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WOUB’s Our Town: Athens Available Free On YouTube for One Week
< < Back toDocumentaries will be released each Friday at 8 p.m.
ATHENS, OH – As Ohioans are staying at home and following the directive of Ohio Governor Mike DeWine and Ohio Department of Health Director Doctor Amy Acton, WOUB Public Media is providing a fun and educational activity for adults and families to help pass the time. Each week, WOUB will premiere one of its local documentaries on YouTube on Fridays at 8 p.m. The documentaries will remain posted on YouTube for one week after their release.
“Our hope is that we will give people in our region and their families something to look forward to each week, as we all navigate this Coronavirus outbreak together by staying apart. It will be a little like old school appointment television, except on the internet,” said WOUB Producer/Director Evan Shaw while laughing. “Our hope is that everyone will pop some popcorn and watch these documentaries together with those in their homes and then have a social discussion on the internet about what they watched and learned.”
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Our Town: Athens YouTube Premiere Friday, March 27 8 p.m. |
The first release will be Our Town: Athens. The hour-long documentary covers the formation of the Ohio Company of Associates and their journey into the Northwest Territory, the founding of Ohio University, the early industries of salt and bricks, John Newton-Templeton – the first African American student at Ohio University, The Athens Asylum, The Berry Hotel, The McBee Corporation and PGA Champion Dow Finsterwald. It also looks at the 1970 shutdown of Ohio University due to the shootings at Kent State. A closure like that has never happened again until now with the closure of the university and move to remote education due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
“Our Town: Athens will be of tremendous interest to people living in the Athens community, but also to Ohio University alumni who fell in love with Athens when they were going to college and those who are just interested in Southeastern Ohio history,” said WOUB Community Engagement Manager Cheri Russo. “Local educators could also use this documentary as part of their remote curriculum while students are doing assignments at home.”
“I think seeing this documentary will provide hope to many, as it shows the struggles the community of Athens and Ohio University have gone through in the past, only to overcome them and prosper,” said Shaw. “When people have watched the Our Town documentaries in the past, they have come away with a great sense of community pride. I think there will only be more of that during times like these.”
“We are tremendously proud of the high-quality local documentaries WOUB has produced over the years and the value they bring showcasing the proud history of the region we serve,” said WOUB General Manager Mark Brewer. “In times like these, looking back at our history, learning from it and seeing the resilience of those who came before us can be tremendously inspirational and provide much needed hope.”
About Our Town
Our Town is a historical documentary series produced by WOUB Public Media and the Barbara Geralds Institute for Storytelling and Social Impact which aims to tell the unique creation stories of communities in the Appalachian region. Through the telling of this history, Our Town is building the collective story of the Appalachian region and developing an incredible sense of place and purpose to inspire residents to continue building on the past to create a stronger future.