Summary Judge Lowell creates The Society for the Uplift of the Negro to satisfy his passion for the equality of the races and to further his own political ambitions. At Tuskegee Institute, Lowell meets Alexander Marshall, an extremely bright mulatto student. As Marshall shares Lowell's dream to see the intermarriage of the races result in equality, he becomes Lowell's private secretary and passes for the son of a wealthy Creole abolitionist in order to raise money for their organization. Lowell's daughter Margaret falls in love with Marshall, who satisfies his lustful "instincts" in brothels. After Margaret recoils from his advances, Marshall encounters Belle Andrews, a good-looking maid who earlier flirted with him, and kisses her against her will. Margaret comes to apologize and witnesses Marshall inadvertently kill Belle as he clasps her throat to stop her from shrieking. During Marshall's trial, Margaret admits that she married Marshall, but a young mulatto woman testifies that she is really Marshall's wife, and a black woman reveals that she is his mother. Lowell, horrified to learn of Marshall's marriage to Margaret, throws the book he had been writing, which advocates full equality, into the fire. Marshall is taken to prison, where he madly clutches the bars. View more details

• Drama