MTSU ‘Shaking It Up!’ with filmmaker to talk about legendary journalist Liz Carpenter

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Middle Tennessee State University will host documentarian Christy Carpenter and showcase her film, “Shaking It Up! The Life and Times of Liz Carpenter,” March 17-19 as part of National Women’s History Month activities on campus.

Mary Evins, research professor at the University Honors College and Department of History at Middle Tennessee State University, is recipient of the 2023 Barbara Burch Award for Faculty Leadership in Civic Engagement from the American Association of State Colleges and Universities. (MTSU photo by Robin E. Lee) — Dr. Mary Evins

Christy Carpenter will dialogue with MTSU about her mother and the making of the film at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 19, in Room 106 of the Paul W. Martin Sr. Honors Building, 1737 Blue Raider Drive. It is free and open to the public.

“Liz Carpenter was a powerhouse Texas newspaper woman, with Tennessee roots, who opened doors and cut pathways for women journalists during the mid-20th century,” said Mary Evins, research professor of history in the University Honors College. “She wrote on politics when most women news writers were relegated to the society pages.”

Discussion moderators will be Evins and Sarah Childress, director of strategy and operations at Nashville PBS, who handles independent films for the Nashville public television station, which will soon broadcast “Shaking It Up!”

In advance of the interview, screenings of “Shaking It Up!” will take place at 12:30 p.m. Monday, March 17, and 1 p.m. Tuesday, March 18, in the same location, also free and open to the public.

Liz Carpenter was descended from the storied Robertson family, one of Tennessee’s first families. Both sides of her family were instrumental in bringing hundreds of families to settle Texas. And her great-great grandfather Sterling Robertson fought in the Texas Revolution and signed the Texas Declaration of Independence.

“My mother had a lot of gumption because she was reared on stories of these historically important can-do leaders, both male and female,” said Christy Carpenter. “Her mother would say, ‘Remember who you are.’ She came from people who were doers and achievers.”

Liz Carpenter also came from a long line of writers and knew at an early age she wanted to be a journalist, despite the lack of women in the industry. After earning a journalism degree from the University of Texas in 1942, she headed to Washington, D.C., on a train and hit the pavement.

Legendary journalist and publicist Liz Carpenter, the subject of the newly released documentary, “Shaking It Up! The Life and Times of Liz Carpenter,” is shown working on the presidential Air Force One while serving the late President Lyndon B. Johnson in this undated photo. MTSU will host Liz Carpenter’s daughter, Christy Carpenter, on Wednesday, March 19, to talk about the documentary film. (Submitted image)

“She walked around the National Press Building with her clippings in a scrapbook under her arm and managed to get a job at a small news bureau headed by a woman. With that she got her press pass and that enabled her to go into the White House,” Christy Carpenter said.

Liz Carpenter worked as a reporter until she became the first woman executive assistant to Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson from 1961-63. When Johnson took office after President John F. Kennedy’s assassination, she stepped into the role as press secretary for first lady Claudia “Lady Bird” Johnson.

Christy Carpenter spent years reviewing the voluminous papers, oral histories and video materials of her mother’s. In 2020, Christy Carpenter wrote an article about her mother, who would have turned 100 that year. And documentary filmmaker Abby Ginzberg read it.

“She called me and said she’d like to make a film about my mom,” Christy Carpenter said.

Legendary journalist Liz Carpenter, the first woman executive assistant to a vice president, is featured in the documentary “Shaking It Up! The Life and Times of Liz Carpenter,” which will be screened March 17-18 on the campus of Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Tenn., as part of National Women’s History Month events on campus. Her daughter, Christy Carpenter, will speak about the film at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 19, in Room 106 of the Paul W. Martin Sr. Honors Building, 1737 Blue Raider Drive, the same location as the screenings. (Submitted)

“Shaking It Up!” debuted at the 2024 South by Southwest, or SXSW, film festival in Austin, Texas, and they’ve spent the last year screening the film at various venues. The 56-minute film debuted on PBS.org on March 1, at the beginning of National Women’s History Month.

Those who attend the event at MTSU will see the original 77-minute director’s cut of the film.

“If you’ve never heard of her, it’s high time to learn about her, to be able to model her energy to inspire your own civic agency and civic action,” Evins said.

Christy Carpenter said the debut of the film in National Women’s History Month was planned. But the release date is even more timely than originally expected “as rights are being rolled back in this country,” she said.

“People often ask me what Liz would say if she were around today, and she would say, ‘Now is not the time to tune out. It’s not the time to feel overwhelmed and paralyzed. It’s time to get going,” Christy Carpenter said. “Never give up. Get out of your comfort zones and your own echo chambers and make your voice heard.”

Off-campus visitors attending any of the events can obtain a temporary permit from the Parking and Transportation Services office at 205 City View Drive or print a visitor pass at https://mtsu.t2hosted.com. Visitor permits are $2 per day. Parking is recommended in the Ezell and Bragg lots on campus. A campus parking map is available at https://bit.ly/MTSUParking and more information about parking is available at https://mtsu.edu/parking/.

— Nancy DeGennaro (Nancy.DeGennaro@mtsu.edu)