Slavery – Page 4 – The UncommonWealth

Archives

A Last Resort: Madison County Reenslavement Petitions

In 1856, the General Assembly decided that free African Americans could petition their county or city court to be enslaved. These individuals had to be…

Cara GriggsJanuary 11, 2017

Archives The Stacks

"Nat’s War": The Southampton Slave Rebellion of 1831

On 23 August 1831, Governor John Floyd received a hastily written note from the Southampton County postmaster stating “that an insurrection of the slaves in…

Sonya ColemanOctober 12, 2016

Manuscripts & Special Collections Newspapers

Willis M. Carter Journal and Research Collection Donated to the Library of Virginia

Author and researcher Deborah Harding recently donated to the Library of Virginia a rare, firsthand account of slavery and its aftermath written by Willis M.…

Margaret RhettMay 11, 2016

Archives Digital Projects

Virginia Untold: The African American Narrative Digital Collection

In 1820, Rachel Findley won freedom for herself and more than 35 of her descendants in a Powhatan County court in a law suit dating…

Greg CrawfordFebruary 3, 2016

Archives

Virginia Untold: Deeds of Emancipation and Manumission

This is the fourth in a series of blog posts on the record types found in the forthcoming Library of Virginia research database: Virginia Untold: The…

Ed JordanJanuary 27, 2016

Archives

Virginia Untold: Requisitions for Public Use

This is the third in a series of blog posts on the record types found in the forthcoming Library of Virginia research database: Virginia Untold: The…

Greg CrawfordJanuary 20, 2016

Archives

Virginia Untold: Certificates of Importation

This is the second in a series of blog posts on the record types found in the forthcoming Library of Virginia research database: Virginia Untold: The…

Greg CrawfordJanuary 13, 2016

Archives Digital Projects

Virginia Untold: Freedom Suits

This is the first in a series of blog posts on the record types found in the forthcoming Library of Virginia research database: Virginia Untold: The…

Chris SmithJanuary 6, 2016

Archives

A Disregard of Freedom: Burwell versus Pilson’s Administrators

What does it mean to be free? Some might define freedom as having no obligations to a particular thing or person. A free person cannot…

Sherri BagleyDecember 2, 2015

Archives Digital Projects

Sometimes You DO Find a Needle in a Haystack: The Augusta Co. Cohabitation Register

Cohabitation registers are among the most important genealogical resources for African-Americans attempting to connect their family lines back through the murky past to their enslaved…

Sarah NerneyJuly 29, 2015

Archives Education & Programming

Remaking Virginia: A New Labor System

This is the third in a series of four blog posts concerning post-Civil War Virginia and the lives of freedpeople after Emancipation. The posts precede…

Greg CrawfordJune 24, 2015

Education & Programming Manuscripts & Special Collections

Jacob Yoder and Educating Virginia’s Freedpeople after the Civil War

This is the second in a series of four blog posts concerning post-Civil War Virginia and the lives of freedpeople after Emancipation. The posts precede…

Joseph M. ThompsonJune 17, 2015

Archives

The Long Wait for Freedom: A Montgomery County Freedom Suit

This is part two of a two part post on a fascinating freedom suit discovered during the Montgomery County Circuit Court Records Project. Part one of the…

Regan SheltonApril 29, 2015

Archives Digital Projects

Spotsylvania County Chancery Causes Online

The Library of Virginia is pleased to announce that digital images for Spotsylvania County (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1812-1913, are now available online through the Chancery…

Joanne PorterApril 24, 2015

Archives

Flora’s Plight: A Montgomery County Freedom Suit

This is part one of a two part post on a fascinating freedom suit discovered during the Montgomery County Circuit Court Records Project. Part two of…

Regan SheltonApril 22, 2015