Jackson State archives civil rights film ‘The Parchman Ordeal’ online
Jackson State University has archived the civil rights documentary “The Parchman Ordeal” and made it available online, university officials said.
The film examines events connected to Parchman, the Mississippi State Penitentiary, a site long associated with the history of incarceration and civil rights struggles in the South. The documentary’s placement in Jackson State’s archives adds to a growing body of audiovisual material used by scholars, students and the public to study the region’s social and legal history.
Jackson State, a public historically Black university in Jackson, Mississippi, maintains archives and special collections that preserve documents, recordings and other primary sources related to local and regional history. Making the documentary accessible online increases public access and supports teaching and research on civil rights, criminal justice and Southern history.
The availability of “The Parchman Ordeal” online may help educators, researchers and community members examine historical context and continuing issues tied to incarceration and civil rights. We will provide more information as it becomes available.
