Screening of Becoming American at the JCB

Join us on Tuesday, November 10 at 1 p.m. for a screening of "Becoming American" at the JCB. This event is free and open to the public. (Please register using the link in the upper right-hand corner of this page!)

About the film

“Becoming American” is a story about the birth of our nation. The proud tale of how 56 men from 13 colonies told their British landlords that enough was enough, and they were ready to stand on their own two feet. Philadelphia was the backdrop for the conversations, debates, and the drawing up of documents that would shape our country’s founding, but this is a shared history that resonates from East to West, North to South, in places that had not even been dreamt of in 1776. The semiquincentennial belongs to all Americans.

Learn more at https://www.becomingamericanmovie.com/about.

About the speaker

Oliver St Clair Franklin, OBE, CBE is a bibliophile, film producer, and cultural leader whose current work focuses on bringing rigorous scholarship on Afro-American history and cultural practices to the screen. His distinguished career spans the arts, business, and diplomacy. He served as Philadelphia’s first Arts Commissioner and founded the nation’s first Black Film Festival. In investment management, he was a founding partner of the first U.S. investment firm established in South Africa. His diplomatic service included serving as Honorary British Consul in Philadelphia. In recognition of his contributions to strengthening Anglo-American relations, he was appointed both OBE and CBE by the late British Monarch. Mr. Franklin is a graduate of Lincoln University (Pennsylvania) and Balliol College, Oxford, where he is an Honorary Fellow.