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Henry Eugene Hampton Jr. (8 January 1940 – 22 November 1998) was an American
filmmaker Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...
. His production company, Blackside, Inc., produced over 80 programs—the most recognizable being the documentary ''
Eyes on the Prize ''Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Movement'' is an American television series documentary about the civil rights movement in the United States. The documentary originally aired on the PBS network, and it also aired in the United Kin ...
,'' which won six
Emmy Awards The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...
, the
Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Foster Peabody, George Peabody, honor what are described as the most powerful, enlightening, and in ...
, and was nominated for an
Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...
. Blackside became one of the largest minority-owned non-theatrical film production companies in the U.S. during the mid-1970s and until his death in the late 1990s.


Biography


Early life and education

Hampton was the son of
surgeon In medicine, a surgeon is a medical doctor who performs surgery. Even though there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon is a licensed physician and received the same medical training as physicians before spec ...
Henry Hampton Sr. and Julia Veva Hampton, raised in
Richmond Heights, Missouri Richmond Heights is a city in St. Louis County, Missouri. It is an inner-ring suburb of St. Louis, Missouri, United States. The United States census shows the population grew from 8,603 in 2010 to 9,286 in 2020. According to Robert L. Ramsay, th ...
, a suburb adjacent to the western edge of
St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...
. Henry lived on the eastern edge of an all-black
working class The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...
community. His family converted to
Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
after St Louis Archbishop
Joseph Ritter Joseph Elmer Ritter (July 20, 1892 – June 10, 1967) was an American Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of St. Louis from 1946 until his death in 1967. He was created a cardinal in 1961. He previously served as auxiliary bishop (1933â ...
led desegregation efforts in the region. Hampton attended Little Flower School and later the
Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
'
St. Louis University High School St. Louis University High School (SLUH) is an all-male Jesuit high school in St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1818, it is the oldest secondary educational institution in the United States west of the Mississippi River, and one of the largest pri ...
and the
College of the Holy Cross The College of the Holy Cross is a private Jesuit liberal arts college in Worcester, Massachusetts, United States. It was founded by educators Benedict Joseph Fenwick and Thomas F. Mulledy in 1843 under the auspices of the Society of Jesus. ...
, before studying literature at
Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) is a private research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1853 by a group of civic leaders and named for George Washington, the university spans 355 acres across its Danforth ...
. He graduated from Wash U in 1961. Hampton attended
medical school A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, professional school, or forms a part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, ...
for a term at
McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...
in
Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
,
Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...
, before dropping out.


Career

In 1965, while working for the Unitarian church as information director, Hampton went to
Selma, Alabama Selma is a city in and the county seat of Dallas County, in the Black Belt region of south central Alabama and extending to the west. Located on the banks of the Alabama River, the city has a population of 17,971 as of the 2020 census. Abou ...
, to participate in the Selma Marches (flying down on the same plane as
James Reeb James Joseph Reeb (January 1, 1927 – March 11, 1965) was an American Unitarian Universalist minister, pastor, and activist during the civil rights movement in Washington, D.C., and Boston, Massachusetts. While participating in the Selma t ...
, the UU minister who would later be murdered during his trip). The marches changed Hampton's life, as he recognized the power of media and television and began to conceptualize a film documenting the Civil Rights Movement. Three years later, in 1968 (while living in
Roxbury, Boston Roxbury () is a Neighborhoods in Boston, neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Roxbury is a Municipal annexation in the United States, dissolved municipality and one of 23 official neighborhoods of Boston used by the city for ne ...
), he founded Blackside, Inc., which offered "special expertise in the design and production of film and audio-visual products aimed at minority audiences."A Different Way of Communicating; A Blackside publicity booklet (1974), in the Henry Hampton Collection, Washington University Film & Media Archive It became one of the largest minority-owned non-theatrical film production companies in the U.S. during the mid-1970s and until his death in the late 1990s. Hampton and his company produced over 80 programs including
documentaries A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". The American author and media analyst Bill ...
,
television spots A television advertisement (also called a commercial, spot, break, advert, or ad) is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization. It conveys a message promoting, and aiming to market, a product, service or idea. ...
, and other media productions. Blackside's primary business between 1968 and 1979 was the production of films, television and radio spots, television programming, and audio-visual educational packages. Blackside also produced public service announcements and film-based training materials for government and commercial clients. In 1977, the
Harvard School of Design The Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) is the graduate school of design at Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It offers master's and doctoral programs in architecture, landscape architecture, urban ...
granted Hampton a Loeb Fellowship to study constitutional limitations and the nature of media and government information programs. His studies focused on consumers' and citizens' rights to information. Hampton made a commitment to social justice with later productions, including his 1987 magnum opus ''
Eyes on the Prize ''Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Movement'' is an American television series documentary about the civil rights movement in the United States. The documentary originally aired on the PBS network, and it also aired in the United Kin ...
: America's Civil Rights Years (1954–1965)''. He followed this with a series of pieces, including ''Eyes on the Prize II: America at the Racial Crossroads 1965–mid 1980s''; ''The Great Depression'' (1993); '' Malcolm X: Make It Plain'' (1994); ''America's War on Poverty'' (1995); ''Breakthrough: The Changing Face of Science in America'' (1997); ''I'll Make Me a World: A Century of African-American Arts'' (1999); ''Hopes on the Horizon: Africa in the 1990s'' (2001); ''This Far by Faith: African American Spiritual Journeys'' (2003). He returned to WashU in 1989 to deliver the
commencement speech In the United States, a commencement speech or commencement address is a speech given to graduating students, generally at a university, although the term is also used for secondary education institutions and in similar institutions around the ...
.


