Wooster to Host Documentary Film, Discussion about Shameful History of Slave Trade

Free public event to be held Thursday, Sept. 23, in Lean Lecture Room of Wishart Hall

WOOSTER, Ohio — The College of Wooster’s Center for Diversity and Global Engagement, in collaboration with St. James Episcopal Church and Wooster’s Department of Africana Studies, will host a screening of the documentary film "Traces of the Trade: A Story from the Deep North" on Thursday, Sept. 23, at 7 p.m. in Lean Lecture Room of Wishart Hall (303 E. University St.).

Dain Perry and his wife, Constance, will screen the film, in which filmmaker Katrina Browne and nine of her cousins (including Dain) delve into the dark past of the slave trade that enriched their white New England family, the DeWolfs, and the legacy of slavery that continues to have a negative impact on the country to this day. The Perrys will also facilitate a conversation about race, reconciliation, and healing.

The film was one of the few documentaries chosen from nearly 1,000 submissions to be shown at the Sundance Film Festival in 2008. It has aired on the PBS series “Point of View” (POV), won the Henry Hampton Award for Excellence in Film in 2009, and was nominated for an Emmy Award for historical research. It also received excellent reviews, including one from Variety, which called it “a courageous scab-ripper of a tale,” and another in the Hollywood Reporter, which said, the “film represents an intense and searing call for national dialogue.” In addition, Sundance’s Geoffrey Gilmore said the film “makes a potent statement about privilege and responsibility.”

Additional information about the event is available by phone (330-263-2434) or e-mail.