Grab your lantern and follow the remarkable and world-famous Mammoth Cave explorer–and slave–Stephen Bishop as he guides you through the world’s largest cave system in this remarkable homage to the resilience of human nature. Welcome to Mammoth Cave. It’s 1840 and Stephen Bishop is the perfect guide.

By the light of his lantern, the deepest, biggest cave in all of the United States is revealed. Down here, beneath the earth, he’s not just an enslaved person. He’s a pioneer. He knows the cave’s twists and turns. It taught him to not be afraid of the dark.

And watching all the visitors write their names on the ceiling? Well, it taught him how to read.