Join us for a discussion on Virginia’s 1924 Racial Integrity Act, its impact on Virginia’s Indigenous communities and its long-lasting legacies. March 20 marks the centennial of the date Governor Elbert Lee Trinkle signed the act into law. This legislation was designed to stop the “intermixture” of white and Black people in Virginia. The act banned interracial marriage by requiring applicants to identify their race and defined a white person as one “with no trace of the blood of another race.” It also stipulated that “persons who have one-sixteenth or less of the blood of the American Indian” would be considered white, an accommodation for Virginia’s white elite who proudly claimed to be descendants of Pocahontas. This law forever changed the how citizens of the commonwealth would view the role of government in their daily lives. 

Dr. Gregory Smithers, professor of American history at Virginia Commonwealth University, will moderate the discussion with First Assistant Chief Wayne Adkins of the Chickahominy Indian Tribe, Chief Lynette Allston of the Nottoway Indian Tribe of Virginia, Assistant Chief Louise "Lou" Wratchford of the Upper Mattaponi Indian Tribe and Chief Robert Gray of the Pamunkey Indian Tribe. 

This event complements the Library’s exhibition Indigenous Perspectives. Contact Ashley Ramey Craig at ashley.ramey@lva.virginia.gov or 804.692.3001 for more information. This talk is free and open to the public. Registration is required. Seating in the Lecture Hall is available on a first come, first served basis.

Limited free parking is available underneath the Library at 800 East Broad Street.