Mercer County will be in the spotlight Friday night when PBS airs "Safe Harbor," a one-hour documentary about the vicinity's role in the Underground Railroad.

The film, developed by Main Street Media, airs at 10:30 on WQED, Pittsburgh.

Before the Civil War, slaves fled the South using the North Star and Big Dipper as escape guides for the Underground Railroad.

As if escaping slavery wasn't hard enough, those caught aiding and abetting "fugitive slaves" also faced harsh repercussions, said local African-American scholar and author Roland Barksdale-Hall, who was interviewed for the documentary. The film tells of the strength and determination shown by escaped slaves and by the abolitionists who broke the law by helping.

"The Underground Railroad was an early example of interracial cooperation throughout the United States," Barksdale-Hall said.

While the program covers most of northwestern Pennsylvania, including Erie and Crawford counties, Mercer County's contributions are "very visible," Barksdale-Hall said.

The film circles in on the area now known as Stoneboro and on Pandenarium, an experimental colony of emancipated slaves freed by their master in Charlottesville, Va. Both areas provided sanctuary for runaway slaves.

"We're very fortunate," Barksdale-Hall said. "(The film) will promote our area very well on national television."

The program is narrated by Charlotte Blake Alston, a Philadelphia-based African-American storyteller, who has a strong and steady voice.

During the film, plantation songs echo through the forest, hand drums warn Africans when to escape and spirituals foretell the day when "man, every man, will be free."

Local musicians perform a variety of traditional folk songs and spirituals, which were recorded at the First United Methodist Church in Erie.

The Underground Railroad led to developments in Mercer County, including economic development in Farrell, which Barksdale-Hall talks about in the film. He also reveals new information about the role free black communities played.

William Philson, executive director of the Mercer County Historical Society, also helped with the film, supplying images and an Underground Railroad walking tour for the companion Web site. Philson had a chance to preview the film, which he gave star reviews.

"I was pleased with it," Philson said. "There were some things I wish I could have accented more in our history, such as the Amasa Stone slave cemetery in Stoneboro and more of the Underground Railroad sites in Mercer County, but there are time constraints."

Considering the film covers the entire northwest part of Pennsylvania, Philson thinks the area "gets more than its share of representation."

"I'm relatively pleased with how everything worked out and the amount of information they have on the Underground Railroads in this area," he added.

Philson plans to donate DVDs of the documentary to local schools.

"I'm still putting together a list. I haven't had the chance to contact the schools about it yet," he said.

Information: http://www.wqln.org/SAFEHARBOR/

You can e-mail Herald Staff Writer Larissa Theodore at ltheodore@sharonherald.com