Sons & Daughters of Thunder

"Sons & Daughters of Thunder" Trailer

"Thunder" and "Becoming Harriet Beecher Stowe" earn Four Regional Emmy Nominations

Fourth Wall Films' documentary Becoming Harriet Beecher Stowe and docudrama Sons & Daughters of Thunder have received four Mid-America Emmy® nominations. The films had their broadcast premiere on WQPT- PBS.

Becoming Harriet Beecher Stowe received a nomination in the Documentary-Cultural category.The film tells the story of the iconic writer’s time in Cincinnati, Ohio and how several life-altertering experiences contributed material for her best-selling novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Beecher-Stowe lived in Cincinnati between 1832 and 1850, and after her move to Maine, she adapted her Ohio experiences and new anti-slavery sentiment into America’s most influential novel.

The documentary features historians, writers and storytellers: Dr. Christine Anderson, Chris DeSimio, Dr. John Douglass, Dr. John Getz, Dr. Joan Hedrick, Philip McFarland, Dr. Michelle Watts, and Betty Campbell. Dee Canfield of Moline, Illinois read excerpts from Beecher Stowe’s letters in the film. Filming took place at the Harriet Beecher Stowe House in Cincinnati, Ohio, John Rankin House in Ripley, Ohio, and on a canal boat courtesy the Johnston Farm and Indian Agency.

The Fourth Wall Films docudrama Sons & Daughters of Thunder received three nominations including Best Arts/Entertainment: Program/Special, Best Original Music Score by William Campbell, and a nomination for Writing (Screenplay). The screenplay was adapted by the Rundles from the play “Sons & Daughters of Thunder” written by Earlene Hawley and Curtis Heeter. Kent Hawley co-produced the film with the Rundles.

"We hope to be able to honor playwright Earlene Hawley with a win," said producer/director Kelly Rundle. "She is the heart of Sons & Daughters of Thunder."

Sons & Daughters of Thunder tells the unforgettable true story of the first-in-the-nation 1834 anti-slavery debates in Cincinnati, Ohio, led by firebrand abolitionist Theodore Weld as portrayed by Thomas Alan Taylor. The debates had a profound impact on a young Harriet Beecher Stowe’s views on slavery. Stowe is played by actress Jessica Taylor.

Kimberly Kurtenbach served as the Executive Producer and casting director on the project and played Harriet’s sister Catharine Beecher in the film. Janos Horvath starred as Lyman Beecher.

Sons & Daughters of Thunder starred many acclaimed actors from the Midwest and Los Angeles (MEET THE CAST HERE), and a small but mighty crew, including award-winning DP Kevin Railsback, award-winning Sound/Effects Chris Ryder, Emily Busha (Wardrobe), Dave Furness (Gaffer), Farrah Ketron (Hair/Make-up), Lora Adams and Wendy Czekalski (Wardrobe/Make-up/Hair Assistants), Olivia Ketron and Melinda Carriker (Production Assistants), Sandy Freel (Props), among others (MEET THE CREW HERE).

Filming took place at the Dillon Home Museum in Sterling, Illinois, the Jenny Lind Chapel in Andover, Illinois, the Karpeles Manuscript Museum and Augustana's House on the Hill in Rock Island, Illinois, the Harriet Beecher Stowe House in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center in Hartford, Connecticut.

"We congratulate our fantastic Thunder cast and outstanding team of artists behind the camera, Bill Campbell our amazing composer, our generous contributors and supporters, the Quad City Arts, the Illinois Arts Council, the Moline Foundation, and a special thank you to playwright Earlene Hawley and Curtis Heeter," said producer Tammy Rundle. "We wish Kent Hawley were here with us to see all that is happening with Thunder, as he was so much a part of the whole process."

Sons & Daughters of Thunder was partially funded by a grant from the Quad City Arts (Illinois Arts Council Agency, Hubbell-Waterman Foundation and Deere and Company); and a grant from the Illinois Arts Council. The Moline Foundation and the Shell Rock Community Historical Society served as the fiscal sponsors for the project. Thunder is available on DVD at LaneRebelsMovie.com or Amazon.com, and it can be streamed via Vimeo On Demand.

