May 1, 2025

Ten years ago, Gayle Schulman did a draft index of where the emancipations of Albemarle can be located in the deed and will books of Albemarle. Building on this, Sam picked out the 10 largest emancipations of Albemarle from Gayle’s list and looked at them in detail and will present a summary. An example of one of the summary slides is shown.

In person at the JSAAHC.

April 3, 2025

Please Join Us on Thursday, April 3 at 4 o’clock – In Person- at Jefferson School African American Heritage Center

Jody Lahendro looks forward to sharing with CVHR examples of documentary research he has used in preserving historic schoolhouses. In particular, the buildings are Progressive Era African American schools in the central Virginia region. Case studies will demonstrate how documentary and physical research work together to identify historic changes.

March 6, 2025

Please Join Us on Thursday, March 6 at 4 o’clock ON ZOOM

Dr. Lynn Rainville will share her research into the African American families who lived in Staunton and Augusta County. The biographies of these individuals are sometimes overlooked in the formal histories of the area. And yet, the contributions of these men, women and children are fundamental to the growth of the region and its many educational institutions. Rainville’s talk will trace several families through archival documents and the interconnected sites of homes, institutions, churches, and cemeteries

February 6, 2025

Join us on Zoom where Joshua D. Rothman will give CVHR a short presentation on The Ledger and The Chain, How Domestic Slave Traders Shaped America. He will then answer questions through the meeting’s moderators.

An excellent overview presentation on the domestic slave trade by Dr. Rothman, Sold South, a Brief History of the Domestic Slave Trade, can be viewed here, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xU4nvjBrZgQ

We will meet on ZOOM until April when we will be back in person at the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center.

January 2, 2025

Niya Bates will present preliminary ideas and research from her dissertation which explores the 19th century history of maroon settlements in Ohio that were founded by Black Central Virginians and their impact on antislavery movements. Her research also reframes the history of the Underground Railroad movement within global traditions of marronage. She argues that free and fugitive Black people from VA and other states built an ever-expanding network of maroon settlements that challenged white territorial expansionism. These communities have significant spatial and cultural legacies that might inform present and future strategies for Black land acquisition and retention.

We will meet on ZOOM until April when we will be back in person at the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center

December 5, 2024

Please Join Us on Thursday, December 5 IN PERSON at 4 o’clock at the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center. We will have short presentations by Jordy Yager, Darryl Howard, Dionna Mann and updates from our members on current projects.

There will be no zoom coverage for the December Meeting. We will meet by zoom only January-March 2025 and resume in person in April

November 7, 2024

Lisa Shutt and her students will talk about introducing students to a variety of Black history topics through the lens of River View Farm, the farm established in 1870 by Hugh Carr with a $100 payment only five years after his emancipation. In Shutt’s advanced seminar, students learn to locate and draw on primary sources in the UVA Special Collections library and the Charlottesville/Albemarle Historical Society and hopefully will expand to Virginia State University and the Library of Congress at some point in the future. After beginning their study of the Carr/Greer/Hawkins family for several weeks – spending time on the site of the farm and traveling around town to sites related to the family— students select a single topic to focus in on further to examine through the lens of the Carr-Greer family and River View Farm. Such possible topics include (but are not limited to) Black education, foodways, land ownership, farming, the Black Extension service and Land Grant University system(s), Black 4-H programs and women’s “demonstration clubs,” kitchen gardens and garden clubs, museum studies and the historicization and preservation of local Black histories in the 21st century. The course has expanded into a successful summer internship program, which had its inaugural summer in 2024 with three exceptional UVA student interns.

Thursday, November 7 at 4 o’clock IN PERSON at the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center

October 3, 2024

The new Virginia Emigrants to Liberia website, launched last fall with a relational database derived from manuscript ship lists, contains data on more than 3900 emigrants, white colonization supporters, full citations, and links to hundreds of illuminating letters and other documents. Content developers Deborah Lee and Jane Ailes will give a tour of the website, demonstrate ways to use it, and relate engaging stories of Virginia emigrants documented therein.

October 3 at 4 o’clock IN PERSON at the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center

September 5, 2024

Lucille Smith will provide an overview of her new book about the three segregated Black High Schools in the City of Charlottesville and Albemarle County from 1926-1951.

