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New York Divided: Slavery, the Civil War and King Cotton cover image

New York Divided: Slavery, the Civil War and King Cotton 2007

Not Recommended

Distributed by Films Media Group, PO Box 2053, Princeton, New Jersey 08543-2053; 800-257-5126
Produced by McNeil/Leher Productions
Directed by Jim Lehrer
DVD, color, 11 min.



Jr. High - Adult
History, African American Studies

Date Entered: 10/26/2007

Reviewed by Patricia B. McGee, Coordinator of Media Services, Volpe Library & Media Center, Tennessee Technological University

This brief film is a video interview originally broadcast by the McNeil/Lehrer News Hour. News Hour reporter Gwen Ifill interviewed James Oliver Horton, the historian of the New York Historical Society’s exhibit New York Divided: Slavery, the Civil War and King Cotton. Much of the content consists of Horton's exegesis of New York's role in the cotton trade interspersed with still shots from the exhibit and some moving footage of students viewing the exhibit. While not denying the importance of New York to the slave economy, this video is simply neither interesting nor a useful resource for either schools or libraries. Not recommended.