Sunday, February 8, 2009
HISTORY, UP CLOSE
Actors dive into roles in historical drama Frederick Douglass'

Matthew Campbell, left, of Norwalk, plays one of the Baltimore street boys who taught reading to the young Frederick Douglass, played by middle school student Kendall Jones, of Hamden.

Al Varvella, of Stratford, plays one of the cruel slave owners in "Frederick Douglass: Pathway From Slavery to Freedom," premiering Sunday on CPTV at 6:30 p.m.

By Amanda Cuda
STAFF WRITER

When actor Jamie Hector was asked to play a young Frederick Douglass in a short film shot in Connecticut, the answer was obvious.

"I said, 'Frederick Douglass? Of course!' " said Hector, best known for playing ruthless gangster Marlo Stanfield on the acclaimed HBO series "The Wire."

Hector plays the famed abolitionist and author in "Frederick Dougl&s: Pathway From Slavery to Freedom," a half-hour historical drama that will air at 6:30 p.m. Sunday on Connecticut Public Television.

The program centers on a group of middle school students who are assigned a paper on Douglass. With the help of a magical computer, they meet Douglass (Hector) and learn about his early life, from his birth on a Maryland plantation, through his childhood and into his young adulthood and escape from a life of slavery.

Though he lived more than 100 years ago, Hector said Douglass' activism and determination helped lay the groundwork for generations of trailblazing people of color, from Martin Luther King Jr. to President Barack Obama. "We're standing on his shoulders right now," Hector said

The show is aimed at middle school students, and Hector said it has a lot to teach young people, not just about Douglass, but also about the strength of the human spirit.

"Frederick Douglass was a powerful &," Hector said. "Not only did he overcome what he overcame, but he did not allow anyone to hold him back."

Young actor appreciates historical role

Kendall Jones, of Hamden, poses on the deck of the schooner Mystic Whaler, docked at Captain's Cove in Bridgeport last April, during the filming of "Frederick Douglass: Pathway From Slavery to Freedom!'

"Frederick Douglass" was filmed all over Connecticut last year. Scenes were shot at Captain's Cove in Bridgeport, Roton Middle School in Norwalk, Warrup's Farm in Redding and other locations. Hector might have been the most well-known actor involved in the production, but a number of local performers also were used in the TV show, including 13-year-old Kendall Jones, of Hamden, who played Douglass as an adolescent.

Like Hector, Jones said kids can learn a lot about Douglass from the show. Jones, who is himself an eighth grader at Hamden Middle School, said, even though he's studied Douglass in school, he gleaned quite a bit from his work on the TV program. "I think it was really cool, to go from learning about him in school to playing the role of him," Jones said. "I never knew how much trouble he went through."

The Frederick Douglass special is part of a pilot program called "Young American Heroes," a collaboration between the production companies Palace Productions and Docere Palace Studios, as well as Connecticut Public Television, the Fairfield University Graduate School of Education and other organizations.

The TV show is one piece of a multimedia effort to make history come alive for kids. Other components include a graphic novel and a web site, www.youngamericanheroes.com.

"Young American Heroes" was one of seven projects to receive preliminary funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting's American History and Civics Initiative, which aims to address gaps in history education at the middle school and high school levels. More than 80 proposals were submitted and only two or three will receive full funding.

Chris Campbell, of Palace Productions, said, if "Young American Heroes" does receive the rest of its funding, the goal is to produce more episodes of the show, focusing on other young people in history

Campbell, also the show's director and one of its executive producers, said telling the stories of people who, like Douglass, made a huge impact at a young age, helps make history more immediate for kids, and shows them that they, too, can make a difference. Already, he said, many teachers are using the show and the Web site with students and seeing good results.

"Kids are not powerless, and there are lots of examples in history of one person making a difference," Campbell said.

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