Story of a black woman in the South who was born into slavery in the 1850s and lives to become a part of the civil rights movement in the 1960s.
During the racial turmoil of 1960s Louisiana, 110-year-old ex-slave Jane Pittman grants an interview to a persistent journalist and relates the remarkable story of her life. Orphaned early, she toils on a plantation until a chance meeting with a white Union soldier named Brown changes her outlook. Jane's emancipation marks only the beginning of an arduous and heartbreaking odyssey, framed by the horrors of slavery and the justice of the civil-rights movement.—Jwelch5742
February, 1962 in rural Louisiana. While the civil rights movement has begun in much of the country, it has not yet largely reached the rural Deep South, where the black populace does not want to rock the boat in taking what little the white majority has given them without incident. In this time and setting, two concurrent events occur. First, Jimmy, a young black man with local ties, wants to do something meaningful but non-violent as a civil rights action in the segregation that still exists: to have a young black woman drink out of a water fountain labeled as white only that is outside the courthouse in the town of Bayonne, he knowing that if he or any male did so that they would only get beaten, while they want the girl to be arrested to that they can subsequently protest with cause. And second, Quentin Lerner, a white magazine journalist from New York City, has come wanting to interview black Jane Pittman on what is her 110th birthday for a human interest piece, Miss Jane who agrees after an initial hesitation. Remembering her life with clarity, she is able to start her story, told in flashback, from when she was a slave in the pre-Civil War era, what Quentin was hoping she could do. As Miss Jane tells the one hundred or so years of her life and what she has seen in that century as a black woman in the Deep South, Quentin comes to realize that the information that he has on hand from these interviews is more than a human interest piece. In she telling her story and seeing what is happening around her with Jimmy and with her own son Ned among other loved ones before Jimmy, Miss Jane may come to her own reckoning as to what she has to do at this, the near end of her life.—Huggo
In February, 1962, as the civil rights movement reaches Bayonne, Louisiana, a New York journalist arrives to interview Jane Pittman, who has just turned 110. She tells him her story dating back to her earliest memories before slavery ended, a long walk toward freedom, marriage to Joe Pittman, her adopted son Ned's work as an educator, helping to raise Jimmy, who returns as a civil rights worker, and her own decision to become involved in contemporary issues. In between the chapters of her life, the present-day struggles of Blacks in Bayonne, urged on by Jimmy, are dramatized.—<[email protected]>
February 1962. A cabin on the sharecroppers' 'quarters' of the Samson property in Louisiana. A small group of friends sing Happy Birthday to Miss Jane Pittman (Cicely Tyson). She blows out the candles on her cake, celebrating her 110th birthday. 'You gonna be with me here this time next year, Lena,' Miss Jane asks. 'God willing,' Lena (Beatrice Winde) replies. Two young men appear at the door. 'Hello Jimmy, come on in,' says Miss Jane. Jimmy (Arnold Wilkerson), 'Lena's boy', and the other young man ask to speak with Miss Jane privately. She sits with them out to the porch. Tomorrow they're going to have a young girl drink at the White folks' fountain in front of the courthouse. If one of the males did it, they'd be beaten; the girl would just get arrested. Then they could march on the courthouse. They'd like Miss Jane to accompany them. She'd be an inspiration to the protesters. Miss Jane says she'll wait for God to give her the sign.
A White journalist, Quentin Lerner (Michael Murphy), arrives. He'd like to write a story on Miss Jane's life for a magazine. He understands that she was born a slave. She says she'll decide tomorrow.
The next day, Jimmy and a small group of protesters go down to the courthouse. Sherriff's deputies block the girl as she tries to drink from the fountain. Lerner drives back to Miss Jane's cabin. There's an announcement on the car radio that a group of 'Negro agitators' attempted to drink from the Whites' only fountain. There were no serious injuries, but a number of arrests were made. Lerner says he'd like to hear Miss Jane's story. 'How far back do you want to go?' Miss Jane asks Lena where to start. Lena points to two stones on a shelf. Lerner asks: 'Two rocks?' Miss Jane looks at him. 'You don't know a whole lot, do ya?'
Flashback to the Civil War. Confederate soldiers enter the plantation where Ticey (Valerie Odell), a young girl of about nine or ten, is a slave. The colonel asks Mistress Bryant (Collin Wilcox Paxton), the wife of the plantation owner, for water for his men. She instructs Ticey to draw water for the soldiers, which she does. A confederate soldier arrives at full gallop. Yankee soldiers are just down the road. The Confederate rebels mount up and flee.
The Union soldiers arrive. They draw their own water. The leader, Corporal Lewis Brown (Dudley Knight), takes Ticey aside, gives her an apple and asks her about her life at the plantation. He tells her to call him Lewis, and he's going to call her something other than Ticey. 'Ticey is a slave name. Back in Ohio there's lots of pretty names for a girl like you.' He goes through a list. She likes Jane. From now on, her name is Jane. 'If anybody gives you anymore trouble you just come on up to Ohio, and you tell me.'
The war is over. Master Bryant (Richard Dysart) calls the slaves together. He reads the emancipation proclamation. The slaves are now free. Later that night the slaves gather. Young men and women are leaving. Going to get a job - 'honest wage for an honest day's work'. An older man says they should stay. 'You don't know nuthin' 'bout outside. You belong right here on this plantation.' Jane replies she's going to Ohio, 'just as soon as you point the way north.' He holds her arms. 'Very well, Miss Jane. ..The sun is on your right in the morning, and on your left in the evening...God bless you, child.'
Big Laura (Odetta) carries a baby in her arms and leads Jane and a group of the now former slaves--men, women and children--away from the Bryant plantation, staying off the main roads, walking through swamps, to avoid the patrollers 'who'd kill a free man quick as they would a runaway slave.'
At night they seek shelter in an old abandoned building with a dirt floor. It was large enough to have been a barn. Big Laura starts a fire by rubbing two stones together. Early in the morning, patrollers burst in with guns and sticks. The former slaves fight back. Jane and Big Laura's other child, a little boy named Ned (Derrick Mills), about four or five years old, hide between an old latticework and a wall. They watch as their family and friends are murdered. When all is done, Jane walks over to Big Laura's body. Her dead baby lies next to her. Jane picks up the stones - 'two rocks' -- Laura used to start the fire the night before. She gathers what belongings she can, takes Ned's hand and leaves.
Keeping off the main roads again, Jane stops and asks Ned if he wants to go to Ohio with her. He nods. She then hands him the two stones. 'If anyone asks, these just two plain old rocks, not iron and flint Big Laura used, but two plain old rocks.'
A Black man driving a horse-drawn wagon gives them a ride. He pretends he's delivering them to a plantation when they pass two White men on horseback. After the danger has passed he orders Jane and Ned off the wagon.
Jane and Ned arrive at a river which they must cross to get to Ohio. They don't have the nickel each that it costs to get on the ferry, and are unable to cross. They continued walking. Finally, tired and hungry, they end up at another plantation, owned by Colonel Dye (David Hooks), who served in the Confederate Army. Jane eventually works the plantation for 'twelve long years,' cutting sugar cane.
Reconstruction. Black politicians come by and sign men up to vote. Some go to Washington. At night, Jane and Ned and other workers attend classes on the plantation. For a while 'things looked like they're gonna be all right.' One night night riders from the Ku Klux Klan break down the schoolroom doors, set the schoolhouse on fire. A Black man is lynched.
Colonel Dye begins wearing his old Confederate uniform again. He informs them the school will remain closed until he can find a 'competent' teacher. In addition he can't pay them 'till the end of the year' but they can take rations and clothing from the store. If that suits them they can stay, otherwise, leave.
Ned is now about eighteen and teaches his fellow workers to read. He forms the 'Negro Rights Committee' to help the Black people. One night, KKK night riders break into Jane's home and knocks her to the ground. Where's Ned? They threaten to kill him if he continues teaching and organizing.
Jane tells Ned to leave. Ned refuses. Jane insists; he has to go. She knew the first time he read to them, she knew that he was 'the one', and she won't hold him back. 'Make me proud. Make me proud.' Ned, who now calls Jane 'Momma', finally agrees to leave. Before doing so he returns Big Laura's two flint rocks.
A year passes, it's now about ''75 or '76.' Jane meets Joe Pittman (Rod Perry), a horse breaker. They start 'seeing each other.' Joe and Jane decide to leave the Dye plantation. Col. Dye offers Joe a prime piece of land for sharecropping if he stays, but he refuses. Dye then asks for his fifty dollars back. 'What fifty dollars?' The fifty dollars Dye supposedly paid to get them out of trouble when they were with the Negro Rights Committee. 'You pay up, or else...' Joe and Jane sell everything they own, including Joe's horse, 'the one he rode so proud.' They pay Dye the fifty dollars. He takes the money. 'You a smart one, ain't ya. Well I got news.' They owe him five more dollars. Interest. Jane gives up her ring. 'That's your wedding ring,' Joe says. 'That's our freedom,' Jane replies.
