Locally Produced Short Film Wins Telly Award

The Gant Foundation is hoping to reach a wider audience with the story of Nelson T. Gant and they’ve teamed up with a local production company to create the motion picture ‘Marriage During Slavery’ to tell the story from a new perspective.

The 30 minute video shares the story of Gant’s wife, Anna Maria, and the couple’s attempt to escape. It all leads up to a landmark trial where a judge first recognized slave marriage as a legitimate union.

Over 20 local actors appear in the film and it was recorded in six locations around Zanesville and Muskingum County. The film received the 36th annual Telly Award in the category of history and biography.

"It was great," said Director and Editor Ronald Hicks. "It was a lot of fun. I mean it was a lot of history that I learned about that I didn’t know about. Anita did a great job of portraying Anna Maria. It really brought Anna Maria’s life to fruition on tape."

Education Chair with the Gant Foundation Dr. Anita Jackson plays Anna Maria Gant and said she’s proud to see the story being told with the potential for people in the community and all across the country to see issues married couples faced during slavery.

"Imagine a situation where you are married and you’re living on a plantation and the woman is insulted, disrespected, beaten, raped, all kinds of things could happen to her and the man would not be able to do anything about it," said Jackson.

A DVD will be provided at no charge with donations to the Gant Foundation of $100 or more. The funds will benefit the Gant House restoration project.