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Community Corner

Film screening with Emmy-nominated director and post-event meet up

The U-M Club of Greater Boston is proud to present a screening of “Black and Blue” at the Somerville Theatre. The program will be hosted by the film’s Emmy-nominated director, Brian Kruger.

In the early part of the 20th Century, Jim Crow was a sad fact of life in college football. The issue came to a head in the fall of 1934, when Georgia Tech traveled to Ann Arbor to play Michigan. The Wolverines’ best player was an African-American from Detroit named Willis Ward. Georgia Tech refused to play the game unless Ward was benched. After much debate, Michigan finally caved in and sat him out. The decision infuriated many of Willis Ward’s teammates, including his best friend on the team, a tall lineman from Grand Rapids named Jerry Ford. Ford threatened to quit the team in protest, and agreed to play the game only after Ward personally asked him to. With Ford playing the game of his life, the Wolverines won the contest – their only victory of 1934. The lessons that Gerald Ford learned that day in the Big House followed him all the way to the White House.

This amazing story is told in “Black and Blue: The Story of Gerald Ford, Willis Ward and the 1934 Michigan-Georgia Tech Game,” an Emmy-nominated documentary by Brian Kruger and Buddy Moorehouse of Stunt3 Multimedia.

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Net proceeds from this event will benefit the UMCGB Scholarship Fund.

Join us at Five Horses Tavern after the screening for complimentary appetizers.

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  • Date: Wednesday, November 6, 2013
  • Time: 7:00pm
  • Theatre Location: Somerville Theatre, 55 Davis Square, Somerville, MA 02144
  • Post-Screening Meet-Up: Five Horses Tavern, 400 Highland Ave, Somerville, MA 02144
  • Cost: $5 for U-M Alumni Association members, $10 for non-members

To register, visit the AAUM website. You may also register over the phone by calling the AAUM at 800.847.4764.

If you have any questions about this event, please contact the UMCGB board at umcgb.admin@gmail.com.

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