New WNED documentary highlights the Niagara Movement

Nov. 27—Western New York had many important roles in African-American history, often overlooked is the early establishment of civil rights organizations.

That history comes into focus in a new WNED-produced documentary, "The Niagara Movement: The Early Battle for Civil Rights." It was directed by Lawrence Hott, an Emmy Award-winning documentarian who previously created four films that focus on Niagara Falls in some way.

"One interviewee likens it to a shooting star," Hott said of the Niagara Movement. "It made a lot of noise and impact, but it faded."

The Niagara Movement itself was the short-lived first attempt of a civil rights organization opposing racial segregation and disenfranchisement among African-Americans, led by sociologist W.E.B. DuBois and publisher William Monroe Trotter. While existing only from 1905 to 1909, it would lead to the establishment of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

The documentary looks into how the organization was started, which Hott called a battle about what direction the civil rights movement should take at the turn of the 20th century. At least 20 people were interviewed for this subject, the majority being Black historians.

The impetus for the Niagara Movement was how DuBois and Trotter were dissatisfied with the direction the civil rights movement was taking, with educator and orator Booker T. Washington in favor of vocational education and delivering a speech in 1895 that would be known as the Atlanta Compromise.

DuBois and Trotter initially supported this idea, but worsening conditions for African Americans and increased lynchings convinced them they needed to go in another direction.

The Buffalo-Niagara region was chosen to host because there was an active Black community and Dubois was familiar with the region, having curated an exhibit on the accomplishments of African Americans at the 1901 Pan-American Exposition. Despite prominent African-American leaders attending, the actual meetings were held in neighboring Fort Erie, Ont.

While none of the Niagara Movement's meetings took place in Niagara Falls, a photo of the group's leaders had the Falls as a backdrop. The symbolism was the group had taken the name to lead a current of protest.

"At that time, there was no place more famous than Niagara Falls," Hott said.

Some reasons why the movement eventually failed were the initial exclusion of women, they spent most of their money pursuing lawsuits to create pressure on the government, and they did not work with white reformers who were more well-funded. When DuBois helped found the NAACP in 1909, it succeeded because it had funding coming from white liberals coming in and whites on its board of directors, Hott said.

WNED had been looking to produce a documentary on the topic for 15 years at the insistence of then president and CEO Don Boswell, a topic that did not have much written on it. Funding was finally secured through the John R. Oishei Foundation, with Hott brought on due to previous work for the station. It took him a year to create the documentary.

Hott attributed the production finally getting underway to public attention on African American history in the wake of George Floyd's murder in 2020. He calls it a pure history film relying on archive footage, interviews, and some animations.

"Imagine if every time you did a research paper in school, you did a film about it," Hott said, who has made documentaries for public television for 45 years with his late wife Diane Garey and writer Ken Chowder. "That's what my life has been."

Hott himself is no stranger to Niagara Falls. He had previously directed two documentaries about the Falls, the first in 1984 about how it was seen as a cultural symbol for the new world and the second in 2006 on how it is viewed as a popular cultural symbol.

Two other documentaries he made also featured Niagara Falls, 2011's "The War of 1812" and 2014's "Frederick Law Olmsted: Designing America." The former featured battles that took place in Niagara County and the latter touched on Olmsted's design for Niagara Falls State Park.

"The Niagara Movement: The Early Battle for Civil Rights" is available for viewing on WNED's website and YouTube page and at www.theniagaramovement.org. It will be distributed by American Public Television to public television stations across the country starting in February 2024.