Clip from Black History: Lost, Stolen, or Strayed

Source catalog description

This description refers to material held by Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Visual details below describe the original material.

A documentary film with the title “Black History: Lost, Stolen, or Strayed” from the Of Black America television series. It consists of two (2) reels of color acetate film with optical sound. The documentary opens with narrator Bill Cosby discussing contributions that African Americans have made to American Life, such as Norbert Rillieux's contributions to refining sugar; Jan Ernst Matzeliger's contributions to shoe manufacturing; Matthew Henson being one of the first men to successfully make an expedition to the North Pole; and Daniel Hale Williams performing the world's first open-heart surgery. Cosby then questions why these pioneering African Americans were excluded from history textbooks. After discussing the innovations of African Americans, Cosby discusses a study which compares the way white children and black children view and represent the world around them through art. The rest of the documentary mostly focuses on African Americans in film.

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