Black Christmas

Black Christmas features John Smith and Denzile Stubblefield, two West Frankfort, Illinois coal miners who lost their fathers in the 1951 Orient #2 mine explosion. 

This short documentary was created for the Illinois Coal Workers & Communities Listening Project, led by the University of Illinois Climate Jobs Institute (CJI). Through the Listening Project, CJI partnered with the Harlem High School Documentary Project (Machesney Park, Illinois) to record oral histories, produce documentaries, and mentor students in multimedia storytelling. Kai Borgetti, Harlem High School senior (2026), edited this documentary using oral histories and photos collected for the Listening Project.

Emily Guske, Lead Interviewer 

Johnathan Hettinger, Secondary Interviewer 

Nick Stange, Camera Operator & Audio 

Johnathan Hettinger, Lead Interviewer 

Kyra Newnam, Secondary Interviewer 

Kai Borgetti, Camera Operator & Audio

Nick Talan

Emily Guske

Nick Stange

Kai Borgetti

Nick Talan

Emily Guske

Arthur Rothstein