Becoming Harriet Beecher Stowe was partially funded by a grant from the Ohio Humanities, a State affiliate of The National Endowment for the Humanities.

Kelly and Tammy Rundle received Mid-America Emmy® nominations for their documentaries Good Earth: Awakening the Silent City, River to River: Iowa’s Forgotten Highway 6, Country School: One Room - One Nation, River to River: Iowa's Forgotten Highway 6, and Letters Home to Hero Street (co-produced with Lora Adams and WQPT).

Order Sons & Daughters of Thunder at https://www.fourthwallfilms.com/dvds.htm

"Thunder" Award-winning Composer William Campbell presents Livestream Concert Sept. 25

Son's & Daughters of Thunder award-winning composer William Campbell will livestream a special concert from his home on his semi-concert grand piano Friday, September 25th, 7:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. The “Coming Home” concert will showcase music from his 2011 album, including his arrangement of the SAU alma mater Ambrosian Oaks (“Finlandia”), and newer pieces from his forthcoming album.

You're invited to pour a glass of wine and 'escape' into the music of this amazing composer and musician. Bill received an Award of Excellence from the Iowa Motion Picture Association for Son's & Daughters of Thunder's Best Original Score in August.

To attend, click on this livestream link on Friday evening: https://www.facebook.com/WilliamCampbellMusic/posts/1771827912965631.

Click HERE for more details.

Based on the play by Earlene Hawley and Curtis Heeter, the film tells the unforgettable true story of the first-in-the-nation 1834 emancipation debates led by firebrand abolitionist Theodore Weld (Thomas Alan Taylor) in Cincinnati, Ohio, and their effect on a young Harriet Beecher Stowe’s (Jessica Taylor) views of slavery.

The film was co-produced by Kelly & Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films and Kent Hawley, and Executive Producer Kimberly Kurtenbach. Award-winning cinematographer Kevin Railsback served as the Director of Photography.

Sons & Daughters of Thunder was partially funded by a grant from the Quad City Arts, the Illinois Arts Council Agency, with support from Friends of the Harriet Beecher Stowe House, Walnut Hills Redevelopment Foundation, and the Bix Biederbecke Inn. The Moline Foundation and the Shell Rock Community Historical Society served as the fiscal sponsors on the film project.  The film is co-produced by Kelly & Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films and Kent Hawley. Kimberly Kurtenbach is the Executive Producer of the film.

Kelly & Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films are the producers of multiple award-winning historical documentaries and the Mid-America Emmy® nominated documentaries Good Earth: Awakening the Silent City, Country School: One Room – One Nation, River to River: Iowa's Forgotten Highway 6 and Letters Home to Hero Street (co-produced with WQPT). 

To order any of Fourth Wall Films documentaries or film projects on DVD or view them via streaming, visit SHOP FOURTH WALL FILMS.

 

Iowa Independent Film Festival goes virtual September 7-13

The Iowa Independent Film Festival celebrates its 12th year with a virtual festival this 2020. Sons & Daughters of Thunder is among 40 films selected by the festival jury and will screen online September 7-13th.

An ALL-ACCESS PASS is just $10 and you can view the films (documentaries, shorts, features, local, students, animation) any time during the 7-day window.

Visit https://www.iifilmfestival.org/tickets to get started. 

The Iowa Independent Film Festival was founded in 2007 by screenwriter Richard Schinnow and actress Tanna Frederick. The festival usually screens its official selections at the historic Lake Theatre in Clear Lake, the Mason City Community Theatre in Mason City and Mason City Public Library. This year, due to COVID-19, the festival will celebrate independent films online.

"Our goal as a premiere independent film festival in Iowa is to offer our region opportunities to experience the best in independent filmmaking. With movies spanning the genres of short films, documentaries and features, we look to provide quality entertainment for a wide range of tastes," the IIFF states. 

Sons & Daughters of Thunder recently won seven awards at the 29th Iowa Motion Picture Association's annual award ceremony including the Top Awards for Best Feature Film, Direction, Actor, Supporting Actress, Original Score and two Awards of Achievement for Best Actress and Editing.

