Westport, CT - Josiah Henson was the enslaved man who was the influence for Uncle Tom in the seminal society-changing novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe. Although he was catapulted to international fame in 1852, when the novel came out, what happened to him has been largely lost to history. Until now.
On Friday, June 15, from 7 to 8:15 pm, Westport Historical Society will host a public screening of “Josiah”, a documentary that traces Josiah Henson’s harrowing journey from slavery in Maryland and Kentucky to freedom in Canada.
Josiah Henson (1789-1883) spent 41 years as a slave. He was a dynamic, driven man with unyielding principles who overcame incredible odds to escape his cruel masters and improve the lives of hundreds of freed people throughout his long life. Including interviews with leading experts and Henson descendants, Josiah is an unmissable documentary about one of history’s greatest lost figures.
To accompany the documentary and to be released simultaneously is the definitive biography of Josiah Henson’s life, The Road To Dawn: Josiah Henson and the Story That Sparked the Civil War, by author and documentarian Jared A. Brock. The book delivers the full narrative of a great man’s great life — a life that symbolized the definitive triumph of the human spirit over the brutality of slavery. In this biography, Brock chronicles Henson’s 41 years in bondage, his eventual escape to freedom, and his rise as a great preacher and orator who used his freedom to uplift his fellow man for the entirety of his life.
With both the book and the film, Brock has created a comprehensive portrait that restores a hero of the abolitionist movement to his rightful place in history—a hero whose life speaks of a love of humanity and invites us to follow in his steps. Watch the trailer at josiahhenson.com
Suggested Admission, $10 Members, $15 Non Members. Westport Historical Society, 25 Avery Place, Westport. June 15, 7 – 8:15 pm. For more information and to register, go to westporthistory.org or call 203-222-1424. All proceeds go toward the continuation of the educational programs.