A project of the UVA Center for Politics and Community Idea Stations, "Ball of Confusion" is a one-hour documentary that examines the 1968 presidential contest in the context of a difficult and contentious year in American history. The assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy, racial unrest, nationwide riots, and a continuing war in Vietnam put the nation on edge and produced a historic three-way presidential election. Through archival footage and compelling interviews, the film shows how the election was influenced by the fractures in the United States' social and political foundations, leaving deep scars that would affect generations to come.

Ball of Confusion: The 1968 Election

Documentary shares the story of Captain John Woodlief leading a group of 35 English settlers to America.  “It’s important to tell the story to set the record straight,” says Graham Woodlief, a descendant of the captain and the movie’s co-executive producer. He explains that educating people about this story would help Virginia “get its rightful recognition for this historic event.”  Woodlief, as president of the nonprofit Virginia Thanksgiving Festival, promotes this account of the first American harvest-time celebration and educates the public on it. He first presented the idea of a documentary to WCVE PBS in hopes of educating more people about what he believes is the story of the very first Thanksgiving.

The First Official Thanksgiving

Explores the presidential race between incumbent Republican President Gerald Ford and Democratic candidate and Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter, who stepped onto the national stage touting his outsider status. Ford's pardon of Richard Nixon, the anti-establishment mood surging through the country, Carter's primary strategy and the challenge to Ford by Ronald Reagan are discussed.

Feeling Good About America: The 1976 Presidential Election

Since 2005, the Richmond Folk Festival has drawn thousands of attendees from across the country to Richmond, Virginia to celebrate the variety of American culture through the arts. Learn what it took to create this signature annual event, and how the city has embraced it as its own.