The Emancipators

After a tragic boating accident kills the owners of a plantation in the
post?Civil War South, their four-year-old daughter, Ellen, is left
orphaned. At the reading of the will, black couple Will and Hannah,
whose family has lived and worked on the Mitchell plantation for
generations, are shocked to learn they have inherited the land and the
trusted charge of raising Ellen. Will and Hannah are humbled by the
trust the Mitchells had in them, but terrified of the future without their
guidance.

Despite protests from white landowners, Will and Hannah raise Ellen to
adulthood along with their own daughter, Bea. The two young girls grow
up without noticing the difference in the color of their skin. They are like
sisters-sharing dolls, making mud pies, and picking cotton with the
field hands.

The girls' differences become more apparent as they reach maturity
and their friendship is tested. But Ellen and Bea cling to the
strength of Will and Hannah to see them through the trials and
tribulations, eventually finding their own happiness through love,
marriage, and family.