Learning Tree Scene Drawings

Pages from two of The Learning Tree scene drawing books by artist John Solie and used by Gordon Parks for the film based on his novel, circa 1968. In 1969, after years of effort, Parks secured a film deal with Warner Brothers/Seven Arts, which allowed him to write the screenplay, direct, produce, and score the film, and, in doing so, Parks became the first African American to direct a major Hollywood film. Parks used this opportunity to assemble a crew made up of mostly African Americans who also faced discrimination because of Hollywood's hiring practices. In 1989, the Library of Congress chose The Learning Tree for the first selection of twenty-five films to the National Film Registry, which seeks to preserve films that are culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant.

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/10057/54520

Use and Reproduction

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Archival Collection

Gordon Parks Papers, http://specialcollections.wichita.edu/collections/ms/2013-01/2013-1-a.html
Wichita State University Libraries, Special Collections and University Archives, http://specialcollections.wichita.edu

Collections

Gordon Parks Collection