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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Violence and Hatred - The Irish in Memphis | Reconstruction 360
January 23, 2023In 1866 the Irish population of Memphis numbered in the thousands. Many Irish immigrants had arrived in the U.S. in the 1840s and ‘50s, escaping famine in their native land. In the months before the massacre several violent clashes occurred between Black soldiers and the... -
Violence and Hatred - Sister | Reconstruction 360
January 16, 2023This woman represents a member of the family who is living with her kinfolk. Memphis was crowded and expensive, and extended Black families frequently shared living spaces. Black families in Memphis competed with the Irish for low-paying jobs, adding to the racial tension in... -
Violence and Hatred - Consequences of the Massacre | Reconstruction 360
January 09, 2023For three days - from May 1st to May 3rd, 1866 - a white mob violently assaulted Memphis’s Black community, burning Black schools and churches and attacking the homes of African Americans. Forty-six Blacks and two whites died, and over one hundred buildings were destroyed by... -
Violence and Hatred - Let Us Have Peace | Reconstruction 360
January 02, 2023In 1868 Ulysses S. Grant was elected president with the slogan, “Let us have peace.” But across the South, white resistance to Black citizenship during Reconstruction often turned violent, leading to the rise of white vigilante groups, including the Ku Klux Klan... -
Violence and Hatred - Mother | Reconstruction 360
December 26, 2022At a congressional investigation Black women came forward and testified before the committee, making a courageous, detailed statement against sexual violence. Nevertheless, no one was convicted and no reparations were made to the victims. Reconstruction 360 uses a 360 degree... -
Violence and Hatred - Father | Reconstruction 360
December 19, 2022The father of the family in this scene represents a U.S. Army soldier, a member of the 3rd U.S. Colored Heavy Artillery who has been wounded during the violence taking place outside. On April 30, 1866, the unit was mustered out of the army and the soldiers who lived nearby...
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