New Documentary Reveals New Aspects of the American Story

I Have A Dream, by Pamela Chatterton-Purdy

The Zion Union Heritage Museum in Hyannis, MA, has just released a new documentary film, Journeys in the Light: Untold Stories of Cape Cod, recounting the struggles and achievements of People of Color in this historic region.

The film’s title takes inspiration from a quote from Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.”

Journeys in the Light shows how present-day Cape Codders and their ancestors struggled, generation after generation, to bring to reality the promise of America that was set down on a ship in Cape Cod Bay in 1620: “just and equal laws…for the general good.”

Organized into fifteen short chapters, the film moves from early segments like “The Promise of America,” “Pilgrims and People of the First Light,” and “Darkness Falls” through “The Road to Freedom” and “Journeys to the North” and on to “Fighting for Civil Rights” and “Moving Cape Cod Communities Forward.”

While addressing frankly such difficult topics as slavery here on Cape Cod during the Colonial Period, the documentary highlights the courageous individuals who led the fight for freedom, strove for education and economic progress, transformed oppression into brilliant forms of creative expression, served the country in every war, and came to excel in sports, entrepreneurship, teaching, the arts, community service, and various other professions here on the Cape and around the country.

Several distinct groups are represented within Cape Cod’s minority population, including African Americans, Wampanoags, and people from Brazil and the Caribbean, as well as a unique immigrant group present in this region since the early 1800s, Cape Verdeans.

The filmmakers use the diverse ancestry of Cape Cod’s people of Color as a window into little-known aspects of American history. They draw upon the Zion Union Heritage Museum’s own collection, and its family of artists, to tell the fascinating story – a feat made easier because the museum has the world’s largest collection of art, artifacts, photographs, and historical documents concerning People of Color in this region.

The series Icons of the Civil Rights Movement by resident artist Pamela Chatterton-Purdy includes more than 30 portraits, each accompanied by historical notes researched and written by the artist’s husband David Purdy.

In her series of paper collage quilts, resident artist Robin Joyce Miller chronicles the African-American experience from the capture into slavery and “Middle Passage” across the Atlantic to the inauguration of the first black President.

A third resident artist, Carl Lopes, long-time Barnstable High School Art Director, creates paintings inspired by African motifs such as masks and shields. In the context of the documentary, his works – with their bold, regal quality – represent a high point in the centuries-long journey of People of Color, where Afro-centric cultural elements are celebrated as important in themselves and a vital aspect of our shared American story.

These three artists are joined by others – including Michael Alfano, Elizabeth Mumford, Vasco Pires, Joe Souza, and David Lewis – in telling various pieces of the fascinating story.

Also spotlighted in Journeys in the Light are local heroes, including Eugenia Fortes, an immigrant from the richly diverse Cape Verde Islands. Fortes stood her ground on a beach in Hyannis Port in 1945, a full decade before Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, AL.

Another of the Civil Rights-era highlights is the story of the “Reverse Freedom Riders” – African Americans who were tricked into taking a bus from Arkansas to Hyannis where, they were told, housing and jobs awaited them. The hoax was devised by enemies of integration who sought to embarrass President John F. Kennedy, whose “Summer White House” was in nearby Hyannis Port.

Harold Tobey, founding member of the Zion Union Heritage Museum and former President of the Barnstable Town Council, appears in the documentary and discusses his family’s deep roots on Cape Cod, which date to 1865.Several of these stories, and others, were first set down by writer and local historian Dolores DaLuz in her “Notes toward a History of Black People in Barnstable,” published in 1989 for the town’s 350th anniversary.

The legislative victories of the Civil Rights Movement opened up new opportunities for People of Color just as Cape Cod was poised to move forward to become a world-class resort destination and the year-round home of more than 200 thousand people. Many local People of Color made substantial contributions to their communities, including Joseph DaLuz, Barnstable’s first black Building Commissioner, who was universally respected for his skill and fairness during over two decades with the department.

The soundtrack for Journeys in the Light includes recordings from several top regional musicians, including saxophonist Walter Beasley, professor of music at Boston’s Berklee College of Music.

