A new documentary by Brian Kruger and Buddy Moorehouse of Stunt3 Multimedia tells the story of how Willis Ward, ’35, was forced to sit out of a football game in 1934 because of the color of his skin—and how his friend and teammate Gerald Ford, ’35, HLLD’74, stood up for him.
When Michigan hosted Georgia Tech that season, the visitors refused to play against an African American. When Ford heard that Michigan wasn’t taking a stand against the demand, he decided to quit the team. Only Ward could talk him out of it in the end.
We asked the film’s producer, Brian Kruger, a few questions about what he learned from making the film.
Visit Stunt3.com to learn more about this film, called “Black and Blue,” and other films by the company. Or, view a trailer for the film.
Read the late fall 2011 issue of Michigan Alumnus magazine for an article in the sports department about “Black and Blue.”
Have you found that a lot of people know this story?
Just the opposite. I’m amazed at how many people have no idea that this happened.
Did anything good result from Willis Ward being forced to sit out the game?
I’m not entirely sure. We don’t see another African American on the varsity for many years after 1934. What we do know is that the University of Michigan since those days has become a beacon of civil rights, and an example above all others on racial equality and diversity. That’s what makes this story so striking. That it happened here. It wasn’t a road game in Atlanta at Georgia Tech. It was here in Ann Arbor. The University of Michigan honored a Jim Crow request, and in doing so, dishonored one of its own.
You have said “Black and Blue” is ultimately a story about a friendship. Describe what you mean.
Well, mostly because the incident happens for the teams and the outside world between November of 1933 when the game was scheduled, and October of 1934 when the game was played. Ford and Ward’s friendship lasted a lifetime.
What is the most striking thing you learned about Willis Ward? How about Ford?
Mostly that Willis Ward towed the line. As he talks about in the film, Ward was getting huge pressure not only from the students at Michigan to fight it, he was getting equal pressure from outsiders who said if he were really a Michigan Man, he’d step aside. Still more pressure from the churches and black community in Detroit to leave Michigan. They had put together collections to pay for his college beyond that. I’m struck, too, that Gerald Ford risked his first starting job by threatening to quit the team. He was 20, and he was just a kid. He had nothing to gain and everything to lose by making that stand. Incredible. Then finally, I’m struck that through all of this, they both stayed true blue Michigan Men until the day they died.
You have other documentaries on U-M football planned. What is the next one about?
Well, the plan was to make a series of ten lesser-known stories about Michigan football and offer them in a gift pack. The plan for the next one was about the Michigan Marching Band. But we’ve had very little support getting Black and Blue done, so that’s up in the air. These are great stories that in the end, tell a rich story about Michigan Football, and the University of Michigan in general. But if we can’t get any traction with Black and Blue, this may be the first and only one that we do.
Is there anything else about the story that you’d like to mention?
It may be easy for people to look at Fielding H. Yost more negatively because of this film, but we show that he, too, finds redemption, and we show evidence in a really cool story that takes place later in the fall where he sticks up for Ward during a racially-charged incident during a trip to Chicago. He does make movement and he grows.
