American INSIGHT
Encyclopedia
American INSIGHT’s mission is to produce, promote, and distribute historical documentaries, and to broaden exposure to historical information through the use of emerging technologies. Combining the resources of a broadcast-quality television production company with a fully integrated digital network and delivery system for multi platform media content, American INSIGHT is a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit organization registered in the State of Pennsylvania.
American INSIGHT was founded in 1983 by Margaret Chew Barringer
under the original name of the American Poetry Center
to promote the Spoken Word
through emerging technologies. Its success in Pennsylvania
led to the creation of National Poetry Month
. The organization legally changed its name to American INSIGHT as it prepared to reach Internet audiences through the latest advances in all-digital historic archival research, video production techniques, and Internet-based delivery systems.
, for a series of thirteen life size murals in the Governor’s Reception Room at the Pennsylvania State Capitol
building in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
. Featured in the story are William Tyndale
printing the Bible
in English, Poet Anne Askew
, the English Civil War
, Quaker leader George Fox
, and six murals depicting the visionary life of William Penn
.
. Hamilton is best remembered for his pro bono defense of John Peter Zenger
in 1735, in which he successfully defended the press’ right to free speech, forty years before the American Revolution.
. A life-long pacifist, negotiator and consummate lawyer, Chew helped forge the legal pathways that led to the creation of the United States Constitution
.
, Ezra Pound
, Gertrude Stein
, and William Carlos Williams
. Philadelphia composer Eric Sessler provided the documentary’s original score. The film was screened at over twenty venues throughout the region, including the Barnes Foundation and the Michener Art Museum.
, who considers Philadelphia his spiritual home. Inventing, but never copyrighting, the famous LOVE sculpture
, Indiana continues to use words and typographic forms to define his distinctive approach to both language and art. American INSIGHT crews have captured hours of footage containing both conversations with him and his public appearances since 1990.
American INSIGHT was founded in 1983 by Margaret Chew Barringer
Margaret Chew Barringer
Margaret Chew Barringer founded the American Poetry Center in 1983 as a statewide nonprofit organization that brought storytelling and The Spoken Word to a wide range of audiences across Pennsylvania...
under the original name of the American Poetry Center
American Poetry Center
American Poetry Center was founded in 1983 to bring the Spoken Word to a wide range of audiences. All programs were created, developed and implemented by Margaret Chew Barringer, under the auspices of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. For its first decade, Jerome J. Shestack, Esq. chaired the...
to promote the Spoken Word
Spoken word
Spoken word is a form of poetry that often uses alliterated prose or verse and occasionally uses metered verse to express social commentary. Traditionally it is in the first person, is from the poet’s point of view and is themed in current events....
through emerging technologies. Its success in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
led to the creation of National Poetry Month
National Poetry Month
National Poetry Month is a celebration of poetry first introduced in 1996 by the Academy of American Poets as a way to increase awareness and appreciation of poetry in the United States. It is celebrated every April in the United States and in Canada as well...
. The organization legally changed its name to American INSIGHT as it prepared to reach Internet audiences through the latest advances in all-digital historic archival research, video production techniques, and Internet-based delivery systems.
Internship Program
Initiated in 2001, American INSIGHT's Internship Program has fostered the talents of university students in the Greater Philadelphia area who are dedicated to preserving our nation's history. Interns who successfully volunteer or receive academic credit for a semester are eligible to apply for American INSIGHT's paid Internships. By including Interns in all phases of the production of historical documentaries, American INSIGHT fills a critical need in our nation's television production industry.Free Speech Film Festival
American INSIGHT’s Free Speech Film Festival was created and developed after six years of detailed research into the history of Free Speech. Managed by university students enrolled in American INSIGHT’s Internship Program, the Festival is a low-cost, grassroots, sustainable program that unites Celebrity Judges, students, scholars, poets, artists, scientists, writers, educators, and the general public in conversations about the history and future of Free Speech. Award-winning films receive global distribution to high schools around the world.Free Speech: A Sacred Challenge
The storyline of this documentary-in-progress was created in 1906 by Philadelphia artist Violet OakleyViolet Oakley
Violet Oakley was an American artist known for her murals and her work in stained glass. She was a student and later a faculty member at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.-Life:...
, for a series of thirteen life size murals in the Governor’s Reception Room at the Pennsylvania State Capitol
Pennsylvania State Capitol
The Pennsylvania State Capitol is the seat of government for the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and is in downtown Harrisburg. It was designed in 1902 in a Beaux-Arts style with Renaissance themes throughout...
building in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Harrisburg is the capital of Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 49,528, making it the ninth largest city in Pennsylvania...
. Featured in the story are William Tyndale
William Tyndale
William Tyndale was an English scholar and translator who became a leading figure in Protestant reformism towards the end of his life. He was influenced by the work of Desiderius Erasmus, who made the Greek New Testament available in Europe, and by Martin Luther...
printing the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
in English, Poet Anne Askew
Anne Askew
Anne Askew was an English poet and Protestant who was condemned as a heretic...
