Monday, April 10, 2023

Stewart Udall: The Politics Of Beauty Documentary Screening at the Dougherty Arts Center on May 7 at 7:00 p.m

Stewart Udall: The Politics Of Beauty will be shown at the Dougherty Arts Center, 1110 Barton Springs Rd., on May 7 at 7:00 p.m. The new 78-minute documentary celebrates the life and legacy of former Interior Secretary Stewart L. Udall, arguably the most effective environmentalist in American history. He fought tirelessly for the protection of our planet and its natural beauty and was the first public official to speak out about global warming.
 
Stewart Udall: The Politics Of Beauty chronicles Udall’s World War II experiences, his days as a star basketball player for the University of Arizona, his efforts to end Jim Crow policies at the University and later, in the National Park Service, his election to Congress and his decade as Interior Secretary under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, during which he helped create dozens of National Parks, Monuments, Historical Sites and Wildlife Refuges.

Udall pushed legislation through Congress mandating clean air and water, wilderness preservation, pesticide restrictions, strip-mining reclamation, and the establishment of Wild and Scenic Rivers and National Trails systems, while providing greater self-determination for Native Americans. The film explores the hard choices Udall had to make regarding both the Vietnam War and plans to dam the Grand Canyon, which he stopped.

Of interest for Austin audiences, the film depicts the role that Lady Bird Johnson played in formulating a popular environmental program inspired by Secretary Udall. Additionally, when Udall desegregated the National Parks Service in 1962 with its first internship program for college students of color, a young Robert Stanton joined the National Parks Service (NPS) only to become its first African-American individual to serve as Director of the NPS in 1997.

Mr. Stanton, a graduate of Huston Tillotson University, will join the filmmaker, John DeGraaf, in a panel discussion following the film. Attendees may reserve a ticket at UdallScreening.eventbrite.com.

For more information on the film or to schedule an interview, email director John de Graaf: jodg@comcast.net or call 206-407-5490.

“Don't miss this masterpiece!”--Gus Speth, former director, UN Development Program, Dean, Yale School of Forestry, co-founder, Natural Resources Defense Council.