|
|
|
Reclamation, 2006
|
|
Reclamation is the title of a documentary
film and art installation created by Artist
William Scarbrough examining The Atlanta Child
Murders.
In 1979
the bodies of two young black boys were found in a
rural area southwest of Atlanta, Georgia. During
the following three years, Sixty-eight African
American children and young adults were murdered
in and around Atlanta. Twenty-nine of these
victims were linked by common evidence - a series
of unique fibers found on their bodies. Eventually
sources for these fibers were found in the home of
Wayne Williams, a twenty three year old African
American. Officials arrested and tried Williams
for the murders of two of the victims, and he was
convicted and sentenced to two consecutive life
sentences.
William
Scarbrough spent five years exhaustively
researching the Atlanta Child Murders, which he
first watched on television news broadcasts as a
young boy. He traveled to Atlanta, and all around
the United States, filming interviews of the
individuals actually involved in these tragic
events; police officers, FBI, GBI and private
investigators, attorneys, authors, reporters,
victim's friends and family members, the family of
Wayne Williams and even Williams himself.
Scarbrough
collected documents and images from the
individuals with whom he interacted and purchased
era news footage and outtakes from Atlanta TV
stations. He has the entire Williams family photo
archive, along with the documents and letters
generated throughout the appeals process. These
assets compile Scarbrough's database of
information and materials of The Atlanta Child
Murders, a database like no other.
Scarbrough
has visited and filmed significant locations
associated with these murders; the home of Wayne
Williams, areas where victims lived, frequented,
were last seen and where their bodies were
eventually dumped. He even located the actual car
in which the prosecution suspect the victims were
killed. Through his efforts, William Scarbrough
has become one of the most respected authorities
on the Atlanta Child Murders, fully understanding
the complexities these cases present, nuances
within the evidence as well as other plausible
suspects.
In 2019,
Atlanta Mayor, Keisha Bottoms reopened some cases
of the murdered children. And thus The Atlanta
Child Murders are once again making headlines,
forcing us to re-examine them, and the guilt of
Wayne Williams, all these years after his
conviction.
HBO purchased Scarbrough's documentary in 2019 in
development of a five episode series called,
"Atlanta's Missing and Murdered: The Lost
Children." It aired in 2020.
|
|
|
|
|
|