Updates on the Alma Powell Branch Library can be found on kpl.gov/pow

eVideo hoopla Instant

Kevin Bacon / Kyra Sedgwick

Year

2012

Language

ENGLISH

Duration

1h 0m

Rating

TVPG

Performers

Kevin Bacon, Kyra Sedgwick

Directed By

Henry Louis Gates Jr.

Publication Information

PBS

Summary

What do Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick have in common? They are both famous actors and both descend from prominent American families that have been in this country since its inception. But they share something else, too: Both had ancestors who were early opponents of slavery. Bacon's Quaker ancestors repudiated slavery long before the rest of the country, in 1780. And Sedgwick's ancestor Theodore Sedgwick argued the freedom case of Elizabeth Freeman, also known as "Mumbet," in 1781 - which helped bring an end to slavery in Massachusetts. These facts — and many others — are revealed to Sedgwick and Bacon in this episode, revealing quite a bit about slavery in the North in the process.

Subjects

Share: Facebook Twitter