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Lot # 943: The Story of Jackie Robinson Film, w/Letter

Starting Bid: $200.00

Bids: 0 (Bid History)

Time Left: Auction closed
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Item was in Auction "Spring Classic 2022",
which ran from 5/20/2022 7:00 PM to
6/11/2022 10:00 PM



Offered is a short movie film of The Jackie Robinson Story. The circa 1959 film is from Screen News Digest and produced by Hearst Metronome News. The film reel has a diameter of approximately 9.5", and it has a running time of 14 minutes. Rather than this item being the full-length movie by the same name, this film is apparently an educational film. The film canister reads, in part, "Celebrating 25 years of living history in the classroom". Apparently, the film was intended for instructional use. Along with the film is a fundraising letter, dated December 15, 1959, sent from the African- American Students Foundation, Inc. which solicitating funds to bring students from Africa to study in the United States. The letter mentions a Project Airlift, which was intended to charter three aircraft to bring 243 students to New York in the fall of 1960., and the Foundation was seeking to raise $121,500 to transport the students The fundraising letter is addressed to a Miss Kennedy. The letter has three facsimile signatures at the bottom, each of an iconic celebrity affiliated with the foundation. The letter has a not, written in pencil, which could be addressed to "Jem". There follows an unsigned handwritten notation on the letter reading," Would some of these students be good on T. V[.]?" The facsimile signatures are from: Jackie Robinson, the Hall of Fame player who broke baseball's color line; singer, actor and civil rights activist Harry Belafonte; and actor and civil rights activist Sidney Poitier. The film appears to be in good condition. The item offers a tangible remembrance of the civil rights educational work of three American icons.

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