Exploring Black History

Charlottesville is a great launching-off point to experience and learn about black history. Visit Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello on weekends throughout February for the Waiting on Liberty: Slavery in Jefferson’s “Great House” experience, which allows visitors to inspect artifacts and historical documents, and examine rooms in the house from the perspective of slaves. James Monroe’s Ash Lawn-Highland has an annual Black History Month Celebration, which in 2011, featured contributions African-Americans have made to southern cuisine. James Monroe’s Montpelier is planning several Black History Month events and is currently working on a three-year excavation of the slave quarters. The University of Virginia celebrates Black History Month with a variety of events, including performances, seminars and panel discussions. UVA’s University Guide Services offers a History of African Americans tour every week, and more frequently during the month of February. These tours focus on the role of blacks throughout UVA’s history and topics such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s visit to Old Cabell Hall in 1963. And if your explorations take you farther afield, explore Richmond’s oldest African-American neighborhood, Jackson Ward, which is about an hour away. There you’ll find the Black History Museum and the Maggie Walker National Historic Site, which commemorates the African-American community leader who became the first woman to charter and serve as a bank president. For updates on these local Black History Month events and more, visit our calendar.