New Jersey slavery began in agriculture, but spread to the state's port trade and early industry. Despite laws passed as early as 1804 to phase out slavery, some men and women were held as slaves through the Civil War.

The filmmakers explore the Lost Souls Project, which is working to remember and identify African Americans who were forcibly removed from New Jersey and taken to Louisiana and explores the lasting impact of slavery in the state. We also interview singer Danielle Cotton, who discusses her journey as an African American entertainer.

The film treks across New Jersey to bring to life stories of the enslaved, visiting the Harriet Tubman Museum in Cape May, Mercer County’s Stoutsburg Cemetery and Hopewell, an area where enslaved Black families were among its founders, the Bainbridge House at Princeton University, and Perth Amboy in Middlesex County, where slave ships docked across from New York’s Staten Island. It also explores New Jersey-based organizations like Lost Souls Public Memorial Project that are trying to uncover and preserve the memories of the enslaved, with the help of citizens in East Brunswick and other parts of Middlesex and Somerset counties.