Thomas Alan Taylor as Theodore Weld.

Based on the play by Earlene Hawley and Curtis Heeter, the film tells the unforgettable true story of the first-in-the-nation 1834 emancipation debates led by firebrand abolitionist Theodore Weld (Thomas Alan Taylor) in Cincinnati, Ohio, and their effect on a young Harriet Beecher Stowe’s (Jessica Taylor) views of slavery.

The film was co-produced by Kelly & Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films and Kent Hawley, and Executive Producer Kimberly Kurtenbach. Award-winning cinematographer Kevin Railsback served as the Director of Photography.

Jessica Taylor as Harriet Beecher.

Kelly & Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films are the producers of multiple award-winning historical documentaries and the Mid-America Emmy® nominated documentaries Good Earth: Awakening the Silent City, Country School: One Room – One Nation, River to River: Iowa's Forgotten Highway 6 and Letters Home to Hero Street (co-produced with WQPT). 

Mark Winn as abolitionist Frederick Douglass.

Sons & Daughters of Thunder was partially funded by a grant from the Quad City Arts (Illinois Arts Council Agency, Hubbell-Waterman Foundation and Deere and Company); and a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency. The Moline Foundation and the Shell Rock Community Historical Society served as the fiscal sponsors for the project. 

To order any of Fourth Wall Films documentaries or film projects on DVD or view them via streaming, visit SHOP FOURTH WALL FILMS.

 

NW Illinois Film Festival features "Thunder" trailer at Midway Drive-In

The First Annual Northwest Illinois Film Festival showcased two new documentaries from Fourth Wall Films, Riding the Rails to Hero Street and A Bridge too Far from Hero Street, on Wednesday evening, August 26th at the Midway Drive-In Theatre in Sterling, Illinois. The trailer of their new award-winning docudrama Sons & Daughters of Thunder opened the evening festivities. Thunder won seven awards at the 29th Iowa Motion Picture Association's award ceremony on August 8th including the Top Awards for Best Feature Film, Direction, Actor, Supporting Actress, Original Score and two Awards of Achievement for Best Actress and Editing.  Portions of the docudrama were shot at the Dillon Home Museum in Sterling.

Fourth Wall Films producers Kelly and Tammy Rundle joined a number of other filmmakers for the evening celebration of independent filmmaking in Illinois. Approximately 80 cars drove in for the festival with attendees practicing safe distancing and following pandemic rules.

"It was a magical evening seeing the Thunder trailer light up the screen at dusk," said producer Tammy Rundle. "We had to capture it on video to share with the cast and crew, and especially Earlene Hawley, who wrote the play in which the film is based. It was our first drive-in film exhibition and rather thrilling!"

"The Northwest Illinois Film Office is dedicated to assisting film projects find the right locations, navigate local regulations and State film incentives, and identify local cast, crew and supply chain. The film office also promotes Illinois filmmakers and their projects through events like our annual Northwest Illinois Film Festival," said Gary Camarano, Executive Director.

Gary Camarano envisioned a two-day festival featuring feature-length films (including Sons & Daughters of Thunder) and short films in multiple venues in several NW Illinois cities, but COVID derailed that plan.

"Gary Camarano was determined to have a safe film festival for attendees to enjoy, and adapted the 'plan' to showcase short films produced by independent Illinois filmmakers at the Midway Drive-In Theater. It was a great success," said director Kelly Rundle. "We are very gratified that the Thunder trailer was part of the opening of the exhibition, and that our two new Hero Street documentaries were selected by invitation for the festival."

The Rundles’ Hero Street proposed ten-part documentary series, will explore the personal and family sagas behind each of the eight heroes and tell an unforgettable true story of American courage, character, and perseverance. Letters Home to Hero Street (co-produced with WQPT) was the first film created for the series, and it received a Mid-America Emmy-nomination. Letters Home is available with lesson plans to teachers nation-wide via the PBS Learning Media website.

