free people of color
-
In Chevalier, Kelvin Harrison Jr. Puts the Toil and Triumph of Black Excellence on Centerstage
The film is inspired by the true story of forgotten virtuoso violinist Joseph Bologne, who is oft-referred to as the 'Black Mozart.'
-
Tracing Your Roots: When Was My ‘Freedman’ Ancestor Freed?
A message board posting listing “freedmen” kin raises questions. Dear Professor Gates: My parents are no longer around to provide answers that will help me to trace my roots, so I hope you can help me. I have traced my father all the way back to my great-great-grandfather and great-great-grandmother, Hilliard (Hill) and Angaline (Angeline)…
-
Tracing Your Roots: Why Free Virginia Blacks Looked Over Their Shoulders
Finding Virginia forebears who lived uncertain lives in the shadow of the Nat Turner rebellion. Dear Professor Gates: I believe I have just about every record and newspaper clipping on my fourth great-grandmother Rebecca Howlett of Chesterfield County, Va. However, I haven’t been able to find out who her parents were. She was born in…
-
Tracing Your Roots: Were My Ancestors Freed in a Big Court Case?
The largest manumission case in U.S. history led to a unique community in Virginia. Dear Professor Gates: My father’s side of the family are the Pleasantses from Henrico County, Va. They were free since around 1760 due to John and Robert Pleasants setting their slaves free and going to court with John Marshall as their…
-
Tracing Your Roots: Were My Ancestors Melungeon?
A find in the 1860 census catches a reader by surprise, and points to a possible heritage that is subject to debate. Dear Professor Gates: I have been asked many times, “What are you?” My response was always, “My mother’s family is from the mountains near Chattanooga in Tennessee, so probably a little bit of…
-
Tracing Your Roots: How Did My Black Ancestor Come to Own Land?
Finding out how a great-grandfather came to own 300 acres of land in post-Civil War South Carolina. Dear Professor Gates: It is a mystery to me how and when my great-grandfather Peter Golphin obtained his wealth and holdings. He was born about 1858 in Barnwell, S.C. Somehow he obtained 300 acres of land. I have…
-
Tracing Your Roots: Untangle My Redbone Heritage
A mystery illustrates how an 18th-century family became caught up in Virginia’s laws around race, sex and freedom. Dear Professor Gates: My book about the triracial “redbones” of the 18th century, My Bones Are Red, came out in 2005 from Mercer University Press. I’d like to pick up where I left off in my research…
-
Tracing Your Roots: Our Family Matriarch Was a White Indentured Servant
Untangling the origins of Virginian ancestors whose lives crossed boundaries of race, freedom and the law. Dear Professor Gates: I am a descendant of Catherine Donathan, who was a white servant to Robert Bristow of Virginia. She had a relationship with a black slave from another plantation. She had a child, William. She has been…
-
The Lynching of My Husband’s Ancestor Shocked a Nation
Dear Professor Gates: I am seeking help with finding the parents of my husband’s four-times-great-grandmother Leanna Donegan Knox (born in 1794 in Hopkinsville, Ky.). She was mulatto and, according to an Illinois Servitude and Emancipation record, the daughter of a white woman. She owned land in Todd, Ky., until 1847, when she was “removed” to Illinois. I found…
-
Did Black People Own Slaves?
For those who are wondering about the retro title of this black history series, please take a moment to learn about historian Joel A. Rogers