The formal name of the church is Mt. Zion African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, Devon. The story of how the short documentary video, called "The Cornerstone: Mt. Zion AME Church, Devon," came to be begins with someone sharing with me information about the Scribe Video Center in Philadelphia, Pa., an organization that helps neighborhoods tell their stories.

Since their founding in 1982, Scribe has been teaching the video production process to neighborhood groups and individuals by providing classes and expert teachers from the industry. This program is free for organizations in Philadelphia, Camden, and adjoining counties. No prior experience in filmmaking is required.

Realizing that applying for the opportunity to celebrate Mt. Zion's history by learning how to create a video documentary, with experts, with future public exposure, all for free, was an important lucky chance that needed to be explored.

Following the acceptance of our group's application to one of Scribe's community projects, the "Precious Places Community History Project," the documentary process started. We were fortunate to work with LaRaine Speller-Calhoun (Vice-Chairperson of the Stewards Board, Mt. Zion), Scribe Production Facilitator Conrad Burgos Jr., Scribe Humanities Facilitator Amelia Carter, and (my son and high school history teacher at the Haverford School) Bhelly Bagbonon, all of whom greatly assisted us in the creation of the program.

After the completion of the video documentary, it was publicly aired for free in several ways. First, it premiered (along with seven other projects) at the Lightbox Film Center, on South Broad Street, Philadelphia in January 2023.

Next, the Philadelphia area PBS affiliate station, WHYY-TV, broadcast four half-hour episodes of Precious Places, each containing two projects, over four weeks starting in late October 2023. Our project is in the second half of Episode Two. Scribe Video Center included a special "Behind the Lens" segment featuring interviews with the makers of each documentary after each project video. WHYY-TV has also graciously extended Internet access to all eight 2023 documentaries from December 2023 to February 29, 2024. A nice gift for Black History Month. As of March 24, the video was moved to stream from a new location.

We are pleased and proud to have participated in a community-focused program such as the Scribe Video Center Precious Places Community History Project. Mt. Zion and the African American community have more stories to tell!

Bertha L. Jackmon is church historian at Mt. Zion AME Church in Devon and a TEHS board member, and has been centrally involved in a variety of significant local history projects.

The Cornerstone: Mt. Zion AME Church, Devon Documentary

Our project's program segment begins at 13:36 from the start.