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'Here Lies Darby Vassall' installation honors the life of anti-slavery advocate and activist

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Christ Church Cambridge will host a special event Wednesday to honor a man who shares a crypt with two people who enslaved he and his parents.

"Here Lies Darby Vassall" is a multimedia installation by Harvard University Graduate School of Design student Nicole Piepenbrink, commemorating Darby Vassall's life and death, ties to Harvard University and the the historic Longfellow House in Cambridge, and his commitment to activism once free.

Dennis Lloyd and his daughter, Egypt, are Vassall's descendants. They hail from Roxbury and founded the Slave Legacy History Coalition, an organization that aims to help other descendants learn about their past and spread awareness of the history of slavery.

The two participated in a conversation along with Christopher Beagan, the site manager at the Longfellow House, which is a national historic site. The Longfellow House contacted the Lloyd family while looking into its own history with slavery.

The Christ Church Cambridge event takes place on Wednesday, Oct. 12 at 6 p.m.  The short film, "Here Lies Darby Vassall," will be played on a loop outside of the church from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., until Nov. 6.

This segment aired on October 12, 2022.

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