Rooker Wins 2nd Place For Documentary In National History Day Competition
Posted
David Slone-dslone@timesuniononline.com
Less than 10 minutes long, Zack Rooker's documentary on the 1961 Freedom Riders placed second at nationals recently at the University of Maryland, outside Washington, D.C.
And in the making of the film, Rooker, 14, got to interview five people involved with the Freedom Riders.
With the second-place win at the competition, held June 15-20, Rooker received a medal and a $500 prize. He competed in the junior individual documentary category. The History Channel is a major sponsor of the competition.
This is the second year Rooker competed in the National History Day competition.
Competition began with the District Round. This was the first year for a Northern Indiana District Round, and it was held at St. Mary's College, Notre Dame. Rooker was the only person competing at district in the junior individual documentary category.
Moving on to state competition, Rooker said he made some revisions to his documentary. At state, there was more competition, but Rooker won second place in his category. First and second place moved on to national competition in Washington, D.C.
At nationals, there were two rounds. In the first round, there were seven rooms with 12 to 13 projects per room. He was up against approximately 90 other junior individual documentaries from around the world.
The top two people in each room moved on to the final competition. Of the final projects, three were awarded prizes, including Rooker's second-place victory.
The title of Rooker's film is "Eyes of the Ride: The 1961 Freedom Riders." The documentary had to be under 10 minutes long. Rooker's film is 9 minutes, 54 seconds. He said he's been using iMovie since the first grade to make films. He will be a freshman at Warsaw Community High School this fall.
When creating his film, he made a rough draft. After showing it to his parents, Dick and Nancy Rooker, he used their feedback to make changes. The first draft was 20 minutes long. Along with nine hours of footage he shot, Rooker also used a 650-page book by Dr. Raymond Arsenault. Arsenault's book provided an appendix of people involved in the Freedom Riders as well as what they are doing today.
Rooker also watched Ken Burns' "The War." The movie uses only first-hand accounts from people, as well as letters and diaries. Rooker said he liked Burns' style so decided to make his movie in the same manner.
To film the interviews, the Rookers traveled to Tucson, Ariz.; Nashville, Tenn.; and Atlanta, Ga.
"So, I probably spent 3 to 3-1/2 weeks on the road getting my interviews," Rooker said.
"I really like to make documentaries, but I've always been interested in engineering. This has been a great honor to win second place at National History Day, but it never would have happened without the five interviews. I'm going to send copies of the documentary to them," said Rooker.
The theme for this year's National History Day competition was "Conflict and Compromise." Competitors could do any story on conflict and compromise in five different areas. Rooker chose to make a documentary.
From May 2007 to January 2008, Rooker did his research and conducted interviews. He was able to get five men involved in the Freedom Riders to be filmed for the movie.
Rooker's documentary explains what the Freedom Riders were.In 1961, Civil Rights activists calling themselves Freedom Riders rode on interstate buses into the segregated southern United States to test the United States Supreme Court decision Boynton v. Virginia. Riders were arrested by authorities or beaten by racists. Members of the Ku Klux Klan also tried to burn one bus with all the passengers aboard.
Boynton v. Virginia granted travelers the legal right to disregard local segregation laws regarding interstate transportation facilities. However, the Freedom Riders wanted to see if the court decision was being enforced throughout the South. On some trips, the Freedom Riders were met with arrests or violence, but they committed themselves to non-violent resistance.
Rooker interviewed John Seigenthaler Sr., Jim Zwerg, Hank Thomas, Charles Person and Phil Noble.
Seigenthaler was the assistant to Attorney General Robert Kennedy. Rooker said Seigenthaler was sent down South after the first group of Freedom Riders were beaten and a bus was burned. Seigenthaler's job became to protect all the Freedom Riders.
Rooker said Zwerg was a white-collar student from Wisconsin at the time. Zwerg had traveled to Fisk University in Nashville, Tenn. He found out what was going on there to end segregation and decided to get involved.
"He was one of the few white people in Freedom Riders," Rooker said.
Hank Thomas, a black Freedom Rider, was one of the people on the bus burned by the KKK in Anniston, Ala., on Mother's Day, May 14, 1961. No Freedom Riders were burned, but all of them, including Thomas, suffered smoke inhalation. The KKK tried to burn all the bus riders alive in the bus, but thanks to an explosion in the back of the bus, the Freedom Riders were able to escape.
"(Person) was the youngest of the Freedom Riders," said Rooker. Just 17, Person had to get permission from his parents to ride on the first wave of Freedom Riders. On May 14, Person was beaten, along with other riders, in Birmingham, Ala.
Noble was a white minister in Anniston at the time. He started a biracial committee after the May 14, 1961, events in Anniston.
"Those five interviews gave me the Freedom Riders perspective, the government perspective and a person not on the Freedom Riders perspective," said Rooker.
According to a press release from the Indiana Historical Society, more than 40 Indiana students traveled to represent the state at the National History Day competition at University of Maryland.
The National History Day program has played an active part in Indiana's schools for more than 25 years. This year, more than 50 schools in 25 Indiana counties participated in this year-long endeavor, with more than 3,800 students taking part. Students selected their own topic, did their own historical research, and created projects that demonstrate history is not just a thing of the past.
The Indiana Historical Society has been the host for National History Day in Indiana for the past four years. Sponsors of this year's program are Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance and the Indiana Humanities Council.
For information on this and other Indiana Historical Society programs and events, contact the IHS at 317-232-1882 or 800-447-1830. Information is also available at www.indianahistory.org
