Home Photo Gallery Classroom Documents East Side Group!
March-April 1941
As we go to press, we get word from the East Side Group that their work is coming along nicely. This group consists of Dave Joseph, Dan Weiner, and Walter Rosenblum (all former members of the Documentary Class, who are continuing as a group under the leadership of Sid Grossman. The fine training that the Documentary Class offers shows itself in this group of its graduates. In working with the East Side Tenant's League on this project, they know the vital importance of a thorough knowledge of their subject before they start shooting. So for several weeks they have spent their time in learning how these people live, and how they organize in their fight for a better life. Going over the subject at a round table discussion, they were struck by the fine and wonderful qualities of these people, despite an environment which makes every effort to degrade and debase them. This is one of the big themes they intend to show in their pictures. To further cement their relationship with the Tenant's League, the group sent one of its members down to talk to the Tenant League membership. He explained the group's purpose, and the work it wanted to do. Much applause greeted the speaker, which is a good sign that the group is being taken warmly to heart. Members of the production groups are now accompanying Tenant League organizers into the homes of its members, in order to find those people who will fit best into the story they wish to show. Shooting as such has not yet begun, except for a few pictures taken at one of the Tenant League meetings. The group expects to work over a period of from four to six months, and intend to make a much more thorough job of this than of "Pitt Street." They are showing the same class of people here, but these people have advanced a step. They are fighting for their rights thru an organization they have built. That the work this group produces will be of a solid and worthwhile nature, we have no doubt.
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