"Sons and Daughters of Thunder" Meet-and-Greet Event

Sons and Daughters of Thunder Meet-and-Greet Event
7-9 p.m.
Harriet Beecher Stowe House Historic Site, Cincinnati

In 1834, a group of passionate students at Lane Theological Seminary in Cincinnati, Ohio began to publicly debate the moral implications of slavery and the need for emancipation. Most students, led by the eloquent Theodore Dwight Weld, supported immediate abolition, and their public stance alarmed and angered many around them. The efforts of the administration to stifle free speech resulted in most students leaving Lane for Oberlin, Ohio, and the newly formed Oberlin College. The debates, public outcry, and student exodus were heavily covered by the press, including William Lloyd Garrison’s abolitionist publication, The Liberator. The seminary never fully recovered. The debates also had an impact on  Harriet Beecher, daughter of the seminary’s president, Lyman Beecher. Then a young and aspiring writer, she would later pen 1852’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, a work that played a significant role in shifting public opinion on slavery. Harriet’s opinions and insights were shaped by the debates of 1834 and her 18 years in the Queen City.

The important story of The Lane Debates will be told in a new docudrama from Fourth Wall Films entitled Sons and Daughters of Thunder: The Beginning of the End of Slavery in America. Kelly and Tammy Rundle and a talented production team will be filming a portion of their movie in Cincinnati. They will be shooting scenes at the Harriet Beecher Stowe House in Walnut Hills, where the Beecher family lived. The film, based on the play by Earlene Hawley and Curtis Heeter, is expected to be broadcast nationally on public television stations in February 2015.

We invite you to be a part of this exciting and historic event as we welcome the cast and crew to Cincinnati. The evening will feature conversation with the cast and crew, including short presentations and performances. Enjoy hors d'oeuvres from Nada (part of the Boca Restaurant Group) and an auction of film memorabilia.