Amistad Showing at Hamilton Theater, part of NAHOF Induction Weekend

(Hamilton, NY) Steven Spielberg’s film Amistad will be shown at 5:00 p.m. Friday, October 23 at the Hamilton Theater, 7 Lebanon Street, Hamilton NY. Directly after the movie a panel discussion on the movie and the Amistad incident will take place across the street at the Colgate University Bookstore.

Chuck Fox, Manager of the Hamilton Theater, has assisted the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum (NAHOF) with arrangements for the special showing of the shipboard slave mutiny in 1839. Morgan Freeman, Anthony Hopkins, Djimon Hounsou, and Matthew McConaughey starred in the 1997 film that illustrates the slaves’ freedom efforts and the long legal battle that followed.

Lewis Tappan, who will be inducted into the Hall of Fame the following evening, is one of the central figures in the Amistad incident. Tom Bennett, Jamesville-Dewitt Social Studies teacher and a member of the NAHOF Cabinet of Freedom will host the event.

The Colgate Bookstore sponsors the panel discussion on Amistad. Heather Elia, Marketing Associate at the Colgate Bookstore and Facilitator of the Monthly Hamilton Book and Movie Night, will be the moderator for the panel. The panel includes Tom Bennett, Hugh C. Humphreys (retired Madison County Judge, Adjunct Professor Syracuse University, and creator of the Saturday night abolition drama for the induction ceremonies), and Vincent Pulafico (John Quincy Adams Reenactor from Plattsburgh NY). The discussion points will include the accuracy of the portrayal of the time, incident, and characters in the film, 2009 Hall of Fame Inductee Lewis Tappan’s role in the incident, John Quincy Adams’ role in the Amistad Supreme Court trial and in the House of Representatives against the gag rules to stifle anti-slavery petitions, and the influence of the Amistad Incident on the abolition movement.

Elia and Kelly Thomas, General Book and Events Manager at the Bookstore, will provide refreshments.

Admission to the film is $5. The panel discussion is free.

For more information on the Amistad event, as well as the abolition symposia, the keynote with Frederick Douglass, the induction ceremonies, the Sunday Abolition Lyceum, and the John Brown concert for the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum weekend at Colgate University contact www.AbolitionHoF.org or 315-684-3262.

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Amistad Showing at Hamilton Theater, part of NAHOF Induction Weekend

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