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Last Thursday, Associate Director of the Law Library Kurt Metzmeier was interviewed for an interesting new documentary on the legacy of slavery in Kentucky.
In 1839, a Methodist minister and plantation owner, Richard Bibb of Logan County, freed all of his nearly 60 slaves and placed much of his wealth in a trust for them. Today, descendants of those freedmen are rediscovering their own history through the efforts of a dedicated local historian who leads a project of the local historical society to complete a museum in the Major's house dedicated to the emancipated laborers and their legacy. Filmmaker Jonathan Knight, a descendent of Bibb, and Le Datta Grimes, a journalist and PhD candidate at the University of Kentucky, are producing a film about both the descendants of Bibb and of the enslaved people he emancipated. The film’s website, www.bibbfilm.com has a trailer and full description of this exciting project.
Metzmeier came to the attention of the filmmakers through a 2016 article titled: “Constructing Freedom: A Letter by George M. Bibb Concerning the Will of the Rev. Richard Bibb, Sr." and published in Unbound: A Review of Legal History and Rare Books. This article examines a letter written by Richard Bibb's son George discussing the administration of his father's will. George M. Bibb, a prominent Kentucky jurist, is also featured in Metzmeier’s 2016 book Writing the Legal Record: Law Reporters in Nineteenth-Century Kentucky.
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