Elgin Alive series to show 'Project 2-3-1' film

The Elgin Community Network's "Elgin Alive" series program will be from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 6, in the Meadows Community Rooms at Gail Borden Public Library, 270 N. Grove Ave., Elgin. The movie will be "Project 2-3-1: A Story of Elgin's African-American Heritage."

This award-winning documentary begins with the Civil War "contrabands" and continues to present day with enthralling stories and photos that tells the rich history of African-American life in Elgin.

The first African-Americans in Elgin were 110 Civil War refugees, known as "contrabands," who arrived in two boxcars in 1862. The group included 28 women, 77 children and only five men, whose trip from Mississippi was arranged by a pastor from First Baptist Church in Elgin who served in the Union Army.

"2-3-1" refers to the initial arrival and experience of African Americans in Elgin in 1862, when there were "two" boxcars full of slaves, known as contraband, which were segregated onto a "three"-block area in Elgin, "one" city. To learn more about the documentary, visit www.facebook.com/project231elgin/.

The sponsors are the Elgin Community Network, Gail Borden Public Library and City of Elgin.

The documentary features 15 interviews, including descendants of Elgin's first African-American families, and notable figures like former Elgin Police Deputy Chief Cecil Smith, the Rev. Paul Rouse, formerly of St. James AME Church, and Carolyn O'Neal, the widow of the first black principal in Elgin Area School District U-46.

Visit elgin-ecn.org or on Facebook.