story” (November 2, 2020)
“Ocoee Massacre Podcast” (October 23 – November 2, 2020)
“Ocoee city leadership sign formal apology over Ocoee Massacre” (November 3, 2020)
WFTV Channel 9 Exhibit
Panel 1: Landing Page
Panel 2: Fruit of Opportunity
Panel 3: Election Day 1920
Panel 4: Julius ‘July’ Perry
Panel 5: None of Them Tried to Stay
Panel 6: Stolen Land
Panel 7: Sundown Town
Panel 8: Century Without Closure
Other documentary film coverage
Action News Jax:
“Never Forget: Ocoee Massacre 100 Years Later” (November 2, 2020)
Fox 35 Orlando:
“Remembering the Ocoee Massacre 100 Years Later” (November 2, 2020)
University of Central Florida:
“The Ocoee Massacre: The Truth Laid Bare” (November 2, 2020)
University of Illinois Springfield:
“PAR Alumni Spotlight: Daralene Jones helps reveal truth of Ocoee Massacre” (December 15, 2020)
Vimeo:
“Legal Connections Special | Discussions Regarding the Ocoee Massacre” (December 11, 2020)
WESH 2 News:
“Ocoee Massacre: 100 years later” (November 2, 2020)
WFLA News Channel 8:
“Florida’s Ocoee Massacre: The deadliest election day in American history” (October 30, 2020)
WBRL:
Podcast coverage
Full Rigor with Karen Curtis (podcast):
RICHES Podcast Documentaries:
RICHES Podcast Documentaries, Episode 2: The Legacy of the Ocoee Riot (February 1, 2011)
Zoom in on a FRESH Conversation:
