Lost Nation with Jay Craven
Thursday, January 16; 6:30 p.m.
Norwich Public Library
Jay Craven’s newest film, “Lost Nation,” is a Revolutionary War era action drama set in the early upstart Republic of Vermont. The film follows Vermont founding father and rebel schemer, Ethan Allen, who leads resistance to Yorker land claims, launches an ill-fated attack on British forces in Montreal, and leads invasions by his Green Mountain Boys into New York strongholds of Guilford and Brattleboro.
“Lost Nation’s” parallel story features Lucy Terry Prince, whose poem, “Bars Fight,” about the 1746 Deerfield Massacre, is the first known work of African American literature. Terry settled with her family on a Guilford, Vermont homestead carved out of the forest by her husband, formerly enslaved farmer, and frontier transport operator, Abijah Prince.
The issues and stories in this film also touched Norwich.
Lucy Terry Prince, seeking relief from attacks on her property and family, argued before the newly formed Governor’s Council of Vermont at Norwich in 1785. She presented a compelling case and received an order instructing the town’s selectmen to protect her family’s property and rights.