Pitchersky Fellowship

NMM helps tell the story of legendary fundraiser, Carol Pitchersky.

“You cannot do this work, if you don’t have the money.”

No organization knows this more than the American Civil Liberties Union. New Media Mill was tapped to help tell the story of the ACLU’s legendary fundraiser, Carol Pitchersky, who is credited with pulling the ACLU out of a financial tailspin caused by its controversial defense of the Nazi Party which had been barred from holding a protest march in Skokie Ilinois in 1979.

“If you believe in free speech, you had to defend the Nazi’s,” explained then executive director Ira Glasser as New Media Mill’s cameras rolled. “Without Carol, we would have lost everything.”

Pitchersky died of breast cancer in 2004.

The video was commissioned as a way to raise money and awareness for a fellowship created to attract and train fundraisers for the civil rights community.

“I’ve had a wonderful career, and I owe it all to Carol,” said Theda Jackson-Mau, Pitchersky’s first hire as development director at ACLU.

The fellowship is being sponsored by the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights.