July 25, 2024
Freedom Center takes home Emmy Award for feature in Black History Honors program
Four-part docuseries directed by Zo Wesson celebrates conductors and activists on the Underground Railroad
CINCINNATI – The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center added an Emmy Award to its collections over the weekend. The Freedom Center was recognized at the 60th Annual Ohio Valley Regional Emmy Awards in the Entertainment – Short or Long Form Content category for the four-part docuseries Black History Honors The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, produced by Central City Productions and the Stellar Network, directed by acclaimed director Alphonzo “Zo” Wesson III. 
“Since 1995 the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center has been promoting inclusive freedom for all, building on the principles of the Underground Railroad of courage, cooperation and perseverance. And I want to thank the Stellar TV team and the maestro Zo Wesson for bringing this creative idea to us to tell a more complete and inclusive American history by honoring Black history,” National Underground Railroad Freedom Center President & COO Woodrow Keown, Jr. said while accepting the award.
Black History Honors The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center was produced by Central City Productions and the Stellar Network as part of their inaugural Black History Honors series. The program celebrates the lives and legacies of the Underground Railroad freedom activists, including well-known leaders Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth as well as lesser-known figures, including Jermain Wesley Loguen, Henry “Box” Brown, Robert Smalls and William Still. Prominent local figures John Parker, John and Jean Rankin and Margaret Garner also featured large in the program. In addition to filming exclusively at the Freedom Center, the program also featured some Freedom Center staff portraying the historic freedom activists.
On his decision to feature the Freedom Center in the inaugural program, Don Jackson, Chairman & CEO of Central City Productions and Founder & Chairman of the Stellar Network, said, “I was committed not just to doing a Black history special, but to do it here where we can showcase that Black history and Black museums matter.”
Black History Honors the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center was broadcast in over 200 television markets. In addition to biographies and reenactments of freedom heroes, the series featured musical tributes from award-winning gospel music artists.
Freedom Center President & COO Woodrow Keown, Jr. accepted the Emmy Award along with:
- Alphonzo “Zo” Wesson III, director
- Carissa Ray, co-producer
- Kacie Champion, script supervisor
- Don Jackson, Chairman & CEO, Central City Productions and Founder & Chairman, Stellar Network
- Jennifer Jackson, President & COO, Central City Productions and Stellar Network
- Teresa Hairston-Jackson, writer
- Michael Johnson, music producer
###
About the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center
The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center opened in August 2004 on the banks of the Ohio River in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio. Since then, more than 1.3 million people have visited its permanent and changing exhibits and public programs, inspiring everyone to take courageous steps for freedom. Two million people have utilized educational resources online at freedomcenter.org, working to connect the lessons of the Underground Railroad to inform and inspire today’s global and local fight for freedom. Partnerships include Historians Against Slavery, Polaris Project, Free the Slaves, US Department of State and International Justice Mission. In 2014, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center launched a new online resource in the fight against modern slavery, endslaverynow.org.
