The new historical documentary, “Searching for Timbuctoo,” will have its Albany premiere on November 12th at 7:00p.m. on the Downtown Campus of the University at Albany. The screening is hosted by the New York State Writers Institute and is free and open to the public.
The documentary reveals the story of wealthy New York landowner, abolitionist and congressman Gerrit Smith who, in 1846, gave away 120,000 acres of his own land to nearly 3000 African-American men so that they could have the right to vote in the State of New York. Smith’s land grants helped establish a pioneering Black settlement, called Timbuctoo, near present-day Lake Placid.
Writer/director Paul Miller joins us as does UAlbany lecturer in Africana Studies Jennifer Thompson Burns.
Listen to a New York Minute in History podcast about Timbuctoo.