N.C. A&T Alumni Times

This year's Academy Award nomination for alumnus Kevin Wilson, Jr.'s short film "My Nephew Emmett" in the Best Live Action Short Film category was a milestone moment in the history of Aggies in the arts and sciences. What is not widely known is that North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University has a long history with the camera that goes back nearly a century.

As far as we know, North Carolina A&T's first movie star was none other than Richard B. Harrison (1864-1935). The namesake of our campus auditorium, he was a great theatrical actor, orator, and perhaps the university’s most famous instructor. Along with his acclaimed Broadway role as De Lawd in "The Green Pastures," he also appeared in two motion pictures. The first of these was the 1923 comedy, "How High Is Up," produced by the black-owned Seminole Film Production Company. His second film, a 1930 crime drama called "Easy Street," was directed by the legendary African American filmmaker, Oscar Micheaux. Unfortunately, both of Harrison's films are lost today.

Since Harrison's time, A&T has had studies in film, television, radio and other audio-visual media. Many professors and alumni were a part of television programs as performers, spokespersons, writers and producers starting in the early 1950s. As a noted poet, historian and English professor, Dr. Darwin T. Turner (1931 – 1991) was a television writer in Baltimore before coming to A&T in 1959. The legendary Margaret Tynes '39 made numerous appearances singing and dancing on television programs like the "U.S. Steel Hour" and "The Ed Sullivan Show."

The history of A&T has been a source for great documentaries and docudramas for decades. Alex Haley, the author of the groundbreaking novel "Roots," included stories of his father Simon Alexander Haley '19. The 1979 TV mini-series “Roots: The Next Generation,” depicted these events in the life of Simon Haley who was portrayed by actor Dorian Harewood.

Like Kevin Wilson, Jr., telling true stories is what Aggies DO best. Dr. Teresa Jo Styles, Dr. Lynda Jordan and Dr. Jibreel Khazan, are just a few of the many Aggies who have produced or have been interviewed for documentaries. The 2003 documentary "February One" about the A&T Four and the Sit-In Movement casted four former A&T students for the reenactments: Jamal Primus, Rondrell McCormack, Christopher Robinson and Stephone Ingram. "Walls That Bleed: The Story of the Dudley-A&T Student Uprising" was a much talked about 2008 documentary written and directed by alumnus Michael Anthony about the 1969 campus uprising.

Actors and artists from Aggieland continue to tell great stories and add life to the screen. In 2008, Dr. Willie Hooker, a visual arts professor had his piece "Queen of Africa" featured in "Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns." In 2002, there was a lot of commotion on campus about the film, "Drumline," featuring Nick Cannon, a college movie that supposedly was based on other HBCUs. Theatre alumnus, Ashdyn Neal appeared in the 2013 film "Black Nativity," NaTasha Yvette Williams '92 has appeared on Broadway and television, and former Miss A&T and founder of Enlighted Visions, Inc., Tanisha Fordham '09 and former Mister A&T Austin James ’11 co-produced "My Nephew Emmett."

For more information on A&T's visual and performing arts history, please visit the F. D. Bluford Library Archives and Special Collections or contact us at libraryarchives@ncat.edu.