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February 18, 2026 Heather Birks | 202.602.0584
The Leibner Cooper Grant for Creative Productions on the History of Media awarded to Danielle Beverly
Washington, D.C. – The Leibner Cooper Grant for Creative Productions on the History of Media has been awarded to Danielle Beverly for her documentary project, Eyes on the Prize Reclaimed.
Danielle Beverly is a tenure track Assistant Professor at University of Texas at Arlington, with 15 years of full-time higher education teaching experience. Beverly is a documentary filmmaker and film professor with 25 years of producing experience at major market PBS stations and ITVS, and on a Peabody-awarded ten-year longitudinal 9/11 documentary that premiered at Sundance and aired on Showtime. She has produced four feature documentaries, and a thirty-minute short. They include Old South (which she also directed), the season four opener of PBS/World Channel’s “America ReFramed” documentary series broadcast during African American History Month, and the award-winning Lonnie Holley: The Truth of the Dirt broadcast nationally on PBS/World Channel’s “AfroPop” documentary series. In addition, she is also producing The Hijacker, a feature documentary debuting in 2026.
Eyes on the Prize Reclaimed, directed by Marco Williams, is a feature-length documentary about the significance and legacy of Eyes on the Prize, the landmark television history of the civil rights movement. In 1987, its first broadcast reached 20 million Americans, and through repeated showings, its audience grew to 100 million worldwide. More than 25,000 high schools and more than 40% of four-year colleges in the U.S., and universities worldwide have incorporated it in their curricula. The series is exemplary about grassroots organizing and civil disobedience, and how democracy can work.
The Leibner Cooper Grant for Creative Productions on the History of Media is made possible thanks to an endowment from Leibner Cooper Family Foundation. Annually, a $2,500 grant will be awarded to a faculty member who is producing a documentary, news story, multimedia project or sports production focused on historical issues, figures and/or events related to media. Each year the recipient will be recognized at the Library of American Broadcasting Foundation Giants of Broadcasting Luncheon and at BEA’s annual awards ceremony in Las Vegas.
About the BEA Convention – BEA’s annual convention is held in conjunction with NAB Show in Las Vegas every spring. BEA’s annual convention attracts 1,300 educators and students with 250 sessions, events, research panels, technology workshops and an exhibit hall, making BEA the largest conference partner of NAB Show.
About the Broadcast Education Association (BEA) – BEA is the professional association for professors, industry professionals and graduate students interested in teaching and research related to electronic media and multimedia enterprises. There are currently more than 2,500 individual and institutional members worldwide. Visit www.beaweb.org for more information.