Film: Beyond the Mask: Paul Laurence Dunbar

A decade in the making, Beyond the Mask is the documentary on the life and legacy of the first African-American to achieve national fame as a writer. Born to former slaves in Dayton, Ohio, Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906), is best remembered for his poem, "We Wear the Mask" and for lines from “Sympathy” that became the title of Maya Angelou’s famous autobiography “I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings.”  A clip of Angelou reciting Dunbar’s poem is featured in the film. 

Dunbar’s story is also the story of the African American experience around the turn of the century. The man abolitionist Frederick Douglass called “the most promising young colored man in America” wrote widely published essays critical of Jim Crow laws, lynching and what was commonly called “The Negro Problem.” 

About the Filmmaker: Frederick Lewis

Writer, director and co-producer Frederick Lewis is a professor in the School of Media Arts & Studies at Ohio University. His previous documentaries have been seen on PBS stations throughout the U.S. and been screened at more than 100 cultural/educational venues including the National Gallery of Art, the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Rhode Island Black Film Festival, the Lake Placid Film Forum and the Explorers Club in NYC. Professor Lewis is a recipient of the Presidential Teach Award, Ohio University's highest honor for transformative teaching, curriculum innovation and mentoring. He has served as a Fulbright Specialist in Hungary and has taught or lectured in England, Germany, France, Malaysia and Vietnam.

Free admission. Masks required.