Sons & Daughters of Thunder was partially funded by a grant from the Quad City Arts, the Illinois Arts Council Agency, with support from Friends of the Harriet Beecher Stowe House, Walnut Hills Redevelopment Foundation, and the Bix Biederbecke Inn. The Moline Foundation and the Shell Rock Community Historical Society served as the fiscal sponsors on the film project.  The film is co-produced by Kelly & Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films and Kent Hawley. Kimberly Kurtenbach is the Executive Producer of the film.

Kelly & Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films are the producers of multiple award-winning historical documentaries and the Mid-America Emmy® nominated documentaries Good Earth: Awakening the Silent City, Country School: One Room – One Nation, River to River: Iowa's Forgotten Highway 6 and Letters Home to Hero Street (co-produced with WQPT). 

To order any of Fourth Wall Films documentaries or film projects on DVD or view them via streaming, visit SHOP FOURTH WALL FILMS.

“Sons & Daughters of Thunder” Wins 7 Awards from Iowa Motion Picture Association

The Iowa Motion Picture Association (IMPA) bestowed Sons & Daughters of Thunder seven awards during the 29th Annual gala ceremony held Saturday, August 8th at 7:00 p.m. Due to COVID-19, the event was held online this year.

The IMPA recognized outstanding creative and technical achievement in Iowa’s moving image production industry, in all its forms.

Sons & Daughters of Thunder received eight IMPA nominations, and won five top Awards of Excellence:

Best Live Action Entertainment-Long Form - Fourth Wall Films
Best Direction Long Form - Kelly Rundle
Best Original Music Score by William Campbell
Best Actor Thomas Alan Taylor
Best Supporting Actress Kimberly Kurtenbach

And, two Awards of Achievement went to Kelly Rundle for Editing-Long Form, and to Jessica Taylor for Best Actress.  Kevin Railsback received a nomination for Best Director of Photography for his outstanding cinematography on the project. Visit https://www.impa.tv/ for more details.

"We are honored that Sons & Daughters of Thunder and several of the talented creative artists involved in the film project were recognized for their outstanding work by the IMPA," said producer Tammy Rundle. “The award for Best Live Action Entertainment is shared with the entire cast and crew, including playwright Earlene Hawley, co-producer Kent Hawley, and our supporters who stuck with us during this challenging project. Thunder was very much a collaboration of gifted and dedicated professional artists.”

Based on the play by Earlene Hawley and Curtis Heeter, Sons & Daughters of Thunder tells the unforgettable true story of the first-in-the-nation 1834 emancipation debates led by firebrand abolitionist Theodore Weld (Thomas Alan Taylor) in Cincinnati, Ohio, and their effect on a young Harriet Beecher Stowe’s (Jessica Taylor) views of slavery.

Principal photography for Sons & Daughters of Thunder took place in Sterling, Illinois at the Dillon Home Museum, the Jenny Lind Chapel in Andover, Illinois, the Karpeles Manuscript Museum and Augustana's House on the Hill in Rock Island, Illinois, the Harriet Beecher Stowe House in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center in Hartford, Connecticut.

Sons & Daughters of Thunder was partially funded by a grant from the Quad City Arts (Illinois Arts Council Agency, Hubbell-Waterman Foundation and Deere and Company); and a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency. The Moline Foundation and the Shell Rock Community Historical Society served as the fiscal sponsors for the project. Thunder is available on DVD at LaneRebelsMovie.com or Amazon.com, and it can be streamed via Vimeo On Demand.

Producers Kelly and Tammy Rundle are the owners of Fourth Wall Films, an award-winning and Regional Emmy-nominated independent film production company formerly located in Los Angeles, and now based in Moline, Illinois.

Sons & Daughters of Thunder was partially funded by a grant from the Quad City Arts, the Illinois Arts Council Agency, with support from Friends of the Harriet Beecher Stowe House, Walnut Hills Redevelopment Foundation, and the Bix Biederbecke Inn. The Moline Foundation and the Shell Rock Community Historical Society served as the fiscal sponsors on the film project.  The film is co-produced by Kelly & Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films and Kent Hawley. Kimberly Kurtenbach is the Executive Producer of the film.

Kelly & Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films are the producers of multiple award-winning historical documentaries and the Mid-America Emmy® nominated documentaries Good Earth: Awakening the Silent City, Country School: One Room – One Nation and Letters Home to Hero Street. 

