Oberlin Tie to "Twelve Years a Slave"

The movie "12 Years a Slave" debuted this last fall and has already been nominated for multiple awards by the Golden Globes and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.  Based on the autobiography of Solomon Northrup, the movie tells his story as a free man kidnapped into slavery.

David Fiske, co-author of "Solomon Northrup: The Complete Story of the Author of Twelve Years a Slave," has done extensive research of Northrup's life and in the process discovered a connection to Oberlin through the real-life Harriet Shaw, played by Alfre Woodard in the movie.

Read his guest post "Oberlin Has Tie to 12 Years a Slave Charater" to learn more about Harriet and her son, Reverend Daniel Webster Shaw.