A free screening of the History Channel’s documentary “The Underground Railroad” debunked myths and enlightened viewers at the Armory Sports Center on Wednesday night.

Profiling prominent and obscure individuals in history such as William Still, Henry “Box” Brown and Harriet Tubman, the documentary helped emphasize the importance of unsung heroes, Recreation Specialist Bill Thompson said.

“When I was a little kid, Superman was always my hero,” Thompson said. “Why do our heroes have to be make believe? Society never sees the real heroes; children need to learn to respect the man down the street who simply sees something wrong and tries to stop it.”

Thompson said the Underground Railroad is a piece of history many people have heard about, yet few have actually learned meaningful information.

“The Underground Railroad was an entire network of individuals working together to get runaway slaves to free territory,” Thompson said. “It’s about what they went through to go from one part of the country to another part in order to re-establish their lives and to just gain freedom.”

The film illustrated accounts of descendents of slaves, slavery’s essential role in the early American economy and explained the importance of popular spirituals in communicating messages between runaways.

“(The documentary) helps those who watch it understand the incredible struggles people went through,” viewer Beverly Keiper said. “It shows us how far we’ve come and where we still have to go.”

Thompson said one of goals of the event was to spark the desire to learn.

“The goal is more or less to make people think about things and not take history for granted,” Thompson said. “Young people are living the blessings of those that were persecuted, those that made sacrifices, those that marched and those who were sprayed by the fire hoses.”

Thompson worries American society has become okay with sweeping its problems under the rug.

“Our society is very laissez faire. If it’s not our individual problem, we don’t care; we become complacent,” Thompson said. “Harriet Tubman could have walked away, yet how many times did she go back?”

Thompson said the movie taught what history books have failed to provide.

Viewer Ella Garett said one such subject was the vital cooperation that existed between both white and black people during the Underground Railroad’s existence.

“I had no idea white people helped runaway slaves,” Garett said. “(The documentary) went beyond the typical figures of black history.”

Garett said the ultimate message of the documentary was to find out about the past and apply it to the present.

“We came together then, and we need to come together again today as a people,” Garett said. “We need to adopt the common goal of helping each other.”