Current Projects:

This film explores the social and cultural relevance of that “Camelot”-like moment and place in time where Black Lives (did) Matter. Originally thought of as a resort town for the very wealthy, little has been documented about the Black population here.  More than just servants, these former slaves, and their descendants owned property, built homes, and established their own society complete with churches, a “Negro” baseball team, social clubs, and successful Black-owned businesses which helped contribute to the growth and development of this town. 

There is a rich history of African Americans in Lake Forest, IL... a former stop on the underground railroad... and yet it is scarcely known today even by the current residents. Including, ironically until recently, the local historians.  

Edna Burns, grandmother to Producer Susan Kelsey, flew a Curtiss Jenny in the early 1920's.  While opening letters from Edna to Harry Brooks, Susan began to realize there was more to the story.  Harry Brooks, test pilot for Henry Ford, Detroit, Michigan, often flew with Edna and landed on Edna's family farm in Southfield, Michigan.  Never seen before images of Harry Brooks and Edna Ferguson will be weaved together in a 1928 Aviation Love Story.  (Image: Harry Brooks and Edna Ferguson in a Curtiss Jenny, Southfield, Michigan, 1927)