2 movies have local ties
Great Debaters movie features Texas State Railroad scenes
BY LELAND ACKER
A struggling railroad, a small historically Black college and an A-list movie star add up to a blockbuster movie which opened yesterday. The Great Debaters, starring and directed by Denzel Washington, is a story about the 1935 debate team from Wiley College and includes footage filmed at the Texas State Railroad's Palestine Depot.

"Everyone's just excited and prideful," said Veronica Clark, public relations director for Wiley College. "I thought it brought up good issues and brought a great deal of pride to the tradition of the college."

The film centers around the 1935 Wiley College debate team, with Mr. Washington starring as Melvin B. Tolson, an English teacher and debate coach who led the team to victory over major universities and Ivy League schools.

"It's a story about the underdog, courage and triumph," Ms. Clark said. "Seeing what those students did, and that they did it at this college, it's a tremendous event for us."

The 1935 debate team not only defeated larger traditional black colleges, such as Tuskegee, Howard and Fisk, they also crossed racial barriers, defeating the University of Southern California and several Ivy League schools, according to the Spring 1997 issue of American Legacy magazine. The team traveled under the perilous conditions of the 1930s Jim Crowe South, the article said.

Melvin B. l Tolson, played by Denzel Washington, discusses a debate topic with his Wiley College debate team in the movie, The Great Debaters. The movie centers around the 1935 Wiley College debate team. PHOTO: THE WEINSTEIN COMPANY

Mr. Tolson not only coached debate, but in reality also coached football, drama and taught English. In addition to maintaining his duties at Wiley

College, he was a writer and a poet. He wrote a column for the Washington Tribune and his poetry was published in several books. In the movie, Mr. Washington portrays Mr. Tolson as a passionate teacher who lives to prepare his students to be strong thinkers who will change their world. That preparation came through debate training.

"I am here to help you protect your righteous mind," Mr. Tolson told his students in the movie.

The movie intersects with the Texas State Railroad when Mr. Tolson's debate team boards a train bound for Boston to face Harvard University. The scene was filmed approximately a quarter of a mile west of the Palestine depot, utilizing a set built to depict a 1930sera railroad depot. The water tower in the background is the water tower of the actual state railroad depot. Footage of the depot scene and the train traveling on the track, is included in the theatrical and television trailers.

Several of Mr. Tolson's students went on to great things. Hobart Jarrett (class of 1936) went on to be an English professor at Brooklyn College. Hamilton Boswell (class of 1938) went on to be a Methodist preacher. Henrietta Bell, one of the few female debaters on the circuit at that time, became a social worker. Mr. Tolson's son, Melvin, Jr., went on to become the first African American tenured professor at the University of Oklahoma.

One of his most notable students, James Farmer, Jr., went on to found the Congress of Racial Equality, a group that sought to end all racial segregation in America through active nonviolent activities. Mr. Farmer helped organize sit-ins and the Freedom Rides.

"(Mr. Farmer) was portrayed in the movie as a smart character, timid in a way, who captured his voice and honed his skills as a debater," Ms. Clark said. "He was an alternate (in the movie and in real life)."

Mr. Farmer's father, James Farmer, Sr. is portrayed by Forrest Whitaker.

On Dec. 13, the movie premiered in Marshall. Ms. Clark said it was an exciting event for Wiley College.

"It's not everyday Denzel Washington wants to come do a film at your college," she said. "Movies have to be written so that people will want to see them. Some facts are embellished in the movie, it's not documentary type stuff.

"The story is compelling and very moving. I hope people enjoy the movie, we did in Marshall."

The movie is currently showing in theaters all across East Texas.