We’re excited to host a unique and timely program as part of Hebron’s 250th celebration. Join us on April 30th from 6:30 – 8pm at the Russell Mercier Senior Center in Hebron to learn about stories of brave Black American men who served their country during the American Revolution and Civil War.
We’ll hear from John Mills, president of the Alex Breanne Corporation and author of his newly released book, The Narrative of Primus, A Lineage Woven into American History. The bookuncovers the remarkable, nearly forgotten story of a ten-year-old boy taken from his mother’s bedside in West Africa and forced aboard a slave ship bound for America. That boy, Primus, survived the Middle Passage, endured decades of enslavement in colonial Connecticut, raised a family, and-through faith, resilience, and grace, laid a foundation that would ripple across generations.
The book traces the lives of Primus’s descendants from the Revolutionary War, where his son Job fought for American independence while enslaved, through the Civil War, where his 2nd great grandson Sgt. Daniel Stanley Lathrop served with the 29th Connecticut Colored Infantry Regiment, and into the 20th century where the lineage continued to serve in both World Wars and National Guard militias.
We’ll also view a short film called The 29th Connecticut Regiment and the Fight for Freedom. This original documentary, which won Best Connecticut Film at the 2023 Mystic Film Festival, tells the story of the brave African-American men who enlisted in Connecticut’s 29th Colored Infantry Regiment during the American Civil War and fought for the freedom of their people.
The film tells their remarkable story of sacrifice and heroism on battlefields in South Carolina and Virginia. Near the end of the war, the 29th Connecticut was sent to Brownsville, Texas where they were part of the federal force that occupied that town and brought news of the emancipation of the enslaved – celebrated today as Juneteenth.
Chris Barlow of the Berlin Equity Action Team, who created the film with Wide Awake Films, will discuss the making of the film and answer questions.