, the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
, Quaker leader George Fox
George Fox
George Fox was an English Dissenter and a founder of the Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as the Quakers or Friends.The son of a Leicestershire weaver, Fox lived in a time of great social upheaval and war...
, and six murals depicting the visionary life of William Penn
William Penn
William Penn was an English real estate entrepreneur, philosopher, and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, the English North American colony and the future Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He was an early champion of democracy and religious freedom, notable for his good relations and successful...
.
Andrew Hamilton, Esq.: The Philadelphia Lawyer
A website-in-progress dedicated to continuing research on Colonial lawyer and public figure, Andrew Hamilton, EsqAndrew Hamilton (lawyer)
Andrew Hamilton was a Scottish lawyer in Colonial America, best known for his legal victory on behalf of printer and newspaper publisher John Peter Zenger. This 1735 decision helped to establish that truth is a defense to an accusation of libel...
. Hamilton is best remembered for his pro bono defense of John Peter Zenger
John Peter Zenger
John Peter Zenger was a German-American printer, publisher, editor, and journalist in New York City. He was a defendant in a landmark legal case in American jurisprudence that determined that truth was a defense against charges of libel and "laid the foundation for American press freedom."-...
in 1735, in which he successfully defended the press’ right to free speech, forty years before the American Revolution.
Benjamin Chew, Esq.: The Politics of Peace
A website-in-progress dedicated to promoting ongoing historical research, manuscripts, articles, lectures and films about the life and career of a critically important, but overlooked, American hero, Benjamin Chew, EsqBenjamin Chew
Benjamin Chew was a third-generation American, a Quaker-born legal scholar, a prominent and successful Philadelphia lawyer, head of the Pennsylvania Judiciary System under both Colony and Commonwealth, and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Province of Pennsylvania...
. A life-long pacifist, negotiator and consummate lawyer, Chew helped forge the legal pathways that led to the creation of the United States Constitution
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
.
Arthur B. Carles: Philadelphia Artist
Completed in 2005, American INSIGHT's first historical documentary Arthur B. Carles: Philadelphia Artist, examines the life and work of seminal Philadelphia artist, Arthur B. Carles, and was produced in cooperation with seventeen scholars over forty cultural institutions in the Greater Philadelphia area. Archival photographs, film clips and footage of locations important to Carles’ life provide a backdrop for readings from Carles' letters. Poetry readings occur throughout the film by Carles’ contemporaries Wallace StevensWallace Stevens
Wallace Stevens was an American Modernist poet. He was born in Reading, Pennsylvania, educated at Harvard and then New York Law School, and spent most of his life working as a lawyer for the Hartford insurance company in Connecticut.His best-known poems include "Anecdote of the Jar",...
, Ezra Pound
Ezra Pound
Ezra Weston Loomis Pound was an American expatriate poet and critic and a major figure in the early modernist movement in poetry...
, Gertrude Stein
Gertrude Stein
Gertrude Stein was an American writer, poet and art collector who spent most of her life in France.-Early life:...
, and William Carlos Williams
William Carlos Williams
William Carlos Williams was an American poet closely associated with modernism and Imagism. He was also a pediatrician and general practitioner of medicine, having graduated from the University of Pennsylvania...
. Philadelphia composer Eric Sessler provided the documentary’s original score. The film was screened at over twenty venues throughout the region, including the Barnes Foundation and the Michener Art Museum.
Robert Indiana: Full Circle
American INSIGHT’s documentary-in-progress, Robert Indiana: Full Circle, examines the ingenuity of American Pop artist Robert IndianaRobert Indiana
Robert Indiana is an American artist associated with the Pop Art movement.-Life and work:Robert Indiana was born Robert Clark in New Castle, Indiana. His family relocated to Indianapolis, where he graduated from Arsenal Technical High School...
, who considers Philadelphia his spiritual home. Inventing, but never copyrighting, the famous LOVE sculpture
LOVE (Sculpture)
LOVE is a sculpture by American artist Robert Indiana. It consists of the letters LO over the letters VE.The image was originally designed as a Christmas card for the Museum of Modern Art in 1964...
, Indiana continues to use words and typographic forms to define his distinctive approach to both language and art. American INSIGHT crews have captured hours of footage containing both conversations with him and his public appearances since 1990.
Further reading
- A Sacred Challenge:Violet Oakley and the Pennsylvania Capitol Murals. United States of America: The Pennsylvania Capitol Preservation Committee, 2002. ISBN 0-9643048-6-4
- Ryan, S. E. (2000). Robert Indiana: Figures of speech. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-07957-5
- Konkle, B. A. (1932). Benjamin Chew 1722-1810: Head of the Pennsylvania judiciary system under colony and commonwealth. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.
- Wolanin, B.A.B. (2000). The orchestration of color: The paintings of Arthur B. Carles. New York, NY: Hollis Taggart Galleries.
External links
- American INSIGHT Homepage
- Andrew Hamilton Esq. A site dedicated to emerging research on Andrew Hamilton, Esq.
- Benjamin Chew, Esq. A site dedicated to emerging research on Benjamin Chew, Esq.
- Free Speech Film Festival