YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, FaceBook,

‘His Soul is Marching On…’

John Brown's body lies a-mouldering in the grave

A Long Lost Orson Welles Documentary Rediscovered!

In the depths of the Field Library is a VHS tape for a documentary titled “Henry Hudson’s River” made by the Hudson River Film & Video Company. We popped the tape into the VCR there and found ourselves entranced with a superb documentary on the 400-year history of the Hudson River, narrated by the one and only Orson Welles!!!

Upon searching for a copy online I found a contact page for the Hudson River Film & Video Company which I’ve yet to receive a response from, and one copy for sale on eBay. Five business days later, I received my own copy of “Henry Hudson’s River”.

If you know me well…you know where this is going.

I digitized this copy as well as the Field Library one, as well as made two edited copies with improved frame rate and sound and uploaded all four files to Archive.org.

https://archive.org/details/henry-hudsons-river

We made two short videos documenting this discovery and our process of sharing it online which can be found on our YouTube, Instagram, FaceBook, and TikTok. I also discovered today that the Orson Welles fandom wrote a brief article on my discovery. Sometimes life takes you to interesting places huh?

I highly encourage you guys to check out this documentary and let me know what you think of it!

Book of the Month…in my opinion.

“The Island at the Center of the World” by Russell Shorto

Search your local library’s catalog or your favorite bookstore with the title, author, or ISBN of this book.

ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1400078679

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1400078677

The month of March always brings me back to the story that started my career as a documentary filmmaker, the Pound Ridge Massacre. In March of 1644, a combined force of Dutch and English colonists massacred an indigenous village, which is believed to have existed in present-day Pound Ridge, NY. Want to learn more? There’s a great documentary about it ;)

When I first stumbled upon this story, I immediately went out looking for any books that could cover this chapter of history. This was my introduction to Russell Shorto’s amazing book, “The Island at the Center of the World”.

Much of what makes New York City and New York State the hub of culture, finance, and technology that it is today was built on Dutch foundations. Conversely, many of America’s darkest actions and patterns began with Dutch colonization. Shorto investigates all of this history and presents the reader with a fascinating narrative on how New Amsterdam/New Netherland was the first uniquely ‘American’ settlement.

From Henry Hudson’s voyage up the river in 1609 to the surrender of the colony to the British in 1664, we see many ‘firsts’ happen in our region’s history. One of the earliest conflicts with the Indigenous tribes (Kieft’s War) set the groundwork for “Manifest Destiny” and the subsequent genocide of Native Americans. The first elected body in New York history was founded during this time in order to stop the war, establishing a precedent for democratic governments in this “new world”.

What stands out to me, however, is how Shorto presents the consequences of unchecked, laissez-faire capitalism in how the colony was run by the Dutch West India Company. With no oversight from the Dutch Government, this company ran New Amsterdam like any other trading outpost with little regard for its non-company residents, much less the African slaves or Native Americans in and around the settlement. Brutal carnage, mass suffering, and disenfranchisement followed, which made the British arrival less of a ‘surrender’ and more of a welcoming sight in the eyes of the colonists.

However, when the British replaced ‘New Amsterdam’ with ‘New York’, the detailed history of the former almost went extinct. Despite this, remnants of this history are all around us in names such as “Tappan Zee”, “Bronx”, “Yonkers”, and of course, “Peekskill”. These places and many, many more, are a testament that our backyard is filled with stories from a forgotten chapter that we have only recently begun to scratch the surface of, and authors like Russell Shorto are leading the charge in restoring this history.

Virtual Screenings with Local Organizations and Universities!

In a (hopefully) Post-COVID world, virtual events are still going strong despite the fact that we have been able to go to in-person events for some time now. The convenience of hopping onto the computer, or even our phones, and attending all sorts of events enables us to connect with people all over the world in unprecedented ways. I believe that, with the increasing relevance of the internet in our day-to-day lives, COVID sped up this inevitable trajectory, and that virtual events are here to stay.

I love in-person screenings, and I don’t want to ever stop doing them. However, virtual screenings have enabled me to connect with folks from all over the country and beyond. While I may not be in the same room with them, the discussions we have during the Q&A session after the film ends have rivaled some of the best in-person events I’ve ever had. They have also enabled me to connect with audiences that may not be going out to traditional venues.

Allow me to present two amazing virtual screenings I’ve done recently which have cemented my newfound love for this format.

1) CEPAB Screenings of the Peekskill Riots

The Community Engagement & Police Advisory Board had me for two of their Black History Month programs in which we screened episodes 1 & 4 of the Peekskill Riots docu-series. The reception was magnificent, and our discussions on Paul Robeson and the infamous riots in our backyard were among the best I’ve ever had. Some of the folks who tuned in have never been in the area but heard about the events online and were able to engage with the topic from the comfort of their homes. CEPAB’s mission is extraordinarily important, especially in the day and age we live in now, and I’m honored to have provided my films for them to use as a point of focus for how to deal with these same injustices now.

2) Adelphi University Screening of the Pound Ridge Massacre

I was honored to do a screening for Adelphi University’s Honors Program and share with them the story of the Pound Ridge Massacre. While this single event may seem like ‘Westchester History’ exclusively, it is actually more tied to the history of New York City (New Amsterdam) and thus American history since there wouldn’t be any colonial settlements in the area for nearly half a century. Thus, this group of young students were able to engage with this shocking but important history and talk about it afterward all from their respective locations on and off campus. It was also pretty cool to talk about how I made the film when I was their age—just a Junior in college at the time—and how I relied very heavily on Manhattanville’s library for my research.

I look forward to what this next season of 2025 has to offer in terms of both in-person and virtual screenings.

And if you know of, or are in an entity that would be interested in doing a screening, in-person or virtually, I’d be very interested to make something happen!

Humbled and honored to be able to do what I do…all thanks to you.

-Jon Scott Bennett