Interactive installation to be displayed at Northeastern University through November 18, 2022
Boston, MA. October 24, 2022 -- FRONTLINE, the acclaimed PBS investigative series produced at Boston public media producer GBH, has brought the Emmy-Award winning multiplatform project Un(re)solved to Boston.
Un(re)solved is a major initiative telling a story of lives cut short and examining a federal effort to investigate more than 150 cold case murders that date back to the civil rights era. Drawing on more than two years of reporting, thousands of documents, and dozens of first-hand interviews with family members — as well as current and former Justice Department and FBI officials, state and local law enforcement, lawmakers, civil-rights leaders and investigative journalists — the multi-platform Un(re)solved project investigates the federal government’s effort to grapple with America’s legacy of racist killings, mainly against African Americans, through the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act.
Located outside Northeastern University’s Cabot Center at 400 Huntington Ave. in Boston, the augmented reality installation weaves together historical facts and present day stories of those who have been lost, as told by their descendants. More than 150 names are engraved on the panels, each belonging to an individual killed in a racial violence cold case that was reopened due to the 2008 Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act. To activate the accompanying QR code, users are prompted to say the names of the people on the list in order to explore their stories.
“Un(re)solved is a critically important project, centering the stories and voices of those for whom justice has long been denied,” said Jon Abbott, president and CEO of GBH. “I am incredibly proud of the team at FRONTLINE that has worked tirelessly to bring the project to life and we are thrilled to be able to share this with the city of Boston.”
Executive produced by award-winning filmmakersDawn Porter (John Lewis: Good Trouble, Gideon’s Army) and Raney Aronson-Rath (Editor-in-Chief and Executive Producer, FRONTLINE), Un(re)solved includes a web interactive experience; podcast mini-series; augmented-reality installation that can tour schools, libraries and museums; broadcast documentary; companion educational curriculum; and events.
“We are proud to use the multiplatform, investigative journalism in Un(re)solved as a way to shine a light on these individuals and their families and their quests for justice, and to contribute to the national conversation surrounding the reckoning on racism in America,” says Raney Aronson-Rath. “We wanted to make Un(re)solved as accessible as possible, with the hopes of offering an immersive experience that both emphasizes the gravity of these murders and honors the victims’ lives.”
In producing Un(re)solved, FRONTLINE collaborated closely with Northeastern University’sCivil Rights and Restorative Justice Project (CCRJ), founded by Distinguished Professor of Law Margaret Burnham. Professor Burnham is a leading scholar in this field and recently published the book, “By Hands Known and Unknown”. The CCRJ recently released the Burnham-Nobles Digital Archive, one of the most comprehensive digital archives of racial homicides collected to date, which helped to inform the Un(re)solved Project
Additional partners include Ado Ato Pictures, a premier mixed reality studio founded by artist, filmmaker, and technologist Tamara Shogaolu; Story Corp, an independent nonprofit project whose mission is to record, preserve, and share the stories of Americans from all backgrounds and beliefs; and Black Public Media, which develops, produces, funds, and distributes media content about the African American and global Black experience.
A distinguished advisory council that includes Margaret Burnham, Jelani Cobb, Rhea Combs, Leslie Fields-Cruz, Jerry Mitchell, Stanley Nelson, Ron Nixon and Lisa Osborne has helped guide the development of the project. The Un(re)solved installation will be located outside the Cabot Center at Northeastern University through November 18, 2022. A single-panel installation will be located at GBH through February 2023.
About FRONTLINE
FRONTLINE, U.S. television’s longest-running investigative documentary series, explores the issues of our times through powerful storytelling. FRONTLINE has won every major journalism and broadcasting award, including 104 Emmy Awards and 28 Peabody Awards Visitpbs.org/frontline and follow us onTwitter,Facebook,Instagram, andYouTube to learn more. FRONTLINE is produced by GBH in Boston and is broadcast nationwide on PBS. Support for Un(re)solved provided by PBS; the Corporation for Public Broadcasting; the Abrams Foundation; the Jonathan Logan Family Foundation; The WNET Group’s Chasing the Dream, a public media initiative that examines poverty, justice, and economic opportunity in America, with major funding by The JPB Foundation and additional funding from The Peter G. Peterson and Joan Ganz Cooney Fund; the GBH Catalyst Fund; the FRONTLINE Journalism Fund with major support from Jon and Jo Ann Hagler on behalf of the Jon L. Hagler Foundation; the Lisa and Douglas Goldman Fund; the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center; The Barbra Streisand Foundation and Unity Software, Inc., through its Unity Charitable Fund, a fund of the Tides Foundation. Funding for FRONTLINE is provided through the support of PBS viewers and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Additional support for FRONTLINE is provided by the Abrams Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Park Foundation, the Heising-Simons Foundation, and the FRONTLINE Journalism Fund with major support from Jon and Jo Ann Hagler on behalf of the Jon L. Hagler Foundation.
About GBH
GBH is the leading multiplatform creator for public media in America. As the largest producer of content for PBS and partner to NPR and PRX, GBH delivers compelling experiences, stories and information to audiences wherever they are. GBH produces digital and broadcast programming that engages, illuminates and inspires, through drama and science, history, arts, culture and journalism. It is the creator of such signature programs as MASTERPIECE, ANTIQUES ROADSHOW, FRONTLINE, NOVA, AMERICAN EXPERIENCE, ARTHUR, PINKALICIOUS and MOLLY OF DENALI and a catalog of streaming series, podcasts and on-demand video. GBH’s television channels include GBH 2, GBH 44, GBH Kids and national services WORLD and Create. With studios and a newsroom headquartered in Boston, GBH reaches across New England with GBH 89.7, Boston’s Local NPR; CRB Classical 99.5; and CAI, the Cape and Islands NPR station. Dedicated to making media accessible to and inclusive of our diverse culture, GBH is a pioneer in delivering media to those who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind and visually impaired. GBH creates curriculum-based digital content for educators nationwide with PBS LearningMedia and has been recognized with hundreds of the nation’s premier broadcast, digital and journalism awards. Find more information at gbh.org