A ticketed but free screening of the acclaimed feature film, “Sons and Daughters of Thunder,” the true story of Augusta College graduates, is set for Friday, Sept. 20, 7-9 p.m., at the Clooney Community Center in Augusta.
The event is being hosted by Augusta College Echo Hall Association, a group dedicated to preserving and repurposing Echo Hall, the last standing building from Augusta College and the oldest Methodist structure in the commonwealth.
Based on the critically-acclaimed play by Earlene Hawley and Curtis Heeter, “Sons & Daughters of Thunder” tells the true story of the 1834 Cincinnati, Lane Theological Seminary anti-slavery debates. The controversial meetings, led by abolitionist and firebrand Theodore Weld (played by actor Thomas Alan Taylor), were the first to publicly discuss the end of slavery in America.
The meetings angered Cincinnati residents and Lane Seminary officials, who promptly slapped a gag order on the entire student body. This action was followed by a freedom of speech protest and mass exodus of Lane students to Oberlin College.
A young Harriet Beecher’s (played by actress Jessica Taylor) exposure to the debates and Weld’s continuing work to free the slaves sparked a flame that led her to write her magnum opus “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.”
Augusta College graduates James A. Thome and John G. Fee were centrally involved in the debates and the exodus from Lance Seminary.
Free tickets to the event are available at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/movie-screening-of-sons-daughters-of-thunder-tickets-69239137123. Seating is limited.
