Rosalyn Howard, an assistant professor of Anthropology at UCF, will be featured in the documentary “Looking for Angola,” which profiles the community of Seminole Indians and former enslaved Africans believed to be located near Tampa and Sarasota during the 19th century.

Howard became involved in the documentary through her research on the Black Seminoles and their escape from Florida to the Bahamas in the 1820s. Archaeologists are hoping to uncover remains of Angola, the Florida community of Black Seminoles, and link Angola to the Red Bays community in the Bahamas where Black Seminoles descendants live today.

Howard was a part of a team of researchers that provided commentary and interviews for the documentary and served as consultants. The team included historian Canter Brown Jr. of Florida A&M University, historical archaeologist Uzi Baram of New College of Florida, archaeologist Bill Burger and Sarasota educator Louis Robinson. Journalist Vickie Oldham served as the project director.

Howard, who came to UCF in 1999 as a cultural anthropologist, specializes in studies of the African Diaspora, the Caribbean and Native American-African interrelations. She is the author of the book “Black Seminoles in the Bahamas.”

The documentary features archival photographs, reenactments and footage shot in Andros Island, Bahamas, where experts believe a descendant population of Angola resides. The multi-disciplinary project also includes archaeological field surveys of four sites in Manatee County, Florida; historical research throughout England and Nassau, Bahamas; public lectures; an educational component that involves middle and high school students as researchers; and an international cultural exchange program.

The Looking for Angola project is funded in part by the Florida Bureau of Historic Preservation and the Florida Humanities Council.

The search for Angola brings together the heritage of Africans in America and the Caribbean, the Spanish in Florida, Seminoles on the Gulf Coast and American expansion into the state’s interior.

A “Looking for Angola” Web site, http://www.lookingforangola.com , features educational articles about African American history, genealogy and culture, along with a forum, a section designated for educators and a photo gallery. The University of South Florida Africana Heritage Project is sponsoring the site.

Howard will attend a free public screening of the documentary at 6 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 26, at the Florida State University Center for the Performing Arts in Sarasota.

“Looking for Angola” is scheduled to air on WEDU, West Central Florida’s primary PBS station, at 9:30 p.m. Feb. 23, 11:30 p.m. Feb. 24, 1:30 p.m. Feb. 26 and 2:30 p.m. Feb. 28.

For more information, visit http://www.lookingforangola.com.