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Eastern to host 'Stepping into the Shade' screening and Q&A

Faculty-produced documentary explores Connecticut's tobacco history

Willimantic, CT (03/04/2025) — Eastern Connecticut State University is proud to present a screening of the faculty-produced documentary "Stepping into the Shade" on March 12 at 7 p.m. in the Student Center Theatre. A Q&A with the docuseries' host and producers will follow the screening. The event is free and open to the public.

Produced by Professors Brian Day and Kristen Morgan of Eastern's Department of Communication, Film and Theatre, and hosted by entrepreneur and TV personality June Archer, "Stepping into the Shade" explores Connecticut's tobacco heritage and local civil rights movement.

Three years in the making, "Stepping Into the Shade" tells the story of the people who toiled in the soil on Connecticut's tobacco farms, including migrant workers from Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Poland and Pennsylvania, as well as college students from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HACU's) who had summer jobs on the farms, including Martin Luther King Jr.

"This is a subject that so many people in (Connecticut) connect with," said Morgan, "and I hope we have done justice to the many stories we have collected over the past three years. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who is one of the subjects of an episode of the series, insisted that 'All labor has dignity,' and we have tried to reflect the dignity of the workers who generously shared their stories with us."

"Our history is rich and filled with stories of triumph from those who worked on the farms to those who smoke cigars," said Archer. "This story happens to be an American history story. It happens to be the makeup of Connecticut, which is why it's a super important story for me."

The producers hope the screening event will bring in an audience unfamiliar with the show and subject matter. For more information on the film, visit https://www.steppingintotheshade.com/ .

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Eastern Connecticut State University is the state of Connecticut's public liberal arts university, serving upwards of 4,000 students annually on its Willimantic campus. A residential campus offering 41 majors and 68 minors, Eastern offers students a strong liberal arts foundation grounded in a variety of applied learning opportunities. Ranked among the top 25 public institutions in the North by U.S. News & World Report in its 2024-25 Best Colleges ratings, Eastern has also been awarded 'Green Campus' status by the Princeton Review 15 years in a row. For more information, visit www.easternct.edu.

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