The American History Project collection, 1992-1999

Errol Lincoln Uys, born in 1942 in South Africa, is a journalist and writer. He has worked at such publications as The Star, The Post, South East London Mercury, and Reader's Digest. He has also written The Covenant and Brazil. Michael Uys, son of Errol Lincoln Uys and Janette M., was born in South Africa. Michael Uys went to New York University's Tisch School of the Arts for film. Lexy Lovell was born to Sandra Green and Douglas G. Lovell. She attended Yale University. Michael Uys and Lexy Lovell decided to create the film, later titled Riding the Rails. Errol Lincoln Uys inspired the idea after reading Boy and Girl Tramps of America by Thomas Minehan and suggesting the idea of making a film on the topic.

Michael Uys and Lexy Lovell put an advertisment in the AARP publication, Modern Maturity and other magazines, for stories about teenagers who rode the rails during the Great Depression. They worked on the film for several years and Michael Uys and Lexy Lovell married during production in June 1994. The film was finished in 1997 and garnered 18 major awards including BEST DOCUMENTARY from both the Directors Guild of America (DGA) and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, A Peabody Award, and was named as an Outstanding Documentary of the year by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Errol Lincoln Uys then published a companion book to the film by using the primary resources that the co-producers of the documentary film had collected. He published the book, Riding the Rails: Teenagers on the Move During the Great Depression in 1999.