Health issues and death

Hampton had contracted
polio Poliomyelitis ( ), commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 75% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe ...
as a child. In his later years, he had
lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...
, the treatment for which led to
myelodysplastic syndrome A myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) is one of a group of cancers in which blood cells in the bone marrow do not mature, and as a result, do not develop into healthy blood cells. Early on, no symptoms typically are seen. Later, symptoms may includ ...
. He died at
Brigham and Women's Hospital Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH or The Brigham) is a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School and the largest hospital in the Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Along with Massachusetts General Hospital, it is one of the two ...
on November 22, 1998.


Legacy

Hampton's film archive is held by the Washington University Film & Media Archive in St. Louis, Missouri. In addition to Hampton's films, the collection contains all of the elements that went into the production process such as interviews, stock footage, photographs, research, producer notes, scripts, and Hampton's personal papers.


Honorary degrees

He was the recipient of over 10
honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...
s including an Honorary Doctorate of Humanities from his alma mater (1989);
St. Louis University Saint Louis University (SLU) is a private Jesuit research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1818 by Louis William Valentine DuBourg, it is the oldest university west of the Mississippi River and one of the oldest ...
(1988); Doctor of Arts,
Northeastern University Northeastern University (NU or NEU) is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was founded by the Boston Young Men's Christian Association in 1898 as an all-male instit ...
(1988);
Suffolk University Suffolk University is a private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. With 7,560 students on all campuses, it is the List of colleges and universities in metropolitan Boston, tenth-largest university ...
(1988);
Bridgewater State College Bridgewater State University is a public university with its main campus in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, United States. It is the largest of nine state universities in Massachusetts. Including its off-campus sites in New Bedford, Attleboro, and ...
(1989);
Brandeis University Brandeis University () is a Private university, private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. It is located within the Greater Boston area. Founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian, non-sectarian, coeducational university, Bra ...
(1993);
Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...
(1993);
Emerson College Emerson College is a private college in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It also maintains campuses in Los Angeles and Well, Limburg, Netherlands (Kasteel Well). Founded in 1880 by Charles Wesley Emerson as a "school of Public Speaking, o ...
(1995); Lincoln University (1996) and
Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university in Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts, United States, with additional facilities in Boston and Grafton, as well as Talloires, France. Tufts also has several Doctor of Physical Therapy p ...
(1996).


