Program Description
Event Details
Join the Croton Free Library for a screening of:
"The Peekskill Riots: Episodes 2 & 3"
Documentary Films by Jon Scott Bennett
Friday, Nov. 22 at 6pm
Local filmmaker Jon Scott Bennett will present the next two installments of his five-part documentary series on the Peekskill Riots.
They will be shown back to back, beginning at 6pm, with a 10-minute intermission in the middle and a Q&A with Bennett after both films conclude.
Free and open to all! These films are not appropriate for young children and contain images and language that may disturb some people. To catch up on episode 1, check out Bennett's YouTube channel.
Episode 2
(runtime: 1 hour)
The Peekskill Riots were not an isolated case of violence in the Hudson Valley. They are part of a long history of racism and anti-semitism in the Peekskill area. The influence of the Ku Klux Klan on Peekskill in the early 20th century shaped the region for decades, striking terror into the hearts of African American, Catholic, and Jewish people. At its peak, their rallies in the heart of Peekskill had an attendance reaching 25,000. Although the KKK eventually faded away, the culture of hatred that had permitted its growth was still very much alive beneath the surface. Yet Peekskill was also home to a progressive movement of summer colonies, scattered throughout the region. Made up predominantly of working-class Jewish families and influenced by a diverse assortment of leftist ideologies, their goals were to create small-scale, utopian communities in the countryside of the Hudson Valley. Their presence was considered a threat to the conservative culture of Peekskill. These tensions would only worsen as the political climate in America turned against progressive ideologies and their adherents, such as Paul Robeson. To understand Peekskill during the Riots, we must first understand the forgotten past of the “Friendly Town” by the River.
Episode 3
(runtime: 1 hour 20 minutes)
On August 27th, 1949, a Paul Robeson concert was violently attacked outside Peekskill. The concert was for the benefit of the Civil Rights Congress and advertised to the Jewish and Black working-class, summer residents in the Hudson Valley. The Peekskill Evening Star and local veterans' groups — harboring disdain towards Robeson and the summer residents — organized a protest parade to stop the concert from taking place. What transpired was a horrific riot, in which innocent men, women, and children hoping to attend Paul Robeson's concert were attacked. Rocks, bottles, and other projectiles were thrown, while cars were turned over with passengers inside. All of this occurred under the wicked light of a burning cross, as years of bubbling hatred finally burst.