The Hidden History of Slavery in New York Film Screening, Q & A, and Local History Presentation
February 28 @ 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm
$10 – $15
Join us for an important and illuminating afternoon featuring two powerful speakers whose work brings hidden histories into the light—both nationally and right here in Stamford.
🎬 Award-Winning Film Screening & Q&A
Larry Epstein, two-time Emmy Award–winning journalist and documentary producer, will present his filmThe Hidden History of Slavery in New York, winner of an award at the 67th Annual New York Emmy Awards.
Written, produced, and researched by Epstein, this 30-minute documentary confronts a largely untold chapter of American history: New York City’s central role in the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Through the lens of high school student Richard French IV, the film explores how slavery was deeply rooted in the North—revealing New Amsterdam as a major epicenter and Wall Street as the country’s largest slave market in the 17th and 18th centuries.The film features Bryan Stevenson, founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, offering critical historical context that challenges what many of us were taught in school.
A Q&A with Larry Epstein will follow the screening.
🗣 Local History, Personal Legacy
Our second speaker, Bria Scott, brings history home through her ongoing family research. Bria is a descendant of Henry Scott, a Stamford resident and active member of the city’s working community during a time when Black residents faced profound barriers to visibility and opportunity.
Through newly uncovered documentation, photographs, and newspaper coverage—including features in The Advocate—Bria has traced her ancestor’s civic engagement, labor activism, and participation in a May Day protest in Stamford. These images and records place Henry Scott directly within the city’s social and labor justice history.
As Bria shares, these stories matter not just to her family, but to Stamford itself—representing the everyday lives, courage, and dignity of Black residents whose contributions shaped the city, even when they were not formally celebrated.
✨ This Black History Month, we invite you to learn, reflect, and engage with history that is too often overlooked—yet deeply essential.
📅 Friday, February 28⏰ 2–4 PM📍Stamford History Center
🎟 $15 General Admission, $10 Admission for SHC Members