Iowa Motion Picture Awards Ceremony goes 'Virtual' Aug. 8th - 8 Nominations for "Thunder"

The Iowa Motion Picture Association Gala Award Ceremony will be held online Saturday, August 8th, 2020. 

According to the IMPA Facebook page:
To attend you can either register to view the webinar on Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_-hwV31M_RDWMg9mR1k5urQ

OR

Watch live on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MyIMPA.

1:00 PM - 6:00 PM -- Screening of Select Short Films
6:00 PM - 7:00 PM -- Intermission
7:00 PM - The 29th Annual Iowa Motion Picture Awards (Virtual Event) 

Sons & Daughters of Thunder received eight award nominations: Best Narrative Film; Best Actor: Thomas Alan Taylor; Best Actress, Jessica Taylor; Best Supporting Actress, Kimberly Kurtenbach; Director of Photography, Kevin Railsback; Editing, Kelly Rundle; Original Music Score, William Campbell; Directing, Kelly Rundle.

The film is based on the play, Sons & Daughters of Thunder, written by Earlene Hawley and Curtis Heeter, and tells the true story of the early debates on emancipation and the awakening of Harriet Beecher Stowe to the horrors of slavery.

 

Sons & Daughters of Thunder was partially funded by a grant from the Quad City Arts, the Illinois Arts Council Agency, with support from Friends of the Harriet Beecher Stowe House, Walnut Hills Redevelopment Foundation, and the Bix Biederbecke Inn. The Moline Foundation and the Shell Rock Community Historical Society served as the fiscal sponsors on the film project.  The film is co-produced by Kelly & Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films and Kent Hawley. Kimberly Kurtenbach is the Executive Producer of the film.

Kelly & Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films are the producers of multiple award-winning historical documentaries and the Mid-America Emmy® nominated documentaries Good Earth: Awakening the Silent City, Country School: One Room – One Nation and Letters Home to Hero Street. 

Purchase Sons & Daughters of Thunder on DVD HERE!

Stream the movie via VIMEO HERE! 

Quad-Cities Filmmakers Celebrate Two Festival Honors

By Sean Leary
QuadCities.com

Tammy and Kelly Rundle of Fourth Wall Films have a pair of honors to celebrate today.

Early yesterday, the duo of area filmmakers found out their feature, “Sons and Daughters of Thunder,” was an official selection of the 2020 Iowa Independent Film Festival. Last night, they found out their film “Good Earth: Awakening the Silent City” was accepted to the 2020 Denali Film Festival in Denali, Alaska.

Read the rest of the story at QuadCities.com.

Order Sons & Daughters of Thunder at http://www.fourthwallfilms.com/dvds.htm

Sons & Daughters of Thunder is based on the play, written by Earlene Hawley and Curtis Heeter, and tells the true story of the early debates on emancipation, led by abolitionist and firebrand Theodore Weld, and the awakening of Harriet Beecher Stowe to the horrors of slavery. Sons & Daughters of Thunder was partially funded by a grant from the Quad City Arts, the Illinois Arts Council Agency, with support from Friends of the Harriet Beecher Stowe House, Walnut Hills Redevelopment Foundation, and the Bix Biederbecke Inn. The Moline Foundation and the Shell Rock Community Historical Society served as the fiscal sponsors on the film project. 

The film is co-produced by Kelly Rundle & Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films and Kent Hawley. Kimberly Kurtenbach is the Executive Producer of the film.

Kelly & Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films are the producers of multiple award-winning historical documentaries and the Mid-America Emmy® nominated documentaries Good Earth: Awakening the Silent City, Country School: One Room – One Nation and Letters Home to Hero Street. 

"Thunder" Official Selection at Interrobang Film Festival - Screens June 27th

Sons & Daughters of Thunder is an Official Selection at the Interrobang Film Festival and will screen on Saturday, June 27 at 5PM via https://vimeo.com/interrobangfilmfestival.

