Documentary screening examines life for Black residents in historic Arlington community

A new docuseries will give viewers a look at what life was like for Black residents in a small five-block Arlington community known as The Hill. The first episode in that series is showing in a free screening to the public Tuesday, Oct. 18 at 7 p.m.

“A Place of Our Own” will be presented at the Rosebud Theater, 300 W. 1st St., inside the E.H. Hereford University Center at the University of Texas at Arlington. A public reception will begin at 6 p.m.

Also, visitors are urged to stay after the screening for a panel discussion.

The docuseries’ first episode features photos, maps, documents and excerpts from interviews with Black residents and their descendants who lived in this community, which was also the only historic addition in Arlington platted specifically for African American residents.

Interviews include the Rev. Carl Pointer, Bob Ray Sanders, Randy Parker, Bertha Jones, Geraldine Mills and Beverly Jackson on topics ranging from segregation to influential church and business leaders to the vibrant nightlife in The Hill. Additionally, it features scholars Gene B. Preuss, Ph.D., and W. Marvin Dulaney, Ph.D., who explore African American life in North Texas after emancipation as well as the history of racial control that would evolve into Jim Crow laws.

King Hollis and Lindell Singleton directed the documentary. It was produced by Southroad Pictures, with associate producers Geraldine Mills, Anthony Cisneros and Shirley Adams and executive producers Lemuel Randolph, Lisa Thompson, Jennifer Wichmann, Hollis and Singleton. The project was funded by the Arlington Tomorrow Foundation.

“We knew we wanted to ask some of Arlington’s older African American residents to tell their stories of their lives during the Civil Rights Era on video, which we could capture for posterity and also share with the community on social media,” said Lisa Thompson, chair of the Arlington MLK Celebration Committee Board of Directors.

“But thanks to generous support from the Arlington Tomorrow Foundation and the talent of Lindell Singleton, our vision grew exponentially. We now have the beginning of a docuseries that truly elevates and celebrates the stories of the people who lived, worked, learned and worshiped in The Hill.”

The Arlington Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Committee, which sponsored the first episode of the planned five-part docuseries, initially hosted a public screening of “A Place of Our Own” during the Arlington Juneteenth Jubilee.

Additional public screenings are expected to be announced on the city’s website at a later date.

For those interested in learning more about The Hill, visit the Arlington Public Library’s Black History Community Archive at arlingtonlibrary.org/ABHCA. This digital collection, created and hosted by the library, provides free searchable access 24/7 to many of the historical photos, recordings, and documents that will be featured in the “Echoes from The Hill” documentary projects.