The city of Phoenix is the 2005 recipient of the 3CMA (City-County Communications and Marketing Association) Award of Excellence in the one-time special programming video category for the Matthew Henson Documentary.
The award-winning documentary produced by PHX11, the city’s cable television station, captured the essence of life at the Matthew Henson Projects through a series of interviews with current and former residents, footage from community events and coverage of the demolition and construction processes. Former Arizona State Senator Art Hamilton, a former Matthew Henson resident, narrated the documentary.
The city’s Public Information Office and HOPE VI staff acquired grant funding from the Arizona Humanities Council and McCormack Baron Salazar with support from Vice Mayor Michael Johnson to make the documentary project a reality. The first public viewing of the documentary took place at the Equal Opportunity Department’s Faces of Diversity Brown Bag Lunch Series in February. The documentary, which aired on PHX11, is available for checkout by schools and community groups and will be housed permanently in the future Matthew Henson Cultural Interpretive Center.
The Matthew Henson projects have a long-standing history in the city’s African-American community. Built in 1941, Matthew Henson was Phoenix’s first public housing project for the city’s African-American residents and has been home to many politicians, activists and successful business leaders.
In November 2001, the city of Phoenix received a $35 million grant from HUD to revitalize the outdated housing projects and the surrounding area. The project boundaries are from Seventh to 15th avenues, Grant to Pima streets, encompassing 160 acres. The HOPE VI Project will be completed in four phases by December 2008.
