The film, Rooted Wisdom, will explore the journey by enslaved Blacks and their knowledge of the flora and fauna along the Underground Railroad.
Guilford College will host a documentary film screening and panel discussion on Wednesday, Oct. 11, at Joseph M. Bryan Jr. Auditorium in Frank Family Science Center exploring how enslaved Blacks used the Underground Railroad’s natural landscape to forge a path to freedom
Rooted Wisdom: Nature’s Role in the Underground Railroad, a 25-minute film, reveals the remarkable literacies that enslaved Blacks possessed and used to navigate and sustain themselves during their flights to freedom along the Underground Railroad. The film confirms freedom seekers and their families as early naturalists with enormous knowledge about the flora and fauna of their worlds on their journeys to freedom, which included the woods of Guilford College.
Following the screening, historian and film narrator Anthony Cohen, who retraced 1,200 miles of this history by foot, boat and rail, will be joined by filmmakers Lauren Giordano and George Burroughs for a panel discussion moderated by William R. Rogers Director of Friends Center and Quaker Studies Wess Daniels.