In 1865, Congress passed the 13th Amendment which abolished slavery in the United States. And in 1909, the NAACP was created to ensure equality of rights to all people regardless of their race. Since 1976, each president has designated February as Black History Month.
Colonial Williamsburg has many special programs that center around free and enslaved African Americans and the roles they played in the 18th century. Here is a list of just some of our featured events.Here is a list of just some of our featured events.
Secret Keepers: Literacy, Slavery, and the Law
Explore how a secret network of free blacks and slaves used the houses and properties in Williamsburg to hide runaway fugitives. Film excerpts from “The Runaway” dramatize the dangers of concealing fugitives who used various methods to escape capture.
My Daughter, My Mistress; My Mother, My Slave
Upon arrival at her new home, Monticello, Betty Hemings is reunited with Martha Jefferson, the young woman whom she raised, now to be her new mistress. Witness these two women confront the harsh truths that will forever alter the lives they once knew.
God is My Rock
In the Hennage Auditorium at the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg, meet Gowan Pamphlet who was a slave know locally as a popular preacher. Join him as he offers his perspective on slavery, religion, and freedom.
Freedom’s Paradox
Peyton Randolph, one of Williamsburg’s leading citizens and an advocate for independence, lived in one of the most prominent homes in Virginia. Discover how members of his family and his 28 slaves struggled with their conflicting desires for freedom.
What is a Family?
Discover how the the concept of family may be as old as time but how the social and legal definitions have changed over the years. Learn the story of Ann Ashby who escaped the bonds of slavery through the efforts of her free black husband. Witness the moving reunion freedom brings to Ann, her husband, and their children. Through their story, this powerful program takes a closer look at the legal and social challenges slaves and free blacks in colonial Virginia faced as they struggled to keep their families together.
His Natural Wife
Meet Aggy in the Raleigh Tavern Apollo Room, and hear the story of a master and a slave who fell in love on the eve of the Revolution. Many years later, she is confronted with the possibility of losing the man she calls her husband, and ultimately her freedom.
Freedom to Slavery
Visit the Milliner and hear the compelling story of Elizabeth, an enslaved African-American woman forced back into slavery after living free with the Shawnee Indians on the western frontier.
Will you be visiting us this month? Click here for a complete list of planned events.
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