Documentary filmed in Holly Springs

A documentary on the life of Ida B. Wells Barnett is being made by a freelance film crew working for PBS out of WTTW in Chicago, Ill.

The freelance production crew was in Holly Springs recently to film the birthplace of Ida B. Wells and some of the historic antebellum homes with behind the big house quarters where enslaved persons lived and cooked for the owners.

The freelancers also filmed at Rust College and in Memphis, Tenn., where Wells spent a few years before taking on the antilynching mob with her pen.

She is known internationally for her work against lynching and for presenting her story both stateside and in Europe. It is in Memphis where Wells made her mark as the woman she was to become, said Stacy Robinson, freelancer with the film crew.

“Her legacy is journalism so we will emphasize her diaries and journals,” Robinson said.

The production crew will also develop the narrative for the documentary and record it.

The documentary will emphasize Wells’ work and life in the Chicago, Ill., area. The footage shot in Holly Springs will be secondary to the main photography taken in Chicago.

Yasmin Rammohan, producer at WTTW, the local PBS station in Chicago, said the station learned about some of the local locations through a Hill Country History blog connected with Phillip Knecht.

“We are not specifically focusing on the history of any specific house,” she said. “Our goal is to film antebellum and post-Reconstruction houses/plantations/slave quarters that are still present to show the setting of the time during which Ida B. Wells grew up. It will be a brief portion of our documentary which will mainly focus on Ida B. Wells’ time and work in Chicago itself.”

David Person, owner of Burton Place, said having an important organization like PBS come to Holly Springs to film important aspects of Ida B. Wells-Barnett’s life is an achievement for Holly Springs.

“This will squarely place Holly Springs in the most important aspect of Ida B. Wells’ upbringing and values,” he said.

“The PBS film production centering on Ida B. Wells most certainly underpins the importance of education, discussing and healing of the continuing effects of enslavement in our history.”

He added that the Behind The Big House tours for students, numbering about 1,200 from Marshall and adjoining counties, educates youth about slavery.

“Of course, Gracing the Table as a community discussion group has encouraged sharing and healing of present day impacts of slavery upon lives of citizens to this day,” Person said.

“This important film will definitely bring new and important focus upon Ida B. Wells’ hometown and what impelled her to become an international leader for social justice. Beginning her work here in Holly Springs is not recognized and will place Holly Springs at the center of future efforts in support of her work.”