Born on January 8, 1940
Filmmaker Henry Hampton was born in St. Louis, attended St. Louis University High School, and graduated from Washington University in St. Louis in 1961. Hampton founded Blackside, Inc. in Boston in 1968, which produced over 60 films and nurtured a generation of filmmakers. Hampton’s signature work was the award-winning documentary series Eyes on the Prize I and II (1987 and 1990), a definitive history of the civil rights movement. His other films include The Great Depression (1993) and America’s War on Poverty (1995). Henry Hampton’s work powerfully told history from the perspectives of great figures and everyday people whose courageous actions created change.
