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At the age of 20, Frederick Douglass made a decision to get on a train in Baltimore that he hoped would free him from a life of brutal slavery in rural Maryland. A day later, after traveling by train to Philadelphia, boarding a steamboat and then another train, he wound up in New York City. The rest of his life is well-documented. In a nutshell: Douglass went on to become one of the most successful black writers, lecturers and abolitionists — speaking to large groups before, during and after the Civil War. For most of that time, he had to dodge would-be captors, black and white, by using the Underground Railroad for protection. But the choice he made as a young adult in 1838 to get on that train, dressed as a sailor and armed with false travel documents, is what makes an impression on middle school students learning about American history. That's the theory behind a new five-part PBS series as well as modern teaching tools that focus on the actions of young Americans at key moments in U.S. history. Leominster native Colleen F. Murphy, a filmmaker and co-founder of Open the Gate Productions, is working on the pilot about Douglass for the series, to be called "Young American Heroes." The first 30-minute episode will feature Jamie Hector, a star of the HBO series "The Wire," as the older Douglass — older in the sense that the show deliberately focuses on his early life. Ms. Murphy, who now lives in Connecticut, where the pilot was shot, is the associate producer, responsible for casting, scouting locations, getting permits to shoot on location — including highway permits — and other pre-production tasks. She also has a bit part in the Douglass pilot. She became involved through her first film, "Glacier Bay," a 27-minute love story involving Alzheimer's disease. The film, which premiered in 2006, has won 11 awards, including a Top 10 short film award in Hollywood. It premiered all over the United States, with a private showing in Clinton in February 2007, and has received additional screening requests from Australia, Alaska, India, and the Dominican RepublicThe Connecticut opening of "Glacier Bay" was attended by Chris Campbell, a Connecticut film producer and the director and co-producer of the "Young American Heroes" series. Speaking from the set at a train station in Essex, Conn., Ms. Murphy was in period costume as an extra, playing a passenger on the train Douglass boarded. "This is Baltimore," she said. "It's an important scene." Although Ms. Murphy has two feature films under way, along with a lead role in an upcoming short film to be shot in Boston called "Ted's Head," about Red Sox star Ted Williams, she said she decided to try her hand at television when one of seven grants from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting was awarded for the PBS project. A $593,000 grant was awarded to make the pilot on Douglass. "The project is amazing, innovative and exciting," she said. "The kids and teachers have input, and students and teachers will be extras. History teachers are going wild for it." The script, done in a contemporary style to target today's students, was written by co-producer Tim Smith as a drama, not a documentary. Besides the television show, called "The Frederick Douglass Story," which will kick off next February to coincide with Black History Month, the project includes a classroom and a retail DVD, a student Web site ( www.youngamericanheroes.com) with games and links to historical archives, a teacher Web site, and a novel, based on Douglass' own "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass," but using graphics. According to Deborah A. Weingrad, project manager for Palace Production Center, a creator of the pilot, the idea is to get students to watch the show and use the Internet tools outside of the classroom as well. "Where they live 24-7 — on their iPods and cell phones," she said. "It's a breakthrough technique that goes beyond what's now done in the classroom." Ms. Weingrad, also speaking from the set in Connecticut, said the show had a road test earlier this month, with three weeklong sessions in three middle schools there. "The pilot is only from Frederick Douglass' birth through age 20, when he escaped. The whole concept is that it's a peer storytelling, so that kids can learn from kids just like them — if they were in that circumstance," she said. "It's to show kids they are not powerless. They can have an impact on the world," Ms. Weingrad said. The other four stories planned for the series are: "Mohawk Princess — The Eunice Williams Story" (1704); "Night Rider — Sybil Ludington"(1777); "Westward Ho! The John Sager Story" (1844); and "Soldier Boy — The Elisha Stockwell Story" (1861). Ms. Murphy, 47, a graduate of St. Bernard's High School in Fitchburg and Assumption College in Worcester, became interested in acting at the age of 30. After taking acting classes in New York City, and performing in theater for several years, she decided to form the production company with her former acting coach, Jim Noble. Before the career change, Ms. Murphy, with a degree in psychology, had a psychotherapy practice.
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