From the late 1800’s to 1951, there were more than 45 one and two-room feeder schools created in Albemarle County.  The schools fed into two of the three area segregated Black high schools.  In 1926, Jefferson High School opened its doors to serve students in Charlottesville from grades six through nine, and for the first time, Black students would receive an education beyond eighth grade. In 1926, the five room Albemarle Training School became the County’s first four year high school for Black students, including grades seven through ten.  In the 1930’s, Esmont High School served Black students from Esmont and other feeder communities in southern Albemarle County, educating students in grades five through eleven. Lucille will discuss the importance of preserving this rich history Many of the schools began as makeshift facilities, in need of repair, poorly heated and badly ventilated.  Teacher and students had access only to worn, second-hand books for teaching and learning. Her book will provide a pictorial history of the more than 45 feeder schools, the seven Rosenwald schools of the County and the path for the schools to become High Schools.

Thursday, September 5 at 4 o’clock IN PERSON at the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center

June 6, 2024

Virginia Untold Project Manager Lydia Neuroth will share updates from the “Free Negro Register” project, as well as new records recently made available through Virginia Untold and current digitization efforts. Virginia Untold is a digital project that provides access to records of enslaved and free Black and Multiracial people in the Library of Virginia’s collection. Thursday, June 6 , at 4 o’clock IN PERSON at Jefferson School African American Heritage Center. There will be no July or August CVHR meetings. Happy 4th of July and August vacationing!

Thursday, May 2, at 4 o’clock IN PERSON at Jefferson School African American Heritage Center

Using GIS maps, both old and new, Dede will illustrate the historical significance of rural Black churches and cemeteries in Albemarle County; sites that represent the resilience and endurance of African American communities through periods of emancipation, segregation, and civil rights struggles. She aims to underscore the significance of preserving rural Black churches and their cemeteries as indispensable elements of a local heritage that is rapidly disappearing.

Thursday, April 4 , at 4 o’clock IN PERSON at Jefferson School African American Heritage Center. Andi will discuss her research – and that done by the esteemed Brian Sheffey – and present not only the predominant family names with ties to Birdwood and the Garth family but also include information about the plans for the property as well as for how descendants of the enslaved community will be engaged with the interpretation, memorialization, and use of the property going forward.

March 7, 2024

On Zoom: While the field office records of the Freedmen’s Bureau are the most commonly reviewed and include registers of freedmen, labor contracts, and correspondence, the records of the Assistant Commissioners are less frequently examined yet are equally rich in historical detail. This presentation will highlight the “Assistant Commissioners ” who were responsible for the administration of Bureau activities in each state, and their records contain a wealth of information including reports, letters, and endorsements sent and received, registers of letters received, issuances, and narrative reports from subordinate officers.

February 1, 2024

Students working on the Memory Project will present their findings about James Fife’s Oak Lawn on February 1 at 4:00 on zoom for CVHR.

For over a century, the stories of the enslaved people who lived and labored on the Fife estate, Oak Lawn, have been obscured, despite the fact that they constitute the majority of people to ever reside on the plantation. The purpose of our research is to document the history of those enslaved at Oak Lawn, in the hope of opening up new possibilities for reparative justice for the descendants of the Black men and women enslaved at Oak Lawn.

January 4, 2024

Virtual – Sam Towler will discuss researching local records that are held locally. Jon Zug, Clerk of the Albemarle Court, will explain the archiving project the County is working on and how this will affect researching the records currently held at the courthouse. Jean Cooper will talk about the Census records and how to get the most out of researching them.

December 7, 2023

In December, we will gather to share what we have been working on in an informal exchange and to enjoy tasty treats.

November 2, 2023

Many of the people enslaved by John Hartwell Cocke of Bremo between1803 and 1865 could read and write. Separated from their families and community by forced migrations, they wrote letters back to Bremo. This exhibit features those letters, alongside artifacts connected to their lives.

The exhibit is the result of collaboration between descendants of the men, women, and children enslaved at Bremo, a descendant of John Hartwell Cocke, and The Fluvanna Historical Society. Central Virginia’s public history professionals contributed their knowledge, skills, and expertise to the project.

Horace and Tricia will also share information about ongoing efforts in two historic Black cemeteries in Fluvanna – Oak Hill and Free Hill.

October 5, 2023

September 7, 2023

There is no meeting August 2023.

July 6, 2023

Helice Jones and Alice Cannon will present the story of the Free Union Fire of 1896

One White man died in a fire  in Free Union on a cold January night in 1896 and four Black Men fell under suspicion for his death.  One was hanged, one sent to the penitentiary for 18 years, one sentenced to five years in prison and one testified to the untrue story that convicted the others and he went free.

 Helice Jones is a descendant of Taylor Harmon, who was executed.  Alice Cannon has been researching this difficult narrative since Helice told her about it.

