Program

Hear stories about exploring ancestry and learn about research methods, tools and strategies for tracing the lineage of enslaved communities through a series of panel discussions. Learn more and ask the presenters questions at the breakout sessions. Program is free, but registration is required. UPDATE: We are at capacity for this event so registration is now closed.

Roots & Remembrance: Tracing the Descendants of the Enslaved Community at Sweet Briar

• Lynn Rainville, Director, Tusculum Institute at Sweet Briar College; and Crystal Rosson, a member of the Sweet Briar descendant community. How using mortuary, archaeological, historical and ethnohistorical resources can help to locate descendants of enslaved communities.

Their Story is Our Story! The Discovery of King Daniel Ganaway: A Genealogical Story of Migration and Relationships

• Tim and Brenda Fredericks, Independent Genealogists, Indianapolis. Their journey began with an iconic photograph taken by Tim’s great grandfather, King Daniel Ganaway. The genealogical road brought them to Buckingham County and the Lynchburg area, and they’ve found new friends and family the along way.

Descendant Communities at Presidential Historic Site Plantations

• Leontyne Peck (Montpelier Descendant Community), J. Calvin Jefferson (descended from the Grangers as well as the Hemingses of Monticello), and Gayle Jessup White (Monticello’s Community Engagement Officer, and a Hemings and Jefferson descendant). Leontyne, Calvin and Gayle discuss the path to finding their respective connections to descendant communities and its meaning.

Home is Where Family Is: Exploring Ancestry at Monticello and Poplar Forest

• Niya Bates, Monticello’s Public Historian of Slavery and African American Life and Getting Word Project, and Jack Gary, Director of Archaeology and Landscapes, Poplar Forest. Niya will discuss Monticello’s “Getting Word Project” and Jack will talk about the type of information we have about the enslaved community at Poplar Forest, particularly the men, women and children Jefferson sold in the 1790s and the fate of those at Poplar Forest after Jefferson’s death.

A complimentary lunch will be served at mid-day, accompanied by a performance by local musician Richard Harvey. At the end of the afternoon, participants interested in learning more about the enslaved community at Poplar Forest can go on the Enslaved Community Tour. The tour traverses the plantation from sites overlooking the fields to the slave quarters and octagon villa, introducing the slave population as mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, craftsmen and artisans; providing insight into their lives discovered through true stories and anecdotes that have been documented in letters and archaeological evidence.