Forgotten Hero: Walter White and the NAACP (2025)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Forgotten Hero: Walter White and the NAACP is a documentary film which premiered on US television (PBS) in 2025. It is an episode of the long-running program American Masters.

 

It is a biopic of the African American civil rights activist Walter Francis White (1893-1955).

 

Here is some basic information about this film:

 

** Director = Michelle Smawley

** Writer = Rob Rapley

** Producers = Emily Harrold and Lauren Wimbush

** Narrator = Joe Morton

** The voice of Walter White = Geoffrey Owens

** Run time = 112 minutes

 

[The letters NAACP stand for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People]

 

Walter Francis White joined the NAACP in 1918. He was the leader of this organization for more than twenty-five years: from 1929 to 1955.

 

This film covers the life and work of Walter White from the beginning in 1893 until the end in 1955. It covers his life and work in great detail.

 

The high moments and the low moments during the time when he was the leader of the NAACP are analysed and explained.

 

In the 1930s, there was a conflict between Walter White and W. E. B. Du Bois. Both were powerful members of the organisation.

 

Walter White, who was born in 1893, had been the leader of the NAACP since 1929. Du Bois, who was born in 1868, had been a co-founder of the organisation in 1909. He was the editor of The Crisis, a magazine published by the NAACP.

 

The conflict was both personal and political. It ended in 1934, when Du Bois left the organisation. Ten years later, in 1944, he returned. But he did not stay long. He left again in 1948.

 

In 1950, White resigned his position as the leader of the NAACP. But he quickly changed his mind and returned.

 

During the final years (1950-1955), he was still the formal leader of the organisation, but his powers were significantly reduced.

 

During the final years (1950-1955), there was a conflict between Walter White and Thurgood Marshall. Both were powerful members of the organisation.

 

At that time, Walter White had been the leader of the NAACP for more than 20 years.

 

Marshall was a lawyer. He was in charge of the organisation’s legal department, which was becoming more and more important at that time.

 

Marshall and his team of lawyers were conducting a legal attack on the principle known as Separate but Equal.

 

Many schools were racially segregated. Schools for African Americans were separate from the schools for whites. But they were not equal.

 

White schools were relatively rich, while African American schools were relatively poor.

 

Marshall and his team took their case all the way to the US Supreme Court and he won the case in 1954 when the court ruled on the case. According to the Supreme Court, the principle Separate but Equal was a violation of the American constitution.

 

Walter White died in 1955.

 

In 1967, President Lyndon Johnson nominated Marshall to be a member of the US Supreme Court. His nomination was confirmed by the US Senate.

 

Thurgood Marshall was the first African American to become a member of this court. He served on the court until 1991 when he retired, because he suffered from poor health. He died in 1993.

 

What do reviewers say about this film?

 

On IMDb it has a rating of 74 percent.

 

This rating is quite good, but in my opinion, it is not good enough. The topic is important. The story deserves to be told, and in this film, it is done very well.

 

I want to go all the way to the top with this product. I think it deserves a rating of five stars (100 percent).

 

REFERENCES

 

# 1. Books by Walter White

 

The Fire in the Flint

First published in 1924

Reprinted in 2022

 

A Rising Wind

First published in 1945

Reprinted in 2012

 

A Man Called White:

The Autobiography of Walter White

First published in 1948

Reprinted in 1995

 

# 2. Books about Walter White

 

Walter White: Mr. NAACP

By Kenneth Robert Janken

2006

 

White Lies: The Double Life of Walter Francis White and America’s Darkest Secret

By A. J. Baime

2022 = hardcover

2023 = paperback

 

# 3. Books about W. E. B. Du Bois

 

W. E. B. Du Bois: Biography of a Race, 1868-1919

By David Levering Lewis

1993

 

W. E. B. Du Bois: The Fight for Equality and the American Century, 1919-1963

By David Levering Lewis

2000

 

# 4. Books about Thurgood Marshall

 

Thurgood Marshall: American Revolutionary

By Juan Williams

1998 = hardcover

2000 = paperback

 

Thurgood Marshall: A Biography

By Glenn L. Stark and F. Eric Brooks

2012

 

Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America

By Gilbert King

2012 = hardcover

2013 = paperback

 

# 5. Books about the Civil Rights Movement

 

Eyes on the Prize:

America’s Civil Rights Years, 1954-1965

By Juan Williams

1987

 

Freedom’s Sword: The NAACP and the Struggle against Racism in America, 1909-1969

By Gilbert Jonas

2004

 

Lift Every Voice: The NAACP and the Making of the Civil Rights Movement

By Patricia Sullivan

2009

 

# 6. Film and video

 

Eyes on the Prize

** Season 1 = six episodes (1987)

** Season 2 = eight episodes (1990)

** Season 3 = six episodes (2025)

 

*****

The civil rights activist

Walter Francis White

(1893-1955)

 

*****

The civil rights activist

W. E. B. Du Bois

(1868-1963)

 

*****

The civil rights activist

Thurgood Marshall

(1908-1993)

 

*****

 

 

Philae - Das versunkene Heiligtum (2023)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Philae – Das versunkene Heiligtum is a documentary film which premiered in 2023. In 2024, it was shown on French and German television (arte).

