AARCH Society honors "living treasures" with showing of 2018 documentary
Feb. 12—In the years since "The Tale of the Lion: Our Voices, Our Stories" premiered at the Weinberg Center for the Arts in Frederick in 2018, several organizations have requested showings of the documentary, to hear from the people whom Barbara Thompson calls "our living treasures."
Thompson and her cousin, the late David Key, who was a Frederick leader and longtime president of the African American Resources Cultural and Heritage (AARCH) Society, interviewed 25 of Frederick County's living treasures — African American people who are 90 or older — over a year-and-a-half-long period to document their memories, wit and wisdom. It was part of their work for the AARCH Society's Living Treasures Program.
"I could sit at their feet for hours and just listen. And I that think all of us need to understand that all of our elders are living treasures," Thompson said. "We remain in awe of their fortitude and their resilience and their deep wisdom that has carried each of them through often challenging times."
On Sunday, Thompson shared a condensed version of the 77-minute documentary with a group of about 20 people at the C. Burr Artz Public Public Library in Frederick and then answered questions from the audience members.
The documentary shows historical photos and videos of Thompson's and Key's interviews with African Americans between the ages of 89 and 105, who are shown sitting on a sofa or in a chair, recounting various stories from their lives, including the segregation and hatred that they endured in Frederick County.
The documentary is especially personal for Judy Key-Owens, who is Key's brother. Her father is featured in the documentary, and photos of her and her sisters are in it, too.
"I think I've seen it maybe three times," Key-Owens said, adding that she develops a deeper appreciation for the documentary each time she watches it. "It's a very, very, very good film."
Her husband, David Owens, explained to the audience that an African proverb inspired the documentary's title.
"Until the story of the hunt is told by the lion, the tale of the hunt will always glorify the hunter," he said. "He who writes history makes history. There are things that are added, there are things that are deleted, and there are things that just aren't included."
As Thompson introduced the film, she recounted the singularity of that first showing at the Weinberg Center for the Arts nearly five years ago. It's a day that still gives her goosebumps.
The people interviewed in the documentary who were still alive walked down a red carpet to enter the event. And Thompson, microphone in hand, said she felt like she was hosting the Oscars.
"For so many of them, it was the very first time in their lives that they had been honored, outside of their families," Thompson said Sunday.
After the showing of the documentary on Sunday ended and the question-and-answer session came to a close, Thompson said she was leaving to interview another of Frederick County's living treasures.
"At some point," she said, "we may consider a 'Tale of the Lion: Part Two.'"
Follow Jack Hogan on Twitter: @jckhogan
