Goshen College documentary explores a hard part of Goshen’s past

Special Premiere Screening: “Goshen – A Sundown Town’s Transformation”
Date & Time: Tuesday, March 21, 2023 at 7 p.m.
Location: The Goshen Theater
Cost: Free and open to the public

The Goshen College Film Production program will present the premiere of their documentary ‘Goshen – A Sundown Town’s Transformation’ on Tuesday, March 21 at 7 p.m. at The Goshen Theater. The event is free and open to the whole community. There will be concessions available. A panel discussion sponsored and moderated by the Goshen Community Relations Commission will follow the film.

‘Goshen – A Sundown Town’s Transformation’ explores Goshen, Indiana’s past as a racially exclusionary Sundown Town and how the community is finding ways to acknowledge this history and move forward. There have been thousands of such communities in the U.S., but Goshen is among the first to make a bipartisan declaration regarding “a past to stand against.”

For most of the 20th century, starting around 1900, Goshen, Indiana, was a “sundown town,” meaning African Americans were, by social and cultural means, excluded from living in Goshen or even staying overnight here.

On March 17, 2015 — after unanimous support from the Goshen Ministerial Association, Community Relations Commission, City Council and mayor — the council addressed Goshen’s lamentable legacy by adopting “A resolution acknowledging the racially exclusionary past of Goshen, Indiana, as a ‘sundown town.’” The resolution concludes: “It happened, it was wrong, it’s a new day.”

However, the shadow of this sundown-town history remains, and to what extent the “new day” is realized is up to the resolve of the community.

The short-documentary was made by sophomore Goshen College film production major, Silas Immanuel, as a Maple Scholar’s project advised by Kyle Hufford, Associate Professor of Communication.

About the Goshen College Communication Department: The Goshen College Communication Department has been recognized in the state and nation for its excellence in broadcasting, journalism, speech, film production and writing. The department has been named Indiana TV and Radio school of the year multiple times, Best College Radio station in the nation twice, Indiana Broadcasters Association Best Radio Station, Best College Newspaper in the state and many more. Students from Goshen College’s Communication Program get hands-on learning opportunities with the department’s co-curriculars like, The Record, PRSSA, WGCS 91.1 The Globe, FiveCore Media. To learn more visit goshen.edu/communication