Edition No. 19
In this Edition
Arts and Culture
In fall 2019, The War Memorial premiered the documentary film …As If They Were Angels. Now available for on-demand streaming, hear from director Terry Strauss as she shares her personal connection to this moving story.
Community and Family
In an NPR piece, Maureen Corrigan reviews Alice Randall’s Black Bottom Saints: A Novel, a story that reimagines the vibrant life of one of Detroit’s most famous neighborhoods. Photo: Burton Historical Collection.
Our American Values
In a December 2020 piece from The Atlantic, Adam Serwer considers the growing chorus of calls for “civility” in American public life and the cost of heeding those calls.
...As If They Were Angels
By Special Guest Contributor, Filmmaker Terry Strauss
In the fall of 2019, The War Memorial had the distinct privilege of hosting the premiere of the documentary …As If They Were Angels, featuring two sold-out evenings with commentary from both the film’s director and associate producer. As the film becomes available for on-demand screening, we’ve asked director Terry Strauss to share her thoughts on this moving story of heroism, courage, and humanity.
Terry Strauss
Producer and Director of …As If They Were Angels
…As If They Were Angels is a dramatic story of shipwreck, rescue, tragedy, and courage — 203 American Navy sailors dead, 186 rescued by the people of two small towns in Newfoundland. I owe my life to them, as my father was among those rescued sailors.
At screenings of the film, audiences often ask, did your father talk about the disaster when you were growing up? I knew these bits and pieces:
His toes became painful in the cold because he’d suffered frostbite in the disaster.
He’d lost his ship and shipmates early in the war, and the survivors were rescued by people they didn’t know, who risked their own lives in a place called Newfoundland.
He was scrubbed and warmed with hot rocks by “angels” while waiting for the Navy to claim him.
He’d gone snow blind at the hospital and searched for a gun so he wouldn’t be a burden to my mom.
A book by Canadian writer Cassie Brown, Standing Into Danger, first rescued this story from obscurity. Her interviews started survivors talking, unlocking stories they hadn’t told, even to their spouses. She detailed the heroic rescues, never celebrated as they brought with them painful memories. In 1979, her book was published by Doubleday in Canada, but even then, was prevented from publication in the US.
I accompanied my father to Newfoundland in 1988 — a “coming home” for survivors, a chance to meet their rescuers, and a remembrance for all involved in the extraordinary events. It was then that shooting began on the film.
Today, audiences across the country have been moved and inspired by this story. The nephew of Truxtun Navigator Newman discovered his uncle wasn’t responsible for the shipwreck, and hadn’t shot himself, but drowned. People have seen faces of relatives they’ve never met. A particularly youthful audience was moved to tears, crying as the lights came up, and saying tragically, “We don’t have people like that anymore.”
I respond that the true hope of the story is that we are all capable of being people like that, if we remember, and choose to be.
Terry Strauss on The War Memorial’s Inspired Heroes
In October 2019, Terry Strauss and the film's associate producer, Phoebe Wall Howard, were guests on our radio show Inspired Heroes. Listen below as they share with our hosts Marie Osborne and Ted Everingham the moving details behind making this film, their personal connections to telling the story, and why hosting the premiere at The War Memorial just seemed perfect. Next week, we'll share part two of the interview, along with a reflective piece from Wall Howard.
“It is refreshing and incredibly touching to discover a part of our history through a more intimate and personal narrative. ‘…As If They Were Angels’ beautifully encapsulates the legacy of the brave souls. Hopefully, it will live on and continue to inspire future generations.”
Watch …As If They Were Angels
As the pandemic hit, screenings and consideration of the film were put on hold. Thinking quickly to share this story, the film shifted towards distribution in Canada, landing on CBC’s documentary channel, and in the US. The film has now been officially released on multiple streaming platforms. To view …As If They Were Angels on your preferred service, click or tap below. Fees may apply. The War Memorial has no association whatsoever with the following distributors.
Black Bottom Saints: A Novel
In an NPR piece from August, Georgetown University Professor Maureen Corrigan reviewed Alice Randall’s Black Bottom Saints: A Novel (Harper Collins, 2020). Randall imagined the memoir that a Detroit gossip columnist, nightclub emcee, and theater school operator might write from their deathbed about Detroit’s black community from 1939 through 1968. Real people and events swirl through Randall’s telling, in the voice of Ziggy Johnson, of the stories of the heyday of Detroit’s Black Bottom community. Ziggy, by the way, is one of the real people in Randall’s story; this Free Press article announces his 1939 arrival in Detroit from, as it is careful to note, New York’s Apollo Theater.
Historical photos courtesy of the Burton Historical Collection.
“[When I’m driving] I’m driving some other Black man’s sweat and prosperity. Some other Black man’s competence. And the next week that man will be sitting in my audience. His approval will matter.”
Civility Is Overrated
Writing in the December issue of The Atlantic, Adam Serwer considered the growing chorus of calls for “civility” in American public life and the cost of heeding those calls. Civility, Serwer notes, was often “the result of excluding historically marginalized groups from the polity, which allowed men like James Eastland to wield tremendous power in Congress without regard for the rights or dignity of their disenfranchised constituents.” (Eastland was an avowed segregationist who represented Mississippi in the US Senate from 1943 through 1978.) Click or tap here for the full article.
“I have earnestly opposed violent tension, but there is a type of constructive, nonviolent tension which is necessary for growth.”
Inspired Thoughts is a collection of highly curated content that embraces the spirit and purpose of The War Memorial: arts and culture, community enrichment, leadership, and patriotism.
Derived from the notion that learning from others is the key to success, Inspired Thoughts is meant to shine a light on those making a difference in the world around them. This collection features artists, poets, writers, architects, and every thought leader in-between. Inspired Thoughts is the strongest reflection of what The War Memorial stands for, and what we aim to be.
The content featured on Inspired Thoughts is curated by War Memorial leadership — we also look forward to featuring special guest curators in the near future. If you are interested in providing content for Inspired Thoughts, please email our Community Engagement team at bhoste@warmemorial.org.