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"I have this day committed to jail":  Records of Free & Enslaved Citizens from the City of Richmond Hustings Court

"I have this day committed to jail": Records of Free & Enslaved Citizens from the City of Richmond Hustings Court

BLACK HISTORY MONTH EXHIBITION
"I have this day committed to jail": 
Records of Free & Enslaved Citizens from the City of Richmond Hustings Court

Monday–Saturday, Feb. 1–28, 2023 | 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Lobby & Pre-function Hall

In honor of Black History Month, visit the Library of Virginia to view a display of historic records from the City of Richmond Hustings Court that document the complex dynamics between white, free Black and enslaved people in Virginia’s capital city. 

Urban centers such as Richmond drew many enslaved men and women looking to hire themselves out, either on their own or at the behest of their rural owners. Richmond also appealed to free Black Virginians looking for work and sanctuary. As the populations of both enslaved and free Black people grew throughout the early 19th century, Virginia lawmakers enacted increasingly restrictive legislation to police the lives of Black Virginians. The results are captured in a variety of document types from the Hustings Court, including court papers of criminal trials involving free Black and enslaved people for various petty crimes and felonies, free registration certificates, petitions of free Black Virginians requesting permission to remain in Virginia and jail records of free Black and enslaved people traveling at large. 

With support from a National Historical Publications and Records Commission grant from the National Archives, the Library of Virginia examined more than 250 boxes of materials from the City of Richmond Hustings Court to select records to digitize as a part of Virginia Untold, a digital project that facilitates access to records of enslaved and free Black people in Virginia before 1867. 

Related LibGuide: Virginia Untold: The African American Narrative

Calendar:
LVA Exhibitions
Date:
Monday, February 20, 2023
Time:
All Day Event
Time Zone:
Eastern Time - US & Canada (change)
Location:
Lobby, Prefunction Hall
Audience:
  History  

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