October 2, 2025

The Orange County Historical Society (OCHS) is conducting ongoing research to compile an inventory of free Blacks in antebellum Orange County, 1734-1865. Orange County free Blacks have been little documented, yet evidence exists of a diverse population with a variety of backgrounds, skills, and family/social connections within the county and surrounding region. This group included individuals who were free-born, emancipated, and who purchased their freedom. Their skills ranged across domestic work, agriculture, and skilled trades.

The OCHS is building upon portions the Orange County Register of Free Blacks recently identified in county records. Information pertaining to free Blacks from primary/secondary sources are bringing evidence of the lives, families, and livelihoods of free Blacks into focus. We anticipate that the project will potentially connect modern descendants/descendant communities to their own history in Orange County. As a result, the lives and experiences of these people can be told and understood in a more meaningful way, and a more substantial social and historic context from which to interpret their lives and analyze their experiences can be shared.

In person at the Jefferson School or online via Zoom.