Saturday morning at 8am on WCLK's The Local Take I talked with filmaker and author Charles Campbell about his movie "All Or Nothing" that chronicles the 1853 escape by 28 enslaved people from Boone County Kentucky. This is the largest recorded Underground Railroad escape in our history.
Campbell explains that he came across this story while attending Central Michigan University. I ask him about the abolitionists that participated William Lambert, Rev. Charles Moore, George deBaptiste, Laura Haviland, Asher and Chatherine Array, William Webb Harwood, and Henry Bibb. They coordinated this plot at of time when there weren't even phones. He speaks about the tenacious bounty hunters in Boone County, Kentucky. He also mentions that escapes via the Underground Railroad were rare, that most escapes involved one or two people at a time leaving plantations.
When I ask Campbell about the descendants he mentions that he invited those that he found to be part of the film as extras and that a few even have lines. I mention visiting a stop on the Underground Railroad in Windsor, Canada and ask if any of the stops used in the 1853 escape are still standing. He mentions structures in Cabin Creek and College Hill, Indiana.
Charles Campbell will host his first screening of All Or Nothing in Atlanta Friday, March 8 at Friendship Baptist Church at 7pm. The movie is 83 minutes long and there will be a discussion and book signing.
For more information about All Or Nothing you can reach Charles Campbell via email at yeswecanland@yahoo.com or text him at 323-326-8664.