After making an award-winning documentary about the history of Shreveport, Louisiana, Baylor grad Chris Charles Scott returned to Waco to write and direct a four-part documentary on the history of Waco. The documentary was released this year to great anticipation and success.
“I’ve had so much pride in my school,” Scott says. “I’m a poor black kid that came from Nowhere, East Texas. Baylor gave me a place where there were professors and friends who said, ‘Hey you belong.’ I’ve always said that Baylor was my first love.”
As a student, Scott sought relationships and communities “outside the Baylor bubble” that helped him have an appreciation for the city. His life away from Baylor sparked an interest in the complicated dynamics of the city, its culture, and its history. What About Waco is split into four parts, and spans from the construction of the Suspension Bridge in 1870 through the tornado of 1953 — covering glorious, curious, and gruesome events in the years between.
“The most shocking thing for me was piecing together the events that led to the lynching of Jesse Washington and the actual horrendous event that was,” Scott says. “I did not know the gruesome dynamic nature of what actually happened. We did not shy away from the tough stuff. This isn’t some visitors and tourism bureau documentary. We went there. We had to go there, because the time was right to do that.”
WANT TO WATCH ? Buy the DVD at Common Grounds, the Hippodrome, or at the Historic Waco Foundation
CONNECT: www.wacodocumentary.com