Portions of early American history are narrated against a backdrop of Renaissance music performed by Ensemble Passacaglia of Falmouth, MA. The group’s rendition of early Portuguese music also helps to set the mood for the film’s segments concerning immigrants from Cape Verde, who have a mixture of African and European ancestry, primarily Portuguese.

Legendary blues harpist Jerry Portnoy of East Dennis, MA sets the mood with “Stormy Weather” at various junctures in the history, including the Jim Crow South and the Great Migration. Other musicians featured include award-winning vocalist/pianist Steffani Bennett of New York and five-time Grammy Nominee Tierney Sutton.

Journeys in the Light: Untold Stories of Cape Cod has been in the making for two-and-a-half years and is produced by ArtistsAndMusicians.org in collaboration with John L. Reed, Executive Director of the Zion Union Heritage Museum.

Funding is provided by the Lyndon Paul LoRusso Charitable Foundation, the Mid-Cape Cultural Council, and the Town of Barnstable. You can purchase the DVD in the Zion Union Heritage Museum store and selected other locations.

Marilyn Rowland of East Falmouth, MA, and others provided editorial.

Join Us for the NAACP Holiday Gathering & Membership Drive

Saturday, December 12, 2-4 pm

Zion Union Heritage Museum

276 North Street, Hyannis, MA 02601

A showing of the entire film Journeys in the Light: Untold Stories of Cape Cod
will be begin at 2:30pm

Visitors can also view excerpts of the film on different screens around the museum while browsing the “Out of Africa” exhibition and other works that are part of the permanent collection.

The admission fee is being waived but visitors are encouraged to bring a nonperishable item for a food basket.

All are welcome!

Journeys in the Light: Untold Stories of Cape Cod

Click HERE to view the Trailer

The entire film can be viewed at:

Zion Union Heritage Museum
276 North Street
Hyannis, MA 02601

You can purchase the DVD in the Zion Union Heritage Museum store and selected other locations.

Click here for Musings from the Filmmaker Janet Murphy Robertson

Thoughts from an Artist featured in the film: Pamela Chatterton-Purdy

I can only say how pleased I am that my Civil Rights icons are featured.

Folks ask me how long it takes to create one of my icons, I say it takes between 2-3 weeks, but the correct answer is “52 years!”

From my first job at Ebony Magazine in 1963, to our deep involvement in the Civil Rights Movement, to our integrated family with the adoption of our 2 African American sons, where we found ourselves confronting racism at every turn! (right here in New England), to a Civil Rights tour in 2004 called Sojourn to the Past, which illustrated how Black and White, Christian, Jewish, all of God’s children, worked for justice and demonstrated the power of non-violence over evil!…..all these years became the inspiration for these icons! Visit Pamela Chatterton-Purdy’s Website

Thoughts from an Artist featured in the film: Robin J. Miller

The fact that I’ve been welcomed as a resident artist to the Zion Union Heritage Museum has been an honor in itself. I never imagined that my African American History (mixed media collage) quilts would be used to impart the untold story of Cape Cod.
Janet M. Robertson masterfully wove my art into the journey.

My husband, James, was equally surprised to find that his poetry, which accompanies many of the quilts in our book, Rhythms of a Faithful Journey – Verses from Slavery to Presidency, was featured in the video.

Being a part of the Zion Museum has enriched our lives on the Cape. At Zion, there is a strong sense of family among the staff, Board of Directors and artists. Jim and I met Janet when the museum decided to begin filming the DVD.

Connecting with Janet has been an extra bonus. She encouraged me to engage in a one-to-one interview with her entitled “Restoring My African Soul with Robin Joyce Miller”. The interview aired on cable television and won the National Hometown Media Award “Cultural Perspectives” for FCTV (Falmouth Community Television) member, Marilyn Rowland.

As native New Yorkers, Jim and I feel that being included in this important piece of history has linked us to Cape Cod, our second home, in a very special way. We are most grateful. Visit Robin J. Miller’s website