Charlotte Forten's Mission: Experiment in Freedom
At the beginning of the Civil War, Union gunboats sailed into Port Royal Sound, on the Sea Islands off the coast of Georgia. White plantation owners fled, and the 10,000 blacks who lived there, almost all of whom were slaves, were freed in the first test of President Abraham Lincoln's dream of emancipation. Charlotte Forten, a 21-year-old educated black woman, helped the freed slaves to begin to build a new society. That experience forms the plot of this drama, based on Charlotte Forten's journals, which was telecast on "American Playhouse."
Mary Aliceas Blind LilyNed Beattyas Rev. Mansfield FrenchCarla Borellias Laura TowneAriane Brandtas EllenEd Danilowiczas Commissioner McKimMicki Grantas LenaMoses Gunnas HannibalAnna Maria Horsfordas HannahRobert Jacobas Soldier in the BandBruce McGillas Edward PhilbrickMelba Mooreas Charlotte FortenJay Pattersonas Edward PierceVyto Ruginisas Col. Thomas HigginsonConnie Traskas Mrs. LawrenceGlynn Turmanas JoshuaLou Walkeras Sgt. RivasRodrick F. Wimberlyas JacobOyafunmike Ogunlanoas Slave / Ring Shout Dancer