 

The topic of this film is the history of the ancient temple dedicated to Isis which was built on the island of Philae in the southern part of Egypt.

 

This temple is important, because it has an interesting and unusual history. In this film, the history of the temple is covered in great detail.

 

Here is some basic information about this film:

 

** Director: Olivier Lemaître

** Writers: Claudine Le Tourneur d’Ison and Olivier Lemaître

** Narrator: Dana Friedrich

** Language: German

** Subtitles: German

** Run time: 89 minutes

 

Several persons are interviewed in this film

Here are the names of the participants

Listed in alphabetic order

 

** David Bartlett – Lieutenant Commander of the Royal Navy

** Mansour Hamed Bedaya – former worker on the project Philae

** Antonio Giammarusti - Architect

** Holger Kockelmann – Egyptologist, University of Leipzig

 

** Agnes Macquin – Director of the Library, French Institute for Oriental Archaeology

** Shaimaa Magdi – Director of the Scientific Archive, Egyptian Ministry for Tourism and Antiquity

** Lorenzo Medini – Egyptologist, French Institute for Oriental Archaeology

** Daniel Menet – Engineer, National Geographical Institute of France

 

** Diana Craig Patch – curator, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

** Cornelius von Pilgrim – Egyptologist, Swiss Institute for the Study of Egyptian Monuments and Antiquity

** Alessandro Roccati - Egyptologist

** Mechtild Rössler – Director of the UNESCO World Heritage Center in Paris 2015-2021

 

** Abdel Moneim Saeed – General Director of Antiquity in Aswan

** Muhammed Salah – Director of Antiquities, Philae

** Eng Sengsavang – Archivist, UNESCO

** Johanna Sigl – Egyptologist, German Archaeological Institute, Cairo

 

Archive footage from the 1960s and the 1970s is used between the talking heads. Archive footage is used to support and supplement the statements made by the talking heads. Archive footage is also used when the narrator is speaking

 

The history of the ancient temple which was built on the island of Philae has two chapters.

 

The first chapter is set in antiquity when the temple was built. The second chapter is set in the twentieth century when the temple was transferred from the island of Philae to the nearby island of Agilkia.

 

Chapter # 1

Construction of the temple dedicated to Isis began during the reign of Ptolemy II Philadelphus, who ruled 284-246 BC. The work was completed during the reign of Ptolemy III Euergetes, who ruled 246-221 BC. 

 

Chapter # 2

The Nile River runs through Egypt from south to north. The river ends when it reaches the Nile Delta and the Mediterranean Sea.

 

The city of Aswan is located on the Nile River in the southern part of Egypt. Two dams have been built across the river near Aswan:

 

The low dam was built by the British over four years 1898-1902. The high dam was built by the Egyptian government over ten years 1960-1970.

 

The low dam is north of the high dam. The distance between the two dams is ca. six kilometers.

 

Lake Nasser is the name of the huge reservoir which was created when the high dam was completed in 1970. It is more than 500 kilometers long.

 

The ancient temple dedicated to Isis which was built on the island of Philae was located in the area between the two dams.

 

When the low dam was built, the level of the water was raised by a few meters. The construction of the low dam affected the island of Philae.

 

When the water was low, the island was still dry. But when the water was high, the island was flooded and the temple was partially submerged. Only the upper parts of the temple were visible when the water was high.

 

When the high dam was built, the level of the water was raised again. This time by several meters. It was predicted that the island and the ancient temple would disappear completely. The temple would be totally submerged.

 

To prevent this from happening, the UN organization UNESCO organized an amazing rescue operation to save the temple and the other ancient buildings on the island of Philae. This operation was implemented in seven stages:

 

Step # 1

A coffer dam was built around the island of Philae

 

Step # 2

The water inside the coffer dam was pumped out, so the island and the temple were dry

 

Step # 3

The mud from the river which covered the island and the floor of the temple was removed

 

Step # 4

The temple was dismantled. The stone blocks were transferred to a storage area nearby

 

Step # 5

The coffer dam built around the island was removed. The water was allowed to cover the island

 

Step # 6

The nearby island of Agilkia was modified to look like the island of Philae

 

Step # 7

The stone blocks were transferred from the storage area to the island of Agilkia where the ancient temple was rebuilt

 

This operation took place over three years from 1977 to 1979.

