Museum of Broadcast Communications Receives $250,000 Grant From The Oprah Winfrey Foundation

Museum of Broadcast Communications Receives $250,000 Grant From The Oprah Winfrey Foundation

CHICAGO, Dec. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- The Museum of Broadcast Communications (MBC) is announcing it has received a $250,000 grant from The Oprah Winfrey Foundation for the museum's innovative education program, DocuFest. The program provides free online access to streamed television programs as well as lesson plans for students and teachers.

The grant will support the digital transfer of 150 programs from the museum's civil rights collection and create online curriculum for the programs. The impressive collection includes television and radio programs highlighting specific stories and events related to the struggle for equality. Many of the programs showcase the influence and accomplishments of America's civil rights leaders.

"Preserving important radio and TV programs is a part of what the MBC does, but sharing that content by turning programs into educational tools is how we maximize the influence of our collection," said MBC Founder and President Bruce DuMont.

"There is a tremendous appetite for accurate information in the online world, and we are grateful to The Oprah Winfrey Foundation for sharing our enthusiasm about the use of vintage television shows for educational purposes," DuMont added.

The Museum hopes that other foundations, individuals, and corporations will follow the lead of The Oprah Winfrey Foundation in recognizing the potential of distance learning and online education.

Using the DocuFest program at http://www.museum.tv/ , teachers and students can see the powerful images of the civil rights movement that will make history come alive. The digitized programs feature oral histories and news footage that can be used as primary source material and complement textbooks.

The Museum of Broadcast Communications is one of three broadcast museums in the United States. Currently, it is building a new 70,000 square foot home at State and Kinzie streets in downtown Chicago. The New MBC will re-open in the spring of 2006 and will include new interactive exhibit galleries, expanded archives with a media cafe, working radio and television studios, and a gift shop.


Source: Museum of Broadcast Communications

CONTACT: Raissa Allaire of MBC, +1-312-396-0104

Web site: http://www.museum.tv/


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