Hebron film to go before educators

You’ve seen the movie, and now you can take the class.

“Testimonies of a Quiet New England Town,” the film about some of Hebron’s most famous residents, will be discussed as a workshop at the upcoming Connecticut Council for Social Studies conference.

The movie was written and directed by Hebron’s Matthew Troy.

It portrays the family of Cesar and Lowis Peters, slaves who were abducted by slave traders in 1787 and nearly taken out of state.

They were saved when their neighbors concocted a trumped-up arrest warrant to have reason to take the Peters family back home.

With a mix of stage and television actors and local residents playing the roles, plus an award-winning executive producer in the person of Karyl Evans on board, the scenes were filmed in and around Hebron last spring.

With the help of grant funding from the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism, the Hebron Historical Society produced the film and premiered it at a well-attended screening in Hebron last month.

As an historical film, educational supplements were created to accompany it so it could be shown in schools across the state.

Christopher Ambrose, a retired teacher who also played a role in the movie, and Gregory Farmer of Agricola Inc., who served as a historical consultant during filming, developed the educational materials.

The materials meet the requirements of the Connecticut Mastery Tests and there are modules for third- to 12th-grades.

The modules come in binders and DVDs with cover artwork by Hebron resident Jeff Gonci.

The materials are expected to be ready for distribution by the end of November.

“I’ve included classroom exercises in language arts, mathematics and writing,” Ambrose said. “This is a great way to share Hebron’s early anti-slavery efforts in a way that can positively affect student mastery test scores.

Ambrose, and Farmer, along with executive producer Evans and Hebron Historical Society president Donna McCalla, will present the materials at the conference, which will be Friday at the student center at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain.

“We are excited to present ‘Testimonies of a Quiet New England Town’ to Connecticut’s social studies teachers,” said McCalla. “It’s going to be a huge conference and we are so humbled to have the film and educational materials included. One of our goals in the original project was to provide a copy of the film and supplemental educational materials to all 169 Connecticut school boards.

“We are grateful for the support of the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism in bringing this story to Connecticut students and classrooms.”

For information about either registering or exhibiting at the conference, email the conference chairman at tullyj@ccsu.edu.