In this WSB newsfilm clip from August 28, 1962, Rabbi Richard Israel and Reverend Ralph Lord Roy examine their belongings as they exit the Albany City Hall, and a reporter interviews Rabbi Israel about his reasons for coming to Albany, Georgia. The clip begins as Rabbi Israel and Rev. Roy, apparently recently released from police custody, walk down the steps of the Albany City Hall carrying small paper bags; each removes his wallet from the bag and examines its contents. Next, an unidentified reporter interviews Rabbi Israel regarding the reason he came to Albany. Rabbi Israel explains that several cornerstones of the Jewish faith include working on behalf of justice and living in remembrance of the enslavement of the ancestral Israelites in Egypt. In doing so, he argues, it is then necessary to speak out against the continued bondage of others whenever possible. He describes his presence in Albany as an effort to help acknowledge the existence of "the evil of segregation" and to promote awareness of that evil. When the reporter asks him if he feels he accomplished anything by coming to Albany, Rabbi Israel responds that while nothing is ever accomplished all at once, "by putting in little building blocks, we ultimately have a whole building." Reverend Ralph Lord Roy of Grace Methodist Church in New York City, and Rabbi Richard Israel, Yale University chaplain, were two of seventy-five ministers, primarily from New York and Chicago, who came to Albany at the request of local leaders and Dr. Martin Luther King. The clergymen had hoped to help facilitate interaction between the Albany Movement and the local white community, but Albany's white ministers refused to meet with the "outsiders." The visiting ministers were arrested after a prayer vigil at city hall; all but eleven of the clergy were bailed out of jail that same day. The remaining eleven ministers stayed in jail until September 3, 1962.

Title supplied by cataloger.

The Civil Rights Digital Library received support from a National Leadership Grant for Libraries awarded to the University of Georgia by the Institute of Museum and Library Services for digital conversion and description of the WSB-TV Newsfilm Collection.

1 clip (about 1 min.): black-and-white, sound ; 16 mm.

Original found in the WSB-TV newsfilm collection.

WSB-TV newsfilm clip of Rabbi Richard Israel interviewed after being released from police custody in Albany, Georgia, 28 August 1962, WSB-TV newsfilm collection, reel 0725, 4:32/05:22, Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection, The University of Georgia Libraries, Athens, Ga, as presented in the Digital Library of Georgia.

Forms part of: Civil Rights Digital Library.