Behind the Scenes with AMERICAN EXPERIENCE's American Coup: Wilmington 1898

Black and white image of an assembly of men and boys in suits standing smiling in front of a wooden building that has been burned out by fire — Mob outside burned offices of The Daily Record, November 1898

Katrina Ávila Munichiello has been the editor of EXPLORE GBH since 2023. For the past fifteen years, she has worked as a writer, editor, fact checker, and proofreader for organizations including F+W Media, World Tea News, Dotdash Meredith, and America’s Test Kitchen. Her writing has appeared in publications such as Yankee Magazine, Boston Globe Sunday Magazine, and Tea Magazine. In 2011, her first book, A Tea Reader: Living Life One Cup at a Time, was released by Tuttle Publishing. Her favorite hobbies are reading, supporting local theater, volunteering for local youth organizations, and watching every MASTERPIECE program available.

October 29, 2024

In the 1890s, the coastal community of Wilmington, North Carolina had become the example of the promise of Reconstruction, with jobs for both skilled and unskilled Black laborers, as well as professional opportunities for Black doctors, teachers, and lawyers. Black people owned property and held public office, including a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. But on November 10, 1898, the tinderbox upon which this community had grown, exploded in the form of an insurrection and a deadly race massacre. An election was subverted, lawmakers from the multiracial “Fusion” government were forced out of office at gunpoint, thousands of residents were exiled from town, and dozens of others were murdered in the so-called “Campaign for White Supremacy,” the only coup d’état in U.S. history. And among the most shocking parts of this story is the way the events were deliberately hidden from future generations, including descendants of those intimately involved. AMERICAN EXPERIENCE, in association with PBS North Carolina, has taken on the task of revealing these events and their impact in American Coup: Wilmington 1898.

Brad Lichtenstein and Yoruba Richen, who each have a long history of making films about racial justice, directed this documentary. “It’s a story that has been buried for so long. What really struck me was that right after the coup and massacre, it was sung from the hilltops about how proud they were about what they had done. Then, only a few years later it was whitewashed and eventually erased,” said Richen.

The firsthand accounts found in newspapers, books, and personal letters from both the insurrectionists and those affected added important voices, but a unique part of this documentary is hearing directly from the descendants. Lichtenstein noted, “It was like doing an investigative documentary about history that took place 126 years ago. The story was buried even in their own families.” He had the opportunity to attend one of Wilmington’s commemoration events, where organizers have worked hard to open up dialogue about their history. “There are plenty of people who completely deny any relationship to the past even though their family lineage was there. Many years later, it still is a hurdle, something that feels taboo to be open and honest and accountable about,” he added. In the end, Richen and Lichtenstein were able to form connections with a number of descendants, both White and Black, who were willing to speak in the film.

AMERICAN EXPERIENCE is committed to telling stories from the past that help impact viewers’ understanding of the present and future. “I think viewers will find the facts of the story so surprising but then also see the echoes of today, with ongoing threats to our democracy,” said Richen. “This is something we have been grappling with as a country since the beginning.”

“We’ve come to rely on public media to be the place that is willing to set aside the risks of putting a story out, knowing that it might engender conversations that are heated. In fact, they embrace that,” said Lichtenstein. “In commercial media, there’s almost no room for stories like American Coup.”

AMERICAN EXPERIENCE FILMS
American Coup: Wilmington 1898
Tue (11/12) at 9pm on GBH 2
Repeats:
Fri (11/15) at 8pm on GBH WORLD
Fri (11/15) at 9pm on GBH 44