Almost Free: A Story About Race and Family in Antebellum Virginia 
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Time: Noon–1:00 PM
Place: Lecture Hall,  Free

Library of Virginia
800 East Broad Street
Richmond, VA 23219


Eva Sheppard Wolf, associate professor of history at San Francisco University, uses the story of Samuel Johnson, a free black man from Virginia attempting to free his family, to add detail and depth to our understanding of the lives of free blacks in the South. After ten years of elaborate dealings and negotiations, Johnson earned manumission in August 1812. He stayed in Fauquier County and managed to buy his enslaved family, but the law of the time required that they leave Virginia if Johnson freed them. Johnson opted to stay. Because slaves' marriages had no legal standing, Johnson was not legally married to his enslaved wife, and in the event of his death his family would be sold to new owners. Johnson's story dramatically illustrates the many harsh realities and cruel ironies faced by blacks in a society hostile to their freedom. Wolf recently appeared on NBC's Who Do You Think You Are? with actor Blair Underwood in scenes filmed at the Library of Virginia. A book signing will follow the talk. 

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