Students from Salisbury School’s Searching for Slavery class, in conjunction with the Upper Housatonic Heritage Area, are excited to screen the premiere of their film, Looking for Color on May 26, 2021, at 7:00 p.m. for Noble Horizons. Among several class projects, this film is one of three documentaries students have created over the course of the year to carry out their mission of educating the public about this important history, rewriting the stories that have been recorded incorrectly, and uncovering lives that have been ignored or buried.

This work builds on the successful unveiling of a Witness Stone for Norfolk, Connecticut’s own formerly enslaved author, abolitionist, and civil rights hero, James Mars on May 1, 2021. The day featured speeches from Connecticut’s first Black Congresswoman, Jahana Hayes as well as a Proclamation signed by Governor Ned Lamont.

“This movie has forced us to confront history that challenges our perception of who we are and how we became a country. Looking at the contributions local families of color like the Mars and the Cesars have had on our communities has really opened our eyes,” says Looking for Color’s Producer Nicholas Gray. “In turn, our aim is to use our work to help form a more complete and inclusive history that highlights the contributions of all Americans. This project is not about simply uncovering the history of one Black Family in America, it is also about completing the inaccurate and incomplete history of our diverse American Family. We are excited to once again share this work with our friends at Noble Horizons.”

Throughout our 2020-2021 school year, students at the Salisbury School have been searching for color in the history of the northwest corner of Connecticut and the Berkshires. They have used state and town records, consulted local historians and authors, and visited local sites that has allowed them to, quite literally, search for the buried or ignored Black history of the Upper Housatonic River Valley.

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See more at @findingslavery on Instagram and @slaverynorth on Twitter.