Deborah Douglas, Curator of Science and Technology, MIT Museum
| Jan/16 | Mon | 02:00PM-04:00PM | 6-120 |
Enrollment: For MIT community only; RSVP required to ddouglas@mit.edu
November Actions is a detailed depiction of a distinctive and significant campus protest incident at MIT in the fall of 1969. Produced by Richard Leacock, a well-known, innovative documentary filmmaker and former MIT professor, it is, arguably, the most important film ever produced about MIT. Few have ever seen it because shortly after completing the rough cut, Leacock found an anonymous note suggesting he was a “lackey” of the administration. In 1994, Professor Glorianna Davenport transferred the large collection of November Actions negatives, work prints, rough cuts and sound tracks to the MIT Museum. In 2010, when the MIT Museum was preparing its major MIT150 Exhibition, Davenport and another Leacock student and colleague, Brian Bradley proposed the idea of restoring the work. It was a spectacular idea but even better because Leacock himself agreed to allow them to finish the film for release. Lacking funding, the Museum prepared four short excerpts that were included in the exhibition. The MIT Museum has now secured the funds to complete the project and has plans to premier a “finished” version this June. Open to members of the MIT community only, including spouses & partners and alumni, this pre-screening is a unique opportunity see an extremely rare museum artifact depicting firsthand a very dramatic moment in both MIT’s and U.S. history.
Sponsor(s): MIT Museum, Science, Technology, and Society
Contact: Deborah Douglas, N51 (MIT Museum), 617-253-1766, ddouglas@mit.edu