Hosted by The Nature of Things’ Anthony Morgan, Secret Agents of the Underground Railroad investigates how science was used to reveal the long-held secrets of The Cataract House in Niagara Falls as a focal point for Freedom Seekers escaping to Canada

This February, science and history collide to uncover the heroes of Niagara Falls’ Underground Railroad in the 1800s. Celebrate Black History Month with a free screening and panel discussion of The Nature of Things: Secret Agents of the Underground Railroad, presented by Attraction, Black Screen Office and CBC on Thursday, February 23 at 6:30 pm at the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema, 506 Bloor Street West, Toronto. Tickets are free, but seating must be reserved through Hot Docs at hotdocs.ca/whats-

on/films/secret-agents.

Secret Agents of the Underground Railroad is a revealing, scientific exploration of how a Niagara Falls, New York hotel, The Cataract House, became the focal point for a 19th-century North American Black Resistance movement. Host Anthony Morgan meets a team of archaeologists working to recover parts of the hotel’s foundation. In doing so, they unearth stories about how the hotel’s head waiter, John Morrison, and his seemingly innocuous Black wait staff covertly orchestrated Freedom Seekers’ escapes to Canada. What’s true of every archaeological dig is that below the surface, there is always more than meets the eye; and the dig at the once-renowned Cataract House hotel is no exception.

Following the screening, an engaging panel Q&A, moderated by Black Screen Office Executive Director and Co-Founder Joan Jenkinson, will feature key members of the documentary team: Saladin Allah, educator, activist, descendent of a freedom seeker; Adrian Callender, Secret Agents of the Underground Railroad Director; Anthony Morgan, Host of Secret Agents of the Underground and future co-host of CBC’s The Nature of Things; Richard Jean-Baptiste, Executive Producer and Attraction’s Vice President of Business Innovation.