"The Interrobang Film Festival is three days (June 26-28) of films and engagements with film makers. The audience - whether cinema enthusiasts or curious newcomers - can experience curated screenings from films around the globe. This year we're bringing the festival to your home," states the festival website.

We congratulate our fantastic Thunder cast and outstanding team of artists behind the camera, our amazing composer, our generous contributors and supporters, the Quad City Arts, the Illinois Arts Council, the Moline Foundation, and a special thank you to playwright Earlene Hawley, Curtis Heeter. We wish Kent Hawley were here with us to see all that is happening with Thunder, as he was so much a part of the whole process.

Order Sons & Daughters of Thunder at http://www.fourthwallfilms.com/dvds.htm

Sons & Daughters of Thunder is based on the play, written by Earlene Hawley and Curtis Heeter, and tells the true story of the early debates on emancipation, led by abolitionist and firebrand Theodore Weld, and the awakening of Harriet Beecher Stowe to the horrors of slavery. Sons & Daughters of Thunder was partially funded by a grant from the Quad City Arts, the Illinois Arts Council Agency, with support from Friends of the Harriet Beecher Stowe House, Walnut Hills Redevelopment Foundation, and the Bix Biederbecke Inn. The Moline Foundation and the Shell Rock Community Historical Society served as the fiscal sponsors on the film project. 

The film is co-produced by Kelly & Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films and Kent Hawley. Kimberly Kurtenbach is the Executive Producer of the film.

Kelly & Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films are the producers of multiple award-winning historical documentaries and the Mid-America Emmy® nominated documentaries Good Earth: Awakening the Silent City, Country School: One Room – One Nation and Letters Home to Hero Street. 

"Thunder" Celebrates Juneteenth

On June 19, 1865, Union soldiers led by Major Gen. Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas with the announcement that tens of thousands of African-Americans had been emancipated and were now free.  The announcement came two-and-a-half years after President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation that freed slaves in Confederate states. But because that proclamation was made during the Civil War, it was ignored by Confederate states and it wasn’t until the end of the war that the Executive Order was enforced in the South.

Newly freed slaves celebrated emancipation with “prayer, feasting, song, and dance”. The following year, the first official Juneteenth celebration was born.

Sons & Daughters of Thunder tells the story of the beginning of the end of slavery in America in 1834--thirty-one years prior to the final act of emancipation of slaves in the U.S. 

This Juneteenth the Sons & Daughters of Thunder DVD is just $19, including FREE shipping for 48-hours only!

Order June 19-21, 2020 via the link below:

Thank you for supporting our ongoing American history filmwork.

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Sons & Daughters of Thunder is based on the play, written by Earlene Hawley and Curtis Heeter, and tells the true story of the early debates on emancipation and the awakening of Harriet Beecher Stowe to the horrors of slavery. Sons & Daughters of Thunder was partially funded by a grant from the Quad City Arts, the Illinois Arts Council Agency, with support from Friends of the Harriet Beecher Stowe House, Walnut Hills Redevelopment Foundation, and the Bix Biederbecke Inn. The Moline Foundation and the Shell Rock Community Historical Society served as the fiscal sponsors on the film project. 

The film is co-produced by Kelly & Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films and Kent Hawley. Kimberly Kurtenbach is the Executive Producer of the film. Kelly & Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films are the producers of multiple award-winning historical documentaries and the Mid-America Emmy® nominated documentaries Good Earth: Awakening the Silent City, Country School: One Room – One Nation and Letters Home to Hero Street. 

186 Years Later, 'A country at its exasperation point...' Again

Protesters in Cincinnati, Ohio marched with thousands across the nation for justice over the death of George Floyd and other black victims who have died at the hands of police brutality.

History has written that the first 19 or so African slaves arrived in Point Comfort, Virginia near Jamestown in August of 1619 on the White Lion, an English privateer commanded by John Jope. However, scholars believe it was much earlier, with captive Africans arriving in this country as early as 1526.

