Free screening of Change in the Wind

Flagler College informed local St. Augustine News reporters that the Andrew Young Foundation will return to the school on September 3rd with a new documentary, “Change in the Wind”.

The film tells the little-known story of a secret friendship between “Gone With the Wind” author Margaret Mitchell and Dr. Benjamin E. Mays, former president of the traditionally black Morehouse College.

The new film will be shown Friday, Sept. 3, in the Flagler College Auditorium, 14 Granada Street, at 7:30 p.m. Doors open at 7 p.m.

Mitchell’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel has been criticized over the years for perpetuating racial stereotypes. Yet, she had secretly corresponded with Mays — a staunch fighter of racism and a mentor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. — and became one of the most important financial supporters of Morehouse.

Anonymously, Mitchell provided funds to pay for the medical educations of dozens of African American men, and “Change in the Wind” tells that little-known story.

The documentary is based on research conducted with the University of Georgia and Morehouse, and includes a great deal of correspondence never before made public.

Young, who had worked closely with Martin Luther King Jr. during the struggle for civil rights, has won several Emmys for his documentaries. He has also served as a UN Ambassador and mayor of Atlanta.

The showing of “Change in the Wind” coincides with his foundation delivering interview recordings of “Crossing in St. Augustine” to Flagler College’s Proctor Library.

“Crossing in St. Augustine” chronicled the pivotal civil rights struggle in St. Augustine in 1964 and Young’s beating in the Oldest City. After a screening of the film at Flagler in February, Young decided to transfer archival material for the film to the college.

This event is free and open to the public. Reservations are not required, but space may be limited. For more information, call the Flagler College events line at 904-819-6400.