A new documentary film featuring the experiences of Black women faculty at Northwestern University in Illinois recently debuted on February 25 at the university’s McCormick Foundation Center.
The film, Hearing Silences: 50 Years of Black Women Faculty at Northwestern, tracks the history of Black women scholars at university beginning with Joyce Hughes, a professor of law for more than four decades and the first Black woman to earn tenure at Northwestern in 1979. The documentary continues by featuring the personal accounts of Black women professors who taught at Northwestern over the next 50 years, highlighting their accomplishments and efforts to desegregate the university.
Diana Slaughter Kotzin, former professor in the School of Education and Social Policy and the second Black women to earn tenure at Northwestern, developed the idea for the project and provided the film’s initial funding. Her colleague, Ava Greenwell, a longtime professor in the Medill School of Journalism, Media, and Integrated Marketing Communication, oversaw fundraising efforts and conducted extensive research for the film. Her work led to the development of an archive that features all source material and documentation used to create Hearing Silences.
“I hope that the Northwestern community will see this, in a sense, as a gift,” said Dr. Greenwell. “When we talk about a gift, we talk about something that is thoughtful, something that will last forever for the person, or in this case the university, to whom it is given, and something that has an impact in perpetuity.” She continued, “It’s not just a project for today, it’s a project for the future.”