Here we are, having just released our documentary Becoming Harriet Beecher Stowe, and our first docudrama Sons & Daughters of Thunder, 186 years after the first public debates on the abolition of slavery took place at Lane Seminary in Cincinnati, Ohio during the early part of 1834. Eighteen nights of contoversial oratory led to a mass exodus of Lane students (forever known as the "Lane Rebels") in a Free Speech protest following the school  trustees' gag order supressing any discussion of abolition. The debates also led to near riot conditions in the city.  Fast forward to 1852 when Harriet Beecher Stowe's best selling anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom's Cabin was released, and nine years after that to a bloody Civil War in which slavery played the central role, dividing the country, lasting four long years, and burying 618,222 souls.

Abolitionist Theodore Weld and the Lane Rebels in Fourth Wall Films' Sons & Daughters of Thunder.

186 years later, we find ourselves uniting in protest over the tragic death of George Floyd, and a long list of other black victims, who died at the hands of police brutality. All these decades later, still fighting racism, inequality, injustice, hate and white supremacy. 

Protesters in Cincinnati, Ohio.

"There have been uprisings against police brutality and racism before, but this is the country at its exasperation point," wrote Sean Collins of Vox.com. "Americans have come out nightly in nearly every US city to demonstrate for the past week. They’ve been attacked by police, tear-gassed, and arrested, and have marched shoulder to shoulder amid a deadly pandemic. Their demand: an end to racism, police brutality, and the attitudes and policies that allow both to exist. 

The protesters want change now.  And it is easy to see why: Systemic racism takes a physical, existential toll on communities of color... At the core of this rage is a legitimate fear for black Americans: the sense that they can be killed anywhere at any time by anyone, but especially by law enforcement. It is a feeling black Americans have carried for all of America’s history. And the fact that the feeling has persisted for so long, that it has passed through so many iterations — the casual and common brutality of slavery, the lynching terrorism that followed, the assassinations of the civil rights era, the police killings of today — has created a feeling of futility. That no effort, no matter how herculean — not marching a million people through the nation’s capital, not placing a black man at the head of government — will be enough."

Protest in the Quad Cities. Photo KEVIN E. SCHMIDT, Quad City Times.

President George Bush stated: "America’s greatest challenge has long been to unite people of very different backgrounds into a single nation of justice and opportunity. The doctrine and habits of racial superiority, which once nearly split our country, still threaten our Union. The answers to American problems are found by living up to American ideals — to the fundamental truth that all human beings are created equal and endowed by God with certain rights. We have often underestimated how radical that quest really is, and how our cherished principles challenge systems of intended or assumed injustice. The heroes of America — from Frederick Douglass, to Harriet Tubman, to Abraham Lincoln, to Martin Luther King, Jr. — are heroes of unity. Their calling has never been for the fainthearted. They often revealed the nation’s disturbing bigotry and exploitation — stains on our character sometimes difficult for the American majority to examine. We can only see the reality of America's need by seeing it through the eyes of the threatened, oppressed, and disenfranchised. "

186 years later, we should not have to cry out that 'black lives matter'. It should be ingrained in us.  A no brainer.  A moral must.  That is why the Lane Rebels protested nearly two centuries ago, and Harriet Beecher Stowe was inspired to write her magnum opus Uncle Tom's Cabin. That is why the masses join around the world today shouting as one voice, "Enough is enough!"

Sons & Daughters of Thunder is based on the play, written by Earlene Hawley and Curtis Heeter, and tells the true story of the early debates on emancipation and the awakening of Harriet Beecher Stowe to the horrors of slavery. Sons & Daughters of Thunder was partially funded by a grant from the Quad City Arts, the Illinois Arts Council Agency, with support from Friends of the Harriet Beecher Stowe House, Walnut Hills Redevelopment Foundation, and the Bix Biederbecke Inn. The Moline Foundation and the Shell Rock Community Historical Society served as the fiscal sponsors on the film project.  The film is co-produced by Kelly & Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films and Kent Hawley. Kimberly Kurtenbach is the Executive Producer of the film. Kelly & Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films are the producers of multiple award-winning historical documentaries and the Mid-America Emmy® nominated documentaries Good Earth: Awakening the Silent City, Country School: One Room – One Nation and Letters Home to Hero Street. 

Sons & Daughters of Thunder is available on Amazon.com and HERE.

Stream the movie via VIMEO HERE.