The Boom Is Really An Echo: Selections from the Pearl Bowser Media Collection

Co-presented with Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Special thanks to Gillian Bowser.

In her landmark 1973 essay “History Lesson: The Boom Is Really An Echo” the legendary Pearl Bowser linked the unrecognized Black film practices of the silent and early sound eras to the “explosion” of African-American and diaspora cinema in the 60s—historical precedents that still resonate today. The Pearl Bowser Collection (housed at Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture) builds on the Black cultural renaissance in both film and food. Drawn from the Smithsonian collection, the rare films in this series highlight Bowser’s deep connections to Brooklyn as a home, a location for Black activism, and a space for creativity, cultural expression, and community celebration.