Documentary Shorts Produced as Part of 'Anytown, USA' Project at Duke University's Center for Documentary Studies
Bird In Hand/Más Vale Pájaro en Mano Que Cien Volando (2015)
The wrecked economy of Robbins isn’t going to be easy to revive. The town has only 1,000 residents, but it’s managed to lose more than 1,200 jobs over the last few decades. The water plant is closed, the downtown buildings mostly empty, and the mill that once formed the backdrop for much of Robbins life lies in a heap of bricks and burned timbers that the town can’t afford to clean up. Anchoring the mostly empty northern end of a county famous for the golf resorts and million-dollar homes located 26 miles to the south, the town is invisible to government planners. If the residents of Robbins want to bring the town back, they’ll have to do it themselves.
Trace: Town Creek Indian Mound and the Rise of Scientific Archaeology in North Carolina (2018)
When a student archaeologist was dropped off in a Montgomery County cotton field in 1937 to investigate a problematic Indian mound, there’s no way he could have known the project would last 50 years. Joffre Lanning Coe would develop academic archaeology in North Carolina and establish the state’s only historical site dedicated to archaeology at Town Creek. But just down the road, a town doctor was busy becoming one of the most prolific artifact collectors of his generation.
Other Examples of Video STORYTELLING
Uncle Eli's Quilting Party
Every spring, on the first Thursday in April, folks gather in the tiny community of Eli Whitney, North Carolina, to look at quilts, trade stories, and share a meal. The event, known as Uncle Eli’s Quilting Party, was the brainchild of high school principal Ernest Dixon, who in 1931 wanted the school to be a gathering place for the entire community. 80 women attended the first party in Eli Whitney’s high school auditorium, and 13 quilts were completed. 84 years later, Uncle Eli’s Quilting Party is the oldest quilting event in the country.
State Library Opens to Borrowing
For the first time in its 200-year history, the Government & Heritage Library at the State Library of North Carolina is issuing library cards to state residents and letting them take home books and other items from its extensive historical collection. The new service began Sept. 1 after state librarians worked with the Office of Administrative Hearings for about a year to update the N.C. Administrative Code, which governs the library's operations. (Clifton Dowell, NCInsider.com)
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Russian Meteorite Lands Locally
Bits and pieces of the asteroid that exploded over a Russian city last year have finally settled in Raleigh, arriving at the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences just in time for this weekend's Astronomy Days celebration Jan. 25-26, 2014. While it may not be the most significant space rock ever to crash into Earth -- check with the dinosaurs on that -- the so-called "Chelyabinsk fireball" might well be the most famous.