University Libraries receives NEH grant to digitize ‘Eyes on the Prize’ interviews

Harry Belafonte is one of the many civil rights leaders who was interviewed for “Eyes on the Prize II: America at the Racial Crossroads 1965-1985.”

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has awarded a  $226,392 grant to Washington University Libraries’ Film & Media Archive to fund the Eyes on the Prize IIInterview Digitization and Dissemination Project.

The project will digitize 106 hours from the original 16 mm camera negatives of 182 interviews conducted in the production of Eyes on the Prize II: America at the Racial Crossroads 1965-1985, the second half of the seminal documentary series that chronicles the civil rights movement.

“We are so excited to finally make the complete interviews from ‘Eyes II’ fully accessible and freely available,” said Nadia Ghasedi, associate university librarian for Special Collections Services. “There are hours of never-before-seen footage within these interviews that are significant to the cultural and historical record. We are grateful to the NEH for funding this important project.”

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