Black History Month 2022
Project Overview
“Our Story” is a documentary series that endeavors to capture and explore the triumphs and struggles of African American life. Our rich heritage, intriguing history, and captivating stories must be told to this and other generations.
This year’s “Our Story” explores African American homeownership and how America's housing system has undermined wealth building, success and the well being of the family in the African American community and how that cycle of housing displacement, exclusion, and segregation, can be broken for future generations.
When completed the documentary film, “Our Story:Home Sweet Home,” will be broadcast on local television as well as featured in a temporary exhibit at The William V. Banks Broadcast Museum & Media Center while serving as a marketing and fundraising tool for The William V. Banks Broadcast Museum & Media Center.
The Documentary Film
This year’s “Our Story” explores African American homeownership and how America's housing system has undermined wealth building, success and the well being of the family in the African American community and how that cycle of housing displacement, exclusion, and segregation, can be broken for future generations.
When completed the documentary film, “Our Story:Home Sweet Home,” will be broadcast on local television as well as featured in a temporary exhibit at The William V. Banks Broadcast Museum & Media Center while serving as a marketing and fundraising tool for The William V. Banks Broadcast Museum & Media Center.
The Museum
On June 14, 1973 the Federal Communications Commission in a unanimous vote granted a permit to operate the television UHF channel 62 in Detroit.
That action paved the way for WGPR-TV Channel 62 to become the first African American owned television station in the country when it went on the air on September 29th, 1975; then President Gerald Ford sent a statement of congratulations.
The William V. Banks Broadcast Museum is the first exhibition on the history of WGPR-TV62 the first African American owned and operated television station in the United States.
It is hoped the exhibit will build awareness and greater understanding of WGPR’s place in Detroit and broadcast history.
The exhibit focuses its lens on interconnected themes that chronicle the origins and influence of WGPR. Videos, oral histories and artifacts bring a dynamic ingredient to the station’s history.
The museum is housed within the original studios of WGPR-TV62 located at 3146 East Jefferson in Detroit, where visitors from around the nation and all over the world come to learn the history of the station, its founders, TV personalities, locally produced programming and industry innovations.
Interact with hands-on displays of technical equipment including studio cameras and ENG cameras and tape decks. View visual segments of programming, including The Scene.
Explore the history of WGPR-TV and 107.5FM in colorful story panels, videos, memorabilia and interactive displays. The museum is organized around themes that chronicle the origins and influence of WGPR.
Opportunity
Your support of The WGPR-TV Historical Society, a registered 501 (3)(c) non-profit, will ensure the completion of the Our Story documentary, museum exhibit and ongoing museum operation.
The Our Story project has three key elements
- Premier showing at the William V. Banks Broadcast Museum & Media Center
- Broadcast on local television
- Exhibited at The William V. Banks Broadcast Museum & Media Center
For more information please download our project: one sheet, full project proposal (PDF) or full iBook proposal with video