June 1, 2023

The film explores the ten distinct yet overlapping African-American Communities in Fluvanna County, all of which are anchored by Baptist churches that were founded during America’s reconstruction period. As these sacred places provided refuge, they also became the gate keepers of African-American culture.

The film also offers insight into the history of education in the region, shares stories and experiences of attendees of the schools, shows the value placed on education in the Black community and highlights the role of the Black church in establishing the Washington-Rosenwald schools, which educated African-American students in Fluvanna and elsewhere from 1921 to 1958.

June 1 CVHR meeting will be IN PERSON at the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center !!

Please Join Us

Zoom link upon request- Please watch for details.

We have had trouble with our zoom link for our programs since we have returned to at our home at the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center. Those of you who have attended the December, April and May meetings understand the value of meeting in person, the opportunities for collaboration, questioning and friendship.

May 4, 2023

One Shared Story is a nonprofit educational organization founded in 2018 to preserve, protect and promote hidden history. In addition to making resources available to community partners by providing training and through hosted Omeka services, the organization uses the online mapping platform – ArcGIS. These shared best practices and technology resources allow our friends and neighbors to develop and control shared access to precious historic artifacts and to provide tools, like Story Maps, so that those closest to these histories can tell their own stories. Join us for a summary of our work and an introductory training about using ArcGIS Online as a trusted community collaborator. Bring your own device to follow along live as we map history together (laptop or tablet is best but there are also smartphone tips and tricks).

May 4 CVHR meeting will be IN PERSON ( and on Zoom) at the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center !!

April 6, 2023

Jalane Schmidt and UVA Graduate Student Researchers

This presentation investigates the significance of Charlottesville’s Court Square as an Antebellum site of enslavement. Led by Jalane Schmidt, Director of the University of Virginia’s Memory Project and a team of graduate student researchers, the project uncovers the critical role that the Albemarle County Court played as both an arbiter of enslavement and an instrument of dehuminization. By revealing the role this site and and the Court played in trafficking enslaved people, this project aims to investigate the legacy of slavery in Charlottesville, Virginia. In close collaboration with the local descendant community, the project interrogates how historical research can shape public memory and public understanding of the period of enslavement.

April’s CVHR meeting will be IN PERSON at the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center !!

March 2, 2023

A Way to Keep from Losing Our History

Joanna Green, Archeologist – Cemetery Preservation for the Community Services Division of Virginia Dept. of Historic Resources will discuss the debut of the DHR online tool to record Virginia cemeteries and will give a presentation on Virginia Burial Law.

Robin Patton and Gloria Gilmore will talk about the “cemetery days” that One Shared Story has organized working through African- American churches and local historical societies and how best to use what people know about a cemetery along with mobile resources to be suppliers of location data to DHR.

February 2, 2023

Scot French, a longtime member of the UVA-Charlottesville research community, will discuss his collaboration with Lenora McQueen on their Morven Summer Institute class, ARH 4500/AAS 4559 Morven’s Enslaved and Descendant Communities. The place-based course, to be offered again this summer, includes guided student research, field trips, and collaboration on a final digital project. French is a digital public historian specializing in the study of cultural landscapes associated with 19th and 20th century African American history. His research and teaching at Morven dates to 2010, when he directed a small research seminar and began delving into the correspondence of Thomas Jefferson and William Short on the subject of race, slavery, and emancipation. McQueen is an educator, researcher, and advocate for the preservation and interpretation of African American historic sites in Virginia. Her public advocacy on behalf of Richmond’s Shockoe Hill African Burying Ground led to a 2022 National Register of Historic Places listing and the erecting of an historic marker on the site.

January 5, 2023

For our first meeting of 2023, we will hear from three of our members: 

Erik Irtenkauf about the updated CVHR website,

Jane Smith about her Daily Progress article and obituary website,

Edwina St. Rose about the Daughters of Zion website.

December 1, 2022 – IN PERSON @ the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center

Worthy Martin will discuss IATH and its collaborations in local history.

The Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities (IATH) was founded in 1992 with the primary mission of transforming faculty scholarship through collaborations to make effective use of computationally mediated methods. Most often, this mission is accomplished through the IATH Fellows Program in which faculty propose scholarly investigations important to their own interests. In addition, IATH undertakes to obtain external funding for similar projects.

