JULY '64 Premiere - Race Riots in Rochester

In Rochester, NY on a hot July night during the Summer of 1964, violence erupted at a street dance when a routine arrest took a turn for the worse. This evening set the scene for three days and nights of conflict and unrest that ended when the National Guard was called to a Northern city for the first time. July ’64, a riveting and definitive document on the Rochester riots, gives voice to the people who lived through this brief period that altered the course of history in our community 40 years ago.
Director Eison and Producer Christine Christopher will be present to introduce their new film and answer questions from the audience.

July 24 marks the 40th anniversary of the Rochester riots, a three-day conflict that altered the course of history in our town. In honor of this anniversary, WXXI-TV proudly presents this hour-long documentary that offers a historical retrospect rich in context. July '64 is an independent production of ImageWordSound, directed by Carvin Eison and produced by Chris Christopher in association with WXXI.

On a hot July night, violence erupted at a street dance when a routine arrest took a turn for the worse and ended when the National Guard was called to a northern city for the first time during the civil rights era. "In the collective memory it was always referred to as a riot, but many suggest that it was a social, civil rebellion," explains July '64 director Carvin Eison. "July '64 looks at some of the causal factors that created the episode itself and in the end, shows how these issues resonate in the community today." The documentary presents some frightening implications - that things haven't changed much in Rochester in the last 40 years.

Narrated by the Emmy-award winning and Oscar-nominated actor Roscoe Lee Browne, July '64 uses archive footage provided by WROC, WHEC and the CBS national archive. The film also uses excerpts from a film produced by Baden Street Settlement and another by RG&E that show dramatically contrasting views of Rochester in the early '60s. RNews contributed contemporary footage. Archival photos from the University of Rochester Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, the Democrat and Chronicle and the City of Rochester, as well as photographs by Rochester photographer Paul Hoeffler were also used.

Eison and Christopher interviewed twenty-three individuals for the film, including Mayor William Johnson, national political commentator and longtime panelist on PBS's McLaughlin Group Jack Germond, 1964 Olympic athlete Trent Jackson, NYS Assemblyman David Gantt, 1964 Third Ward Supervisor Constance Mitchell, Dr. Walter Cooper, musicians Gap and Chuck Mangione and many others. The documentary also features a never-before-released recording of Duke Ellington performing Night Creature with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra on August 6, 1964 (just two weeks after the riots).

July '64 is a production of ImageWordSound, presented by Independent Television Service (ITVS), National Black Programming Consortium (NBPC) and WXXI-TV with funding provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Additional funding provided by the New York State Assembly, sponsored by Assemblyman David Gantt, and the Housing Education Fund of Rochester Area Community Foundation.

WXXI invites you to a special preview of July '64 at the Dryden Theater at Geroge Eastman House on Monday, July 19 at 8 p.m. Doors open at 7 p.m. For ticket information, please call the Dryden at 585-271-4090. Then, tune in to WXXI-TV 21 (cable 11) on Saturday, July 24 at 8 p.m. for the television premiere of the documentary.

For more information about July '64, its producers and WXXI, visit wxxi.org/july64.

July '64
Airs Saturday, July 24 at 8 p.m. on WXXI-TV 21 (cable 11)

Photos supplied courtesy of:

University of Rochester Department of Rare Books and Special Collections

Democrat & Chronicle

City of Rochester

Paul Hoeffler