Awards

Hampton and Blackside won many major awards in television broadcasting. They were recognized by organizations in the fields of journalism, history, and the arts. *7
Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...
s *One
Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...
nomination *
George Foster Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Peabody, honor what are described as the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in ...
s (multiple) * Ralph Lowell Award For Outstanding Contribution to Public Television(1993) *The first Harold C. Fleming Award for "a lifetime of service in the field of political participation and community education against hatred in politics." (1994). *The 1st Annual
Heinz Award The Heinz Awards are individual achievement honors given annually by the Heinz Foundations, Heinz Family Foundation. The Heinz Awards each year recognize outstanding individuals for their innovative contributions in three areas: the Arts, the Eco ...
in the Arts and Humanities (1995)The Heinz Awards, Henry Hampton profile
/ref> *
International Documentary Association International Documentary Association (IDA), founded in 1982, is a non-profit 501(c)(3) that promotes nonfiction filmmakers, and is dedicated to increasing public awareness for the documentary genre. Their major program areas are: Advocacy, Film ...
Career Achievement Award *
Erik Barnouw Award The Erik Barnouw Award—also known as the OAH Erik Barnouw Award—is named after the late Erik Barnouw, a Columbia University historian and professor who was a specialist in mass media. The OAH -- Organization of American Historians -- gives one o ...
, Organization of American Historians * John Stoneman Rena Award, Outstanding contributions to the motion picture industry *The DuPont Columbia Award, Excellence in Broadcast Journalism (multiple) * Edward R. Murrow Brotherhood Award *
Who's Who in America Marquis Who's Who, also known as A.N. Marquis Company ( or ), is an American publisher of a number of directories containing short biographies. The books usually are entitled ''Who's Who in...'' followed by some subject, such as ''Who's Who in A ...
: Fifty-second Edition *African-American Achievement Award, City of Boston, For Excellence in the Arts * PBS Salute, Prism Award: Lifetime of Achievement award


Filmography

*''America's War on Poverty'' (5-part series) *''Boston Black United Front'' *''Breakthrough: The Changing Face of Science in America'' (6-part series) *''Code Blue'' *''Crisis to Crisis: Voices of a Divided City'' *''Easy Street'' *''
Eyes on the Prize ''Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Movement'' is an American television series documentary about the civil rights movement in the United States. The documentary originally aired on the PBS network, and it also aired in the United Kin ...
'' (14-part series) **''Eyes on the Prize I: America's Civil Rights Years 1954-1965'' **''Eyes on the Prize II: America at the Racial Crossroads 1965-1985'' *''The Great Depression'' (7-part series) *''Head Start to Confidence'' *''Hopes on the Horizon: Africa in the 1990s'' *''I'll Make Me A World: A Century of African American Arts'' (6-part series) *''In Search of Help: Welfare or Survivor's Benefits'' *''Kinfolks'' *'' Malcolm X: Make It Plain'' *''This Far By Faith: African American Spiritual Journeys'' (6-part series) *''Reorganizing the Nation's Hospitals'' (1975)


Organizations

In addition to his work with Blackside Inc., Hampton was involved in a number of other organizations, including: * Museum of Afro-American History in Boston, Chair of the Board. *
Children's Defense Fund The Children's Defense Fund (CDF) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that focuses on child advocacy and research. It was founded in 1973 by Marian Wright Edelman. History The CDF was founded in 1973, ci ...
, board member. *
Boston Center for the Arts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and financial center of New England, a region of the Northeastern United States. It has an area of and a ...
, board member. *
Beacon Press Beacon Press is an American left-wing non-profit book publisher. Founded in 1854 by the American Unitarian Association, it is currently a department of the Unitarian Universalist Association. It is known for publishing authors such as Jame ...
, Advisory Board. *
Unitarian Universalist Association Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) is a liberal religious association of Unitarian Universalism, Unitarian Universalist congregations. It was formed in 1961 by the consolidation of the American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Ch ...
, Director of Information (1963–1968).


Notes


External links


Blackside Film & Video Production


*

* ttp://www.fundfilm.org/resources/TributeHenry.htm A Tribute to Henry Hampton(By Andrea L. Taylor)
PBS BreakThrough Bio

African American Registry: Henry Hampton
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hampton, Henry 1940 births 1998 deaths African-American film directors American documentary film directors Harvard Graduate School of Design alumni National Humanities Medal recipients Washington University in St. Louis alumni African-American Catholics Emmy Award winners Peabody Award winners Polio survivors College of the Holy Cross alumni