Series: AAHA Virtual Genealogy & Local History

Topic: For Freedom and Family: Fauquier County to Liberia

In late 1854, sixty-six people emigrated from Fauquier County to Liberia to obtain freedom for themselves and their extended families. Hannah Lona was the oldest at seventy-four years and the youngest were four six-month-old infants, including twins Georgianna and Susannah Nelson. Other surnames were Burns, Fisher, Garner, Gaskins, Grandison, Johnson, King, Newman, Parker, Roy, Washington, and Wells. The emigrants were released from slavery by the Herndon family of Baptist ministers and their wives after a national fundraising appeal to members of the American Colonization Society. The journey was fraught, the death toll high, two men returned to the United States, and the fate of most is unknown. These emigrants’ stories reveal the sacrifices they endured for freedom and family and the conflicted white community that collaborated with them.

Date: Jun 14, 2022

Time: 1:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Speaker: Deborah A Lee, PhD, is an independent historian who has collaborated with local and regional history organizations to produce publications including the book, Honoring Their Paths: African American Contributions Along the Journey Through Hallowed Ground. She has also published scholarly articles on antislavery in Virginia. She and Marie Tyler-McGraw developed the Virginia Emigrants to Liberia website with the Virginia Center for Digital History (2008). The National Endowment for the Humanities is now funding an update and expansion of the website with the Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities at the University of Virginia.

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https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85904370025?pwd=b3V2alR0dG5GMmgwd0ZUMVR5WHVQUT09

Meeting ID: 859 0437 0025

Passcode: 037035