Goshen Sundown Town Documentary to air on TV for Juneteenth

‘Goshen – A Sundown Town’s Transformation’ will air on Tuesday, June 20th at 9 p.m. on South Bend’s PBS station, WNIT 34.1, as a part of their Juneteenth celebration programming. This 30 min documentary, produced by Goshen College film students, 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.

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. 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.”

The short-documentary was made by Goshen College film production major, Silas Immanuel, as a Maple Scholar’s project directed by Kyle Hufford, associate professor of communication.

Additional airings will include June 19th at 8:30 p.m. on WNIT channel 34.2, and June 22nd and 25th at 4 p.m on the main WNIT channel 34.1. WNIT is also available on all the local cable and satellite networks.

For more information visit FiveCoreMedia.com/sundowntown.

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.