In the summer of 1955, five school board members and theirsuperintendent voted unanimously to integrate the school system ofHoxie, Ark., located northwest of Memphis in Lawrence County.
Forty-nine years later, University of Memphis professor DavidAppleby brought attention to the little-known city and itsstrong-willed pursuit of equality, and next month, Appleby will beawarded electronic media's highest honor for his documentary Hoxie:The First Stand.
"The Peabody Award is to electronic media what the PulitzerPrize is to print. It recognizes the best of the best across allgenres," Appleby said.
Appleby's film took six years to complete and follows Hoxie'sstruggle against segregationist leaders set on challenging theSupreme Court decision that "separate educational facilities areinherently unequal."
Appleb and 28 other Peabody Award winning individuals andorganizations will be honored on May 17 at the Waldorf-Astoria inNew York for their achievements in broadcast and cable, among othermedia.
Other awardees include NBC News for A Question of Fairness, TomBrokaw's look at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor'scontroversial affirmative action policy; and CBS for 60 Minutes:All in the Family, which profiled abuses of power by government andmilitary contractors.
"For a film produced by an independent regional university toreceive (a Peabody award) is extraordinary," Appleby said.
Richard Ranta, dean of the Colleg of Communication and Fine artssaid the award is great for The University on a national scale.
"This goes beyond the confines of Memphis by a long shot," Rantasaid. "It accents the already fine film and TV area in thecommunications department."
Hoxie: The First Stand, has aired locally on PBS and will airnationally a number of times over the next three years, Applebysaid.
"It's also being used by many cities across the country tocommemorate the 50th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Educationdecision.