They reach east Texas, and the Clyde ranch. Joe Pittman becomes chief horse breaker, 'everybody called him 'Chief Pittman.'' There's a white horse that no one can break. Jane senses the horse is pure evil. She visits a soothsayer, Madame Gautier (Josephine Premice). Is the horse going to kill her Joe? One night, Jane sneaks into the paddock and allows the horse to escape. Joe sees the horse running free and rides after it, ignoring Jane's cries to let it go. The following day the horse returns, dragging Joe's lifeless body in the tall grass.
Present day. An old photograph of Joe Pittman on his horse. 'When Joe Pittman was killed, part of me went with him to his grave. No man would ever take the place of Joe Pittman, and that's why I carry his name to this day...' Jane says, tears streaming down her cheeks.
Around the turn of the century. It was twenty years since she had last seen Ned. Jane is now taking in laundry. She is down at the river washing clothes when Ned (Thalmus Rasulala), now about forty-two years old, appears on a small raft. A woman and a small child are with him. He's returned from Cuba, where he was a soldier in the 10th Cavalry (the Buffalo Soldiers). He fought in the Spanish-American war. Ned starts teaching again. Two White men watch from afar.
Jane is fishing with her friend, Albert Cluveau (Will Hare). Cluveau is a Cajun who's killed twelve people, Black and White. He tells Jane that he's been ordered to kill Ned, unless he stops building the school and leaves. Jane tells Ned he's got to go. Ned refuses. He continues lecturing. Jane notices a White man watching Ned from afar as he gives a speech. When he's finished, Ned walks past Jane. 'I'm gonna die, Momma,' he says quietly.
Ned and a friend are traveling in a horse-drawn wagon. Cluveau comes out of the bushes holding a double barreled shotgun. He commands Ned to get out of the wagon. Ned steps down and tells his companion to drive away. The Cajun shoots Ned in the leg and Ned falls to his knees. Cluveau orders Ned to crawl, as the men who ordered the murder said. Ned refuses. The Cajun shoots him a second time in the chest.
Miss Jane Pittman sits quietly as the pine box is loaded into a horse drawn hearse.
It's now about 1927. Miss Jane is now seventy 'give or take a little.' She is now living and working at the Samson's property, and has achieved some status among the Black workers because of her advanced age. One of her close friends is Lena, who works in the fields. The people were always looking for a leader. When Lena had her baby, Jimmy, they asked the question. Was he 'the one'?
Seven years later, Miss Jane is talking to Jimmy. Jimmy loves school. Miss Jane asks him to read the Sports pages for her. She loves baseball and the boxer, Joe Louis.
Jimmy goes away to study, and returns at the start of the Civil Rights era. He encourages his people to get involved in the Civil Rights struggle. He stands up in the local church and addresses the congregation. He's come for their help. They've seen what's happening all over the South. He's met with Rev. King. Black people have been struggling in Alabama and Mississippi, but his people here in Texas have done nothing. The minister tries to shut him down, he doesn't want any trouble. Miss Jane tells him to let Jimmy speak.
Desegregation laws have been passed. Freedom Riders' buses are bombed. Miss Jane is now 110 years old. The property owner, 'Mr. Robert' Samson (Roy Poole), lectures the sharecroppers. 'There ain't gonna be no demonstratin' on my place.' Anybody who feels they need more freedom than they got already is free to pack up and leave now-that goes for the youngest one, and the oldest one. 'Jane, too.'
Present day. Quentin Lerner is typing in his hotel room. The telephone rings. He's been pulled from the Jane Pittman story so that he can cover the U.S. space program. The next day on his way to the airport, two police cars race by going in the opposite direction. He turns around and follows them.
Mr. Robert drives onto the sharecroppers' quarters, and brings the news that Jimmy was shot and killed. Lena collapses in tears. Miss Jane vows to go into the town, as Jimmy had asked. Mr. Robert says she isn't going. Miss Jane asks, 'You gonna tell me now, I got to leave your place?' The other day, a young girl was put in jail for trying to drink from a fountain; now they've killed her Jimmy. She's going into the town.
Miss Jane and a small group of Black men and women arrive at the courthouse in an old pickup truck. Leaning on her cane, one step at a time, Miss Jane hobbles up the pathway to the 'White Only' drinking fountain. An officer gestures for her to stop. She ignores him. Sheriff's deputies with truncheons and shotguns block her path. She keeps walking. They step out of her way. Miss Jane takes a sip from the fountain. She clutches her cane and with her 110-year-old feet, turns around and slowly walks back down the pathway to the small group waiting at the pickup truck. They help her into the back. Two others pile in. Quentin Lerner watches the truck slowly drive away.
The camera pans over a field where Miss Jane, with her cane, walks towards the sun, low in the sky over a distant line of trees. Lerner's voice over: 'On July 19th, 1962, five months after the last of these interviews was recorded, Miss Jane Pittman died at the age of 110.'
