A message board posting listing “freedmen” kin raises questions.

Finding Virginia forebears who lived uncertain lives in the shadow of the Nat Turner rebellion.

The largest manumission case in U.S. history led to a unique community in Virginia.

A find in the 1860 census catches a reader by surprise, and points to a possible heritage that is subject to debate.

Finding out how a great-grandfather came to own 300 acres of land in post-Civil War South Carolina.

A mystery illustrates how an 18th-century family became caught up in Virginia’s laws around race, sex and freedom.

Untangling the origins of Virginian ancestors whose lives crossed boundaries of race, freedom and the law.

Dear Professor Gates: