A new book will explore the largely untold stories of Black Virginians and their lives on the eve of the American Civil War.
Un/Bound: Free Black Virginians, 1619-1865, is a companion publication to the Virginia Museum of History & Culture’s latest exhibit exploring the injustices and achievements of Virginia’s past. The book aims to show the importance of the experiences of free people of color to both Black and Virginia history.
The book shares how 60,000 Black men, women and children lived free in the Commonwealth, often alongside enslaved neighbors. While they were not enslaved, they by no means had the rights of full citizens. The book shares the stories of some Black families who stayed in Virginia, living, working and thriving despite serious threats to their lives. Others moved north, and some chose to move to Liberia.
Melvin Patrick Ely, Cassandra L. Newby-Alexander, Stephen Rockenbach, Sabrina G. Watson and Evanda S. Watts-Martinez contributed essays to book that highlights the importance of people of color to Black and Virginia History.
The Un/Bound exhibit will remain on display through July 4, 2027. The exhibit includes powerful artifacts and first-person accounts of more than 200 years of history. The museum also showcases portraits of some of the descendants of free Black Virginians by photographer Ruddy Roye.
The exhibition, curated by Elizabeth Klaczynski, was created by the VMHC in collaboration with subject matter experts and five institutions of higher education including Norfolk State University, Virginia State University, William & Mary, Longwood University and Richard Bland College.
The exhibit is part of VMHC’s multi-year commemorative exhibits and displays related to America’s 250th anniversary.
A sold-out book launch event will be held later this month with a panel discussion featuring the essayists at the Richmond museum.
However, the book will be available to purchase at the museum or online at ShopVirginiaHistory.org.
The museum is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 428 N. Arthur Ashe Blvd. in Richmond.
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Crystal Graham