Following President Ryan’s mission for the University, IATH also engages with the broader community beyond the University and this talk will give a sample of such projects, including:

Virginia Emigrants to Liberia

http://www.vcdh.virginia.edu/liberia/index.php?page=Home

The Architecture of the Negro Travelers’ Green Book

http://community.village.virginia.edu/greenbooks

Social Networks and Archival Context

https://snaccooperative.org

The Countryside Transformed: The railroad and the eastern shore of Virginia 1870-1935

http://eshore.iath.virginia.edu

November 3, 2022

Lucille Stout Smith will give an Overview and Pictorial History of the Covesville Historic District

The Covesville Historic District is a village that developed in response to a religious settlement, transportation routes, and a successful apple-growing climate. It became a village in 1828 and was initially settled in the 1740’s by Scotch-Irish and German immigrants from the Shenandoah Valley. In 2005, the community was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, as the Covesville Historic District. Covesville also has three individual historic listings. Covesville is famous for its apples and by 1995, it dominated the apple industry in the state of Virginia.

October 6, 2022

Our October topic was rescheduled to December. Instead a group discussion was held where members shared updates on their various research projects.

Worthy Martin will discuss IATH and its collaborations in local history.

The Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities (IATH) was founded in 1992 with the primary mission of transforming faculty scholarship through collaborations to make effective use of computationally mediated methods. Most often, this mission is accomplished through the IATH Fellows Program in which faculty propose scholarly investigations important to their own interests. In addition, IATH undertakes to obtain external funding for similar projects.

Following President Ryan’s mission for the University, IATH also engages with the broader community beyond the University and this talk will give a sample of such projects, including:

Virginia Emigrants to Liberia: http://www.vcdh.virginia.edu/liberia/index.php?page=Home

The Architecture of the Negro Travelers’ Green Book: http://community.village.virginia.edu/greenbooks

Social Networks and Archival Context: https://snaccooperative.org

The Countryside Transformed: The railroad and the eastern shore of Virginia 1870-1935: http://eshore.iath.virginia.edu

September 1, 2022

Bob Vernon will present the story of Phoebe, an Indian, and her struggle to regain her freedom

In 1752 12-year old Phoebe, an Indian, was sold as a slave in Albemarle County. She petitioned for her freedom and in 1760 an Albemarle jury restored her liberty. However, probably through appeals, she and her children remained enslaved and she petitioned again in 1780 and 1783. The presentation will detail her life as a slave, her release in 1790, and the fate of her children. Documents discovered reveal her surname, the tribe of which she was a member, and the date and location of her death. This documentation will be used to request a state historical marker honoring her long struggle for freedom.

July 7, 2022

Dr. Bill Hardin will discuss Robert Pleasants of Curles (Henrico County) who was a Virginia abolitionist during the Revolutionary period. Pleasants was the plaintiff in the case of Pleasants v. Pleasants (1799), a decision by the Supreme Court of Virginia that recognized a legal right to freedom for hundreds of enslaved persons retained in bondage by members of the Pleasants family. Robert Pleasants also founded a short-lived abolition society as well as corresponding with contemporary notable Virgininians such as Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. Bill will offer some theories on how Pleasants came to abolition and what his example might mean to us today.

April 7, 2022

Pen Park is a Charlottesville City Park. Many years ago Lynn Rainville noted there were likely enslaved graves outside the Gilmer, Craven, and Hotopp cemetery. Recently the City of Charlottesville hired a firm which found there are likely 43 or so enslaved graves there. The City asked the Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society if they would investigate and try to determine the surnames of the families that lived there during the Gilmer, Craven, and Hotopp ownership and also try to find living descendants. Sam Towler volunteered to do the research and he presents a summary of his findings as of April 2022.

March 3, 2022

Join us this Thursday – March 3 – to hear Marijean Oldham explore the secrets of Charlottesville, the weird, wonderful, and obscure.

February 3, 2022

Join us this Thursday to hear Dr. Angela Anderson discuss the Original Communities of Free State, Belvedere & Dunlora, specifically where she grew up in Freestate. her research over the past 20 plus years has provided her with some rich historical information and when she came home to visit last year, she was amazed at the progress and changes that have been made since she left and went into the military. She will provide as much historical information on Freestate, and as much as she can on Dunlora, and Belvedere. She will provide as much information on the people that lived there from the research that she has gathered, so she is praying that it will be informative and helpful.

January 5, 2022

POSTPONED — Bill Hardin will discuss Robert Pleasants of Curles (Henrico County) who was a Virginia abolitionist during the Revolutionary period. Pleasants was the plaintiff in the case of Pleasants v. Pleasants (1799), a decision by the Supreme Court of Virginia that recognized a legal right to freedom for hundreds of enslaved persons retained in bondage by members of the Pleasants family. Robert Pleasants also founded a short-lived abolition society as well as corresponding with contemporary notable Virgininians such as Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. Bill will offer some theories on how Pleasants came to abolition and what his example might mean to us today.