Excavated: From Soil to Stars

Excavated: From Soil to Stars

October 11 – 13, 2024

Excavated: From Soil to Stars examines land as a keeper of memory. In the fields of Maysville, Kentucky, and under the stars above, a weathered wood building stood witness to a 190-year-old history. Excavated: From Soil to Stars, directed by Emmy Award®-winning director Alphonzo J. Wesson, traces the journey of the sun as it rises and falls over the crops of Maysville and the land upon which a slave pen once stood. That slave pen, carefully excavated in 2002 and now on display in the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center’s Grand Hall, provides testimony of a wicked past.

Probate inventory records of 1835 from the slave pen’s owner list the names of 34 human beings – men, women and children – who were likely imprisoned together within the structure. Thirty-four hearts beat upon this land. Thirty-four pairs of eyes caught traces of the same sun raking in through the barred windows. Thirty-four individuals slept and dreamt under the same roof.

Beyond their names, further research is ongoing to reveal more about the lives forced to endure life inside this structure until forcibly transported to the slave market in Natchez, Mississippi. What else may be learned from this 1834 document?

Location

Second floor
National Underground Railroad Freedom Center
50 East Freedom Way, Cincinnati, OH 45202

Admission

Included with general admission.
Free for Members and FotoFocus Passport Holders.

Programs

Screening & Conversation: Excavated: From Soil to Stars
October 12 at 3 p.m.

Join us for a conversation between Director Alphonzo J. Wesson and Social Justice Curator Trudy Gaba, where they will discuss how this project came together and the use of time-based media to reveal new ways of connecting people and histories across temporal boundaries.