Rana Segal's film festival submission honors Chicago icons: Richard Hunt and Ida B. Wells
Attendees filtered into a gymnasium at Englewood's Hamilton Park Cultural Center on a recent Friday night to screen “The Light of Truth: Richard Hunt's Monument to Ida B. Wells,” which won the Audience Choice award at the 2024 Chicago International Film Festival. The award-winning film intertwines Richard Hunt’s legacy with another Chicago legend – Ida B. Wells.
The documentary follows two storylines: Hunt’s creation of a local monument in her honor and a tribute to Wells. The film, directed by Rana Segal, shares the work behind Hunt’s creation of “The Light of Truth,” which commemorates Wells’ legacy in the Black community. His bronze and marble monument in her honor is located at 3729 S. Langley Ave.
Segal’s film explores the racial justice, equality and dignity Wells inspired through her persistent work in suffrage and anti-lynching movements in the 1890s. Hunt, who passed in 2023, was a renowned sculptor whose works are displayed throughout Chicago, including at Midway Airport and the Chicago Public Library.
It was clear Hunt was the right artist for this project.
“It was so fitting [Hunt] was chosen to create this monument,” said Aldon Morris, professor of AfricanAmerican studies at Northwestern University, in the film. Hunt’s perspective was necessary in “projecting our history,” Morris said.
The film features more than 15 expert sources, including Michelle Duster, a great granddaughter of Wells, and co-sculptors of the artist. The film delivers an impactful and authentic approach in Hunt’s remembrance.
“I'm hoping that, with this film, people know who this sculptor is, just like Picasso,” Segal said.
Hunt grew up in Chicago’s Woodlawn neighborhood and attended Englewood High School. At an early age, his mother, Etoria Inez Hunt, exposed him to various forms of global art. As a child, Hunt often visited museums and libraries with his mother, which allowed him to explore art on his own. Discovering a worldwide culture embedded in urban spaces would later have a profound impact on Hunt’s professional career.
In high school, Hunt took multiple arts classes, including one at the Art Institute of Chicago where he explored pottery, painting and sculpting. Nelli Bar Wieghardt, Hunt’s former instructor, introduced him to sculpting.
“[Sculpture] was really his medium,” Wieghardt said in the film.
Hunt’s once playful work, originally inspired by Monserrat, shifted into a sense of activism in 1956. He was impacted by a watershed civil rights moment.
In 1955, Emmett Till, a 14-year-old African-American boy, was murdered in Mississippi for supposedly whistling at a white woman. His death sparked nationwide attention to racial violence. Attending Till’s funeral had a massive impact on Hunt’s work, which is said to be “much darker” after Till’s death, said exhibition advisor and biographer Jon Ott in the film.
Hunt produced his sculpture “Hero’s Head” shortly after Till’s funeral, which imitated Jet magazine’s coverage of his lynching. Ott said the “idea of violence perpetrated on man is something that caught Richard’s eye.”
Hunt’s most ambitious work, “Jacob’s Ladder” located at Carter Woodson Regional Library, held much uncertainty prior to its construction. The work holds separate foundations starting at the library’s base and connects to hanging art from the ceiling, which didn't seem practical to co-sculptors. The project was completed in 1977, and in 2024, “Jacob’s Ladder” continues to stand strong.
At the screening, audiences shared their mutual admiration for the film, expressing the importance of its distribution to neighboring communities. “I am desperate to show this film in the Bronzeville area,” said festival attendee Wanda McFarland.
Segal continues to share Hunt’s story in her upcoming projects, hoping everyone in Chicago learns his name.
“Every day we are finding more and more, and we will be telling more of Hunt’s stories in the next film,” said Segal.
