Rare film on Mather School to be shown in Atlanta

The film, which was originally used by Mather officials to raise money for the school, was discovered two years ago by an intern who was helping combine the archives of the Atlanta-based American Baptist Historical Society. It will be shown Friday night at Mercer University.

Discovery of the film is important, in part, because it documents a slice of African-American and Southern history.

"We're concerned that this type of film was in danger of being lost," said Deborah Van Broekhoven, executive director of the American Baptist Historical Society, which was founded in 1853 and contains an extensive collection of books, documents and films about the Baptist denomination. It contains one of the largest collections of African-American Baptist records from the 19th and early 20th centuries, including records of educational institutions founded by Baptists of all varieties.

The ABHS was awarded a $4,000 grant from the National Film Preservation Foundation in San Francisco to preserve the film and create a digital master so other copies could be made.

After the film's showing, there will be a panel discussion and reception, co-sponsored by Mercer.

Panelists include Heidi Holmstrom, the intern who found the footage and who is now a motion picture preservation specialist at the National Archives; Lawrence Carter, dean of the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel at Morehouse College; the Rev. David Laubach, associate executive director for higher education ministries for the American Baptist Home Mission Societies; and Randall Burkett, curator of African-American Collections in the Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library at Emory University.

Holmstrom said "Good News" represents the type of film that was produced by different denominations to promote the work of the denomination and individual churches. They "were often available through film libraries operated by churches and had limited shelf life," she said. "People always wanted to see new things that churches were doing, so a lot of films were taken out of circulation or discarded."

It's unclear whether the film's main character is really named Jackson or a single student or a composite of several students. The school began as a boarding school for black women, later admitting men in the 1950s. It closed in 1968 as the Mather School.

Van Broekhoven hopes that the film, which features mostly real people, will stir a few memories. They hope to collect the oral histories of students who may recognize themselves or the relatives of people who attended the school. The school was initially founded in partnership with the American Missionary Association and then,  from 1882 until 1968, with the support of the Woman's American Baptist Home Mission Society.

According to the grant application, the film shows Jackson and other students in their classes including science, Bible, home economics and beauty culture, which includes instruction in hair-straightening techniques. Jackson runs out of money and baby-sits and tends chickens in order to complete the school year. The title comes from news that Jackson receives that an anonymous donor has sent scholarship money to pay for her education.

The property that was once home to the Mather School is now part of the Technical College of the Lowcountry. Four buildings from the Mather School still stand on the  Beaufort campus.

Each February, the Technical College of the Lowcountry hosts Mather Day, a reunion for Mather alumni to come to the campus, reconnect and ring the Mather Bell.

Movie

What: Showing of the short film "Good News"

When: 7 p.m. Friday

Where: Atlanta Administration & Conference Center at Mercer University, 2930 Flowers Road S., Atlanta

Cost: Free