Join us for this FREE (with RSVP) screening of Paul Laurence Dunbar: Beyond the Mask, a new documentary film directed by Ohio University professor Frederick Lewis, which has also screened at the Library of Congress and the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis.
Beyond the Mask explores the life and legacy of Paul Laurence Dunbar, the first African American writer to gain national and international fame. Born to former slaves in Dayton, Ohio, where he was boyhood friends with the Wright Brothers, Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906) is best remembered for his poem “We Wear The Mask” and for “Sympathy,” which inspired the title of Maya Angelou’s famous autobiography, I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings.
The documentary touches on events such as the Wilmington Race Massacre of 1898, Dunbar’s tempestuous marriage to fellow writer Alice Ruth Moore, his struggles with alcoholism, and his premature death at age 33 from tuberculosis. It also provides insight into how his achievements are celebrated today by artists, writers, and musicians.
More than ten years in the making, Beyond The Mask received major funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities with additional support from Ohio Humanities.
Freshly popped popcorn (gluten and dairy free) and drinks will be available at the event for a small charge.