Betsy Newman
Betsy Newman is a documentary filmmaker and web content developer at SCETV, where she has produced more than a dozen documentaries and two immersive interactive websites. Her films have been broadcast nationally and have won a Telly, a CINE Golden Eagle Award and a Southeast EMMY. For more than a decade she was Co-National Coordinator of the U.S. Office of the International Public Television Conference (INPUT). In 2016 she received the South Carolina Governor's Award in the Humanities. She has written numerous successful proposals to state humanities councils and has been awarded several grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, including for Reconstruction 360 (www.reconstruction360.org) and Between the Waters: Hobcaw Barony Website Project (www.betweenthewaters.org).
Stories
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The First Vote - Returning Voter | Reconstruction 360
August 14, 2023This man is one of the few African Americans who has already cast a ballot. In 1865, shortly before the end of the Civil War, a group of about a thousand Black men in Norfolk, Virginia formed the Colored Monitor Union Club. When a local election was held about a month later... -
The First Vote - Ballot Box | Reconstruction 360
August 07, 2023A New York music store owner named Samuel C. Jollie created a glass ballot box, bringing literal transparency to the voting process. Voters inserted ballots through a small hole on the top of the box so that all ballots were visible. Reconstruction 360 uses a 360 degree... -
The First Vote - Craftsman | Reconstruction 360
July 31, 2023Before the Civil War the majority of free Black people lived in the South, where they couldn’t testify in court, learn to read, or travel without restrictions. But they survived and thrived as craftsmen, business owners, teachers, religious leaders, and in many other... -
The First Vote - Poor Freedman | Reconstruction 360
July 24, 2023This new voter has very little money or belongings, but he has gained his freedom. After passage of the Reconstruction Acts, thousands of politically energized freedmen, rich and poor, registered to vote, aligning themselves overwhelmingly with Republicans. Reconstruction... -
The First Vote - Black U.S. Army Soldier | Reconstruction 360
July 17, 2023At the beginning of the Civil War, the federal government excluded Blacks from the army, but in 1862-63, as the need for soldiers grew, the government scrapped the prohibition and welcomed Black soldiers. Reconstruction 360 uses a 360 degree video platform as a storytelling... -
The First Vote - Confederate Army Veterans | Reconstruction 360
July 10, 2023These men represent white Southerners who fought for the Confederacy and are strongly opposed to the idea of Black men voting. Changes that Radical Reconstruction brought about met with vicious resistance from many white Southerners. Reconstruction 360 uses a 360 degree...
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