Campus News

New ‘Peabody Decades’ series to explore UGA archives collection

The George Foster Peabody Awards and the Peabody Collection at UGA will launch “The Peabody Decades,” a series of screenings from the archives, this semester.

Each month will highlight a different decade, with the first screening featuring a montage of historical clips compiled from television and radio programs from the archives, and the second screening featuring a full-length movie from the decade.

“The Peabody Decades” screenings will be held at 7 p.m. in the auditorium of the Richard B. Russell Building Special Collections Libraries. The series kicks off Sept. 10 with 1940s-themed refreshments at 6:30 p.m. and viewings at 7 p.m. Themed “America in the 1940s: More than the Home Front,” the presentations will include children’s programs, news stories and public service programming from throughout the decade to paint a fuller picture of the World War II era.

The Sept. 24 screening will showcase The Tuskegee Airmen, a Peabody Award-winning made-for-TV movie about the black aviators who overcame racism to become the “Fighting 99th,” the first squadron of African-American fighter pilots in World War II.

With the exception of December, “The Peabody Decades” will proceed chronologically, twice monthly, through spring 2014. The complete schedule will be announced at a later date.

The October screenings (Oct. 8 and 22) will address the 1950s and the November screenings (Nov. 5 and 19) will look at the 1960s.

The 1950s montage on Oct. 8 will include episodes or excerpts from Edward R. Murrow’s See It Now, The Ed Sullivan Show and the early sitcom Mr. Peepers. On Oct. 22, the featured movie will be Requiem for a Heavyweight, the original live-TV version of Rod Serling’s drama, starring Jack Palance as an aging boxer on the ropes.

All screenings are open to the general public. Evening event parking will be available in UGA’s Hull Street Parking Deck.