Thirty years ago, Corn Hill Historian Jim DeVinney was part of a producing team in Boston that created Eyes on the Prize, a PBS series that told the story of the Civil Rights Movement in America.
Following the original broadcast, Jim earned two television Emmys for documentary writing and an Academy Award nomination. On January 10, because the series remains as relevant today as when it was produced, it was won the Legacy Award from Cinema Eye Honors held at the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, New York. It is the first time a series has won the award.
Jim was on hand for the historic event. One night earlier, the Oscar-nominated episode “Bridge to Freedom,” which Jim created with his producing partner Callie Crossley, was shown at the Museum. After the screening, other members of the creative team joined Jim and Callie for a panel discussion of challenges they faced while making the films and the strict journalistic standards that guided them.