William Penn Alumnus Co-produces and Appears in Documentary about Racial Harmony in Iowa.
Mt. Zion Baptist Church Buxton (photo courtesy The African American Museum of Iowa)
“Searching for Buxton” to air on Iowa Public Television
February 10th.
(Oskaloosa, Iowa) A documentary about racial harmony in Iowa called, “Searching for Buxton”, is scheduled to air on Iowa Public Television February 10, 2011 at 8:30 p.m. It features William Penn alumnus, Jason Madison, who also helped produce the piece in conjunction with the Communication Research Institute of William Penn University (CRI). Opera star and Iowa native, Simon Estes, narrates the story. His father was a coal miner.
Madison’s relatives lived in Buxton, a once-bustling coal-mining town south of Oskaloosa. Buxton thrived around the turn of the 20th century. The coal industry in southern Iowa was common at the time. But racial harmony set Buxton apart, not just in Iowa but also across the country. African Americans and whites lived on equal terms professionally and socially. Madison’s grandmother and great- aunt lived in Buxton as young children. It wasn’t until they moved to Des Moines they realized their life in Buxton as African Americans was different than anywhere else. As a former journalism student at William Penn, Madison began to ask questions about his background. He uncovered his family’s personal story now preserved in a thirty-minute documentary.
CRI Oskaloosa
Madison is a graduate student at William Penn and works at the Communication Research Institute of William Penn University as a sports reporter, anchor, and producer. The Communication Research Institute is an experimental community television production house. The goal of the organization is to provide intensive local coverage of city government and other community events. Marc Rosenwasser, president of CRI, and former executive producer of “Worldfocus” on public television, produced “Searching for Buxton” with Madison, along with Jacob Rosdail, another Communication Research Institute producer.
The Digital Communication Program at William Penn University is hosting a screening of “Searching for Buxton” as it airs on Iowa Public Television, February 10th, at 8:30 p.m. Students, faculty, staff, the media, and the public are invited to watch the story in the atrium of the Musco Technology Center on the William Penn campus. Again, the program begins on IPTV at 8:30 p.m. All are encouraged to arrive by 8:00 p.m. to get a seat and enjoy refreshments. A short program begins at 8:15 p.m. that will include a welcome by Dr. Ann Fields, president of William Penn University.
You can see the page for this program set to air tomorrow on Iowa Public Television HERE.
