By the late 18th century, half of Williamsburg’s population was Black. Discover these American stories of resilience and explore those who lived, loved, and strove to create a better future.
Unheard Witness to the Murder of George Wythe
Patriot Pilot
A Black Loyalist Flees Virginia
An enslaved tavern worker, Gowan Pamphlet risked his well-being to secretly preach to fellow African American believers. He founded Williamsburg’s First Baptist Church, which continues to this day.
James Armistead Lafayette, born an enslaved Virginian in New Kent County, won his freedom for his service as a double agent during the Revolution.
The Virginia Gazettes are one of our best windows onto slavery in early Virginia. Their “runaway” notices document the resistance of enslaved people fleeing bondage. Their pages also brim with advertisements seeking to buy, sell, or hire enslaved people.
We know very little about many of the enslaved people who lived in Williamsburg. Often we only know their name. But when we dig into the past, we find evidence of enslaved peoples’ skilled labor, lived realities, and fierce humanity.
Early Williamsburg’s gardens, some of the finest in the colonies, would not have existed without the skill and labor of enslaved people.
Learn More about enslaved peoples’ plantation gardens in Virginia
At any given time, up to thirty people served the governor and his family at the Palace.
Enslaved women navigated extraordinarily difficult and often perilous choices during the Revolution. While historical records sometimes document the decisions they made, they rarely capture the personal motivations, emotions, or consequences of these choices. They rarely tell us what it meant to leave or to be left behind.
Lena Richard was a woman who began as a domestic cook and ended up a nationally known chef with a frozen foods line, a cookbook, a television show, and diners willing to cross the segregation line to eat at her establishments. She was a pioneer who achieved an astonishing amount and though she brought her culinary magic to Colonial Williamsburg for but a brief time, all Travis House diners departed dreaming of her Creole cooking.
The photographic lens of Albert Durant offers a visual perspective on African American experiences in Williamsburg, Virginia from the late 1930s to the 1960s. Durant chose to focus upon the achievements that gave the community a sense of hope, purpose, and progress.
Images in the Foundation’s collection reveal that between 1928 and the mid-1960s, the excavation of eighteenth-century Williamsburg fell primarily to Black men.
The Spraggins sociable has been intentionally created to honor the legacy and life of Mr. Benjamin Lewis Spraggins, Sr., who was one of the most well-known coachmen at Colonial Williamsburg for 19 years.
Learn even more about Black History Month by exploring these resources from both our museum and other trusted institutions.
