ABOUT THE PROJECT

LOGLINE
A white man’s genealogy reveals a past with a surprising twist—several black communities founded by slaves his family once owned—which leads him to Kentucky in search of answers.

SYNOPSIS
Nearly two centuries ago, decades before the Civil War, sixty-five slaves were freed by the will of Major Richard Bibb in Russellville, Kentucky. They inherited land, tools, houses and money; everything needed to establish themselves as free blacks in America. Today descendants of those freedmen and women are rediscovering their own history through the efforts of a single dedicated local historian. But the impact of this story goes much wider, a few white descendants of Major Bibb are also finding lessons and meaning in this legacy.

The story follows the filmmaker as he discovers this part of his history and begins to engage with the places and people. Joined by University of Kentucky PhD candidate and journalist Le Datta Grimes, they explore the context of this historical narrative and investigate the living memories of local residents. It quickly reveals a story that is deeply interwoven with African-American History and there is no one living with more knowledge of this region’s history than Michael Morrow. Morrow’s own story of poverty, neglect and lack of opportunity reveals itself to be integral to the continuing story of the rural black community founded by the slaves freed in 1839.

Morrow leads a project of the local historical society to complete a museum in the major’s house dedicated to the emancipated laborers and their legacy. The work is being completed by at-risk young men from the community, some of whom are descendants of former Bibb slaves. There is hope that this project will bring new opportunity to them and renewed interest in this story and the efforts to preserve the neighborhood; one of the oldest and longest lasting rural black neighborhoods in the South. It remains to be seen if their efforts will be successful.

PROJECT TYPE Documentary Feature

DIRECTOR Jonathan Knight
PRODUCER Jonathan Knight, Le Datta Denise Grimes

WEBSITE bibbfilm.com