Quincy to Host Special Screening of Film Honoring Venerable Augustus Tolton
“Tolton: From Slave to Priest” will be shown at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 30 at VIP Quincy 3, bringing the remarkable story of Venerable Augustus Tolton back to the city where he grew up, was educated and began his priestly ministry.
QUINCY, Ill. A new feature-length film telling the story of one of the most significant figures in Quincy history will receive a special local screening Wednesday evening.
“Tolton: From Slave to Priest” will be shown at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 30, at VIP Quincy 3, located inside Quincy Town Center, formerly known as Quincy Mall.
The location carries particular significance.
Just across Broadway from the theater is St. Peter Cemetery, where Venerable Father Augustus Tolton is buried. The film will therefore be shown within sight of the cemetery where Tolton was laid to rest after a life that began in slavery and eventually led him to become the first publicly recognized Black Catholic priest in the United States.
For Quincy audiences, the approximately 78-minute film is not simply a historical drama. Much of Tolton’s story unfolded here.
From slavery to freedom in Quincy
Augustus Tolton was born into slavery in Missouri in 1854.
As a child, he escaped with his mother and siblings, crossing the Mississippi River from Missouri into Illinois and eventually settling in Quincy. His family’s escape and the hardships they encountered after reaching freedom form an important part of the film.
Quincy became Tolton’s boyhood home.
He received his education in the city and later attended St. Francis Solanus College, the institution now known as Quincy University. Despite his desire to become a priest, Tolton encountered racial discrimination that prevented him from being admitted to a U.S. seminary.
His path eventually took him to Rome, where he studied for the priesthood and was ordained in 1886.
Tolton then returned to the United States and began his ministry in Quincy, serving a congregation that included Black Catholics while also attracting people across racial lines.
He later moved to Chicago, where he established a ministry serving the city’s growing Black Catholic community.
A stage production becomes a film
“Tolton: From Slave to Priest” originated as an acclaimed multimedia theatrical production from Saint Luke Productions.
The live production premiered at the DuSable Black History Museum in Chicago in 2017 and has since been performed more than 400 times in 32 states for more than 75,000 people, according to the filmmakers. The new movie adapts that theatrical production for the screen. Tolton Movie
The film is directed and written by Leonardo and Patti Defilippis and stars Jim Coleman as Tolton.
Coleman may be familiar to television audiences for his role as Roger Parker in the Nickelodeon series “My Brother and Me.” Saint Luke Productions says Coleman has also appeared in more than 50 national commercials and previously served as a medic in the U.S. Army.
The film incorporates additional characters and cinematic elements into the format developed for the stage production, giving audiences a dramatized look at Tolton’s childhood, escape from slavery, struggles with racism, journey to Rome and eventual ministry.
Quincy is central to the story
Few communities are as closely connected to Tolton’s life as Quincy. It was here that his family found freedom. It was here that Tolton was educated.
It was here that he returned after his ordination and began serving as a priest.
And it was Quincy that Tolton chose as his final resting place.
After Tolton died in Chicago in 1897 at age 43, his body was returned to Quincy and buried in the priests’ lot at St. Peter Cemetery. His grave remains there today at 3300 Broadway, directly across Broadway from the Quincy Town Center property where Wednesday’s screening will take place. Augustus Tolton
His connection to the city remains visible throughout Quincy, where several sites associated with his life have become stops for visitors interested in his story.
Cause for sainthood continues
Tolton’s legacy has grown considerably since his death.
In 2019, Pope Francis recognized Tolton’s heroic virtue, giving him the title Venerable as his cause for canonization advanced within the Catholic Church.
His remains were exhumed at St. Peter Cemetery in 2016 as part of the formal canonization process. They were examined and later reinterred at the cemetery.
His life has since become increasingly recognized nationally as an important story of faith, perseverance and Catholic history.
Special Quincy screening
A $20 suggested donation per ticket is listed, with a $10 minimum donation per ticket. Proceeds will support Saint Luke Productions’ efforts to expand distribution of the Tolton film, with a portion also benefiting the planned Shrine for Father Augustine Tolton at St. Boniface Church in Quincy.
The film runs approximately 1 hour and 18 minutes.
For a story that traveled from slavery in Missouri to freedom in Quincy, from rejection in America to ordination in Rome, and ultimately back to the community Tolton called home, Wednesday night’s screening brings that journey almost full circle.
