Winner 1997

Will the Circle be Unbroken?

Southern Regional Council

This brilliant 13-hour series broadcast on Public Radio International brings to life one of the most profound social phenomena of recent times—the Civil Rights Movement in the American South from the 1940s to the 1970s. Through oral history interviews, rare archival recordings, and the rich music of the times, a complex tapestry is woven of moving personal stories during the crusade for racial integration in Georgia, South Carolina, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Alabama. Over 16 years in the making, this documentary draws on the skills of executive producer Steve Suitts and producer/writer George King, as they worked with principal writers Narcel Reedus, Julian Bond, Kimberly Springer, Ellen Barnard, Tom Dent and Vertamae Grosvenor, to evoke powerful images with personal accounts. Through music and emotional stories, chilling lessons about the impact of social injustice on all Americans are told and preserved. For presenting a fascinating, authoritative radio series that brings the civil rights movement to a personal level, a Peabody to Southern Regional Council for Will the Circle be Unbroken?