The Learning Tree

The Learning Tree is a 1969 American coming-of-age film written, produced, and directed by Gordon Parks. It depicts the life of Newt Winger, a teenager growing up in Cherokee Flats, Kansas, in the 1920s and chronicles his journey into manhood marked with tragic events. Based on Parks' 1963 semi-autobiographical novel of the same name, The Learning Tree was the first film directed by a black filmmaker for a major American film studio, Warner Bros.-Seven Arts. In 1989, The Learning Tree was among the first group of 25 films selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". Synopsis In 1920s Kansas, a group of African-American boys, Newt Winger, Marcus Savage, and friends steal apples from Jake Kiner's orchard, and when Jake (who is white) confronts the boys, he is beaten and left for dead by Marcus, who later is sent to jail for his actions. During the chase of Marcus and the boys, the racist white sheriff shoots dead an innocent black man, and the sheriff is not punished. Newt does well in school and aims to go to college; a white teacher tries to dissuade him, but the white principal opposes the racism of the town and encourages his ambitions.