CoJMC professor presents documentary at Washington D.C.’s Metropolitan Club

Monday, July 9, 2018 - 12:45pm

by Molly Chapple

On June 28, 2018, “Black Jack Pershing: Love and War” was screened at the Metropolitan Club in Washington, D.C. Producer/director and CoJMC broadcasting professor Barney McCoy attended the special event to discuss his film with members of the club.

The award-winning documentary reveals the deeply personal story of Gen. John J. Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Forces in World War I and a former Metropolitan Club member. “This is where Pershing interviewed candidates for his command staff after America entered the war in April 1917,” McCoy said.

As one of Washington's oldest and most valued private institutions, the Metropolitan Club is just two blocks from the White House. “The Metropolitan Club gave Pershing quick, confidential access to President Woodrow Wilson and Secretary of War Newton Baker before he sailed to France to join French and British troops in battle against Germany,“ McCoy said.

To produce the documentary, McCoy spent five years crisscrossing America. He examined Pershing’s personal papers, viewed thousands of archival photographs and films, and interviewed historians and Pershing family members. CoJMC professor of practice Luis Peon-Casanova was the primary videographer on the project.

McCoy said the documentary also reveals the sacrifices Americans made at home and abroad during the Great War. “It’s an extraordinary sacrifice Americans should learn more about and always remember,” McCoy said.

“Black Jack Pershing: Love and War,” is a co-production of Painted Rock Productions and NET, Nebraska’s PBS station. Production support for the documentary was provided by CoJMC, Humanities Nebraska, UNL’s Research Council, Lowell Vestal, Sandra Pershing and the Hitchcock Foundation.

For more information on the documentary and to schedule a screening go to https://jjpershing.com/.

Barney McCoy teaches multimedia, broadcast news and depth reporting courses at the CoJMC.