 

From the city of Aswan, you can visit the high dam which was built 1960-1970. When you are standing on the high dam and you are looking south, you are looking at the reservoir which is named Lake Nasser.

 

From the city of Aswan, you can visit the ancient temple dedicated to Isis. This temple was built on the island of Philae in antiquity during the reign of Ptolemy II and Ptolemy III, but this island has now disappeared under the water. It is now submerged.

 

Since 1980, the ancient temple dedicated to Isis is standing on the island of Agilkia, whose surface was modified to look like the island of Philae.

 

The ancient temple dedicated to Isis is still known as the temple of Philae, even though it is no longer standing on this island.

 

As explained in this film, the temple dedicated to Isis was not the only building on the island of Philae. There were other buildings on the island. Some of them were from the time when Egypt was a province of the Roman Empire:

 

** One building is associated with emperor Trajan. It is known as Trajan’s Kiosk

** One building is associated with emperor Hadrian. It is known as Hadrian’s Gate

 

What do reviewers say about this film?

 

On IMDb it has a rating of 65 percent. This rating is quite good. But in my opinion, it is not good enough.

 

The story is important. It deserves to be told, and in this film, it is done very well.

 

The archive footage from the 1960s and the 1970s which is used here is very informative. The historical experts who are interviewed are well-chosen. They offer useful information.

 

I want to go all the way to the top with this product. I think it deserves a rating of five stars (100 percent).

 

PS # 1. Several ancient monuments were endangered when the high dam was built at Aswan 1960-1970. Some of them were lost. They disappeared under the rising water when the huge reservoir was created by the high dam.

 

But a few of them were rescued. The temple dedicated to Isis built on the island of Philae is one case. In this film, three other cases are mentioned:

 

(a) The two temples dedicated to Ramesses II and his wife Nefertari were built by the Nile River at Abu Simbel ca. 280 kilometers southwest of Aswan.

 

In antiquity, these two temples were cut out of two small mountains. To save them, the two mountains were cut into small blocks. All blocks were moved to a higher location where the two temples were rebuilt and combined with two small artificial mountains. 

 

This operation took place over four years from 1964 to 1968.

 

(b) One ancient temple in the area was donated to Spain: the temple of Debod was dismantled. All stone blocks were transported to Madrid where the ancient temple was rebuilt.

 

(c) One ancient temple in the area was donated to the US: the temple of Dendur was dismantled. All stone blocks were transported to New York City where the ancient temple was rebuilt.

 

PS # 2. There are many inscriptions written with hieroglyphics on the walls of the ancient temple dedicated to Isis. One of them is famous. Why is it famous? Because it is the last inscription written with hieroglyphics in ancient Egypt.

 

It was written by a priest named Esmet-Akhom. It was carved into the wall on 24 August 394. Soon after this happened, all knowledge of the hieroglyphics was forgotten. Nobody could read them or write them.

 

This situation continued for more than a thousand years. This situation continued until 1822, when the French scholar Jean-François Champollion managed to decipher the hieroglyphics. The key to his discovery was the Rosetta stone which was found in Egypt in 1799.

 

PS # 3. This film about the ancient temple of Philae was also shown on the German television channel ZDF. It is still available on the ZDF website.

 

PS # 4. I have been to Egypt in 1992 and in 2010. While I was there, I visited several ancient locations, including the following:

 

** I visited the two temples at Abu Simbel which were saved when they were moved to a higher location. This operation took place in the 1960s.

 

** I visited the temple dedicated to Isis which was saved when it was moved from the island of Philae to the island of Agilkia. This operation took place in the 1970s.

 

REFERENCES

 

# 1. Items available online

 

The Philae Temple Complex

The Graffito of Esmet-Akhom

The Two Temples at Abu Simbel

The Temple of Debod

The Temple of Dendur

The Temple of Kalabsha

Christiane Desroches Noblecourt

The International Campaign to Save the Monuments of

Ancient Egypt

 

# 2. Books

 

Temples of the Last Pharaohs

By Arnold Dieter

(1999)

 

The Complete Temples of Ancient Egypt

By Richard H. Wilkinson

(2000 = hardcover)

(2017 = paperback)

 

Empress of the Nile: The Daredevil Archaeologist Who Saved Egypt’s Ancient Temples from Destruction

By Lynne Olson

(2023)

 

This book is a biography of the French archaeologist Christiane Desroches Noblecourt (1913-2011)

 

*****

The temple dedicated to Isis

was transferred from the

island of Philae to the island of Agilkia.

In this picture, the ancient temple is seen from

a boat sailing on the Nile River

 

*****

The facade of the ancient temple.

In this picture, colours have been added to

the pylons of the temple in order to

show how it looked in antiquity

 

*****