NACOGDOCHES, Texas — Nacogdoches Historic Sites will host a special screening of Raise Your Head Up, a new documentary by filmmaker Richard Orton, on Friday, February 20 at 7 p.m. The event will take place at the historic Zion Hill Baptist Church site at 324 North Lanana Street and will feature an introduction by Orton followed by an audience Q&A.
Raise Your Head Up is the culmination of decades of research, photography, and relationship‑building across East Texas. The film traces the history and enduring legacy of the region’s freedom colonies—communities founded by formerly enslaved African Americans after Emancipation. Orton’s work began in 1988 with his first visit to the Freedom Colony of County Line in northwest Nacogdoches County, where he began documenting the Upshaw family and learning the stories that would eventually shape the documentary.
“What started as simple curiosity and a desire to make honest photographs grew into long‑lasting relationships,” Orton said. “Those connections led to a book, a traveling exhibit, and ultimately this film.”
In conjunction with the screening, the photo exhibit The Upshaws of County Line will open February 11 in the Zion Hill gallery. The exhibit—developed by the Stephen F. Austin State University School of Art—expands on Orton’s 2014 book The Upshaws of County Line: An American Family. It will be free and open to the public during regular operating hours.
The film and exhibit are presented in partnership with Nacogdoches Historic Sites, the Nacogdoches Arts Collaborative, the African American Heritage Project, Friends of the Visual Arts at SFA, the Summerlee Foundation, and Alex and Suzanne Labry.
The screening is free to attend, but registration is required through Eventbrite. Those needing assistance may call 936‑560‑4441.
More information about the film, exhibit, and historic site programming is available at nactx.us/historicsites or by emailing historicsites@nactx.us.