News Flash

Back by popular demand, Norfolk State University history professor Dr. Cassandra Newby-Alexander returns to the Hampton History Museum to discuss and sign copies of her book Virginia Waterways and the Underground Railroad, as part of Lunch in Time series on Wednesday, May 16, noon-1 pm.  Admission is free and open to the public.

Enslaved Virginians sought freedom from the time they were first brought to these shores in 1619. Acts of self-emancipation were aided by Virginia’s waterways, which became part of the network of the Underground Railroad in the years before the Civil War. Watermen willing to help escaped slaves made 18th-century Norfolk a haven for freedom seekers. Famous 19th-century escapees like Shadrack Minkins and Henry “Box” Brown were aided by the Underground Railroad. Enslaved men like Henry Lewey, known as Bluebeard, aided freedom seekers as conductors, and black and white sympathizers acted as station masters. Dr. Newby-Alexander will discuss the ways that enslaved people used Virginia’s waterways to achieve humanity’s dream of freedom.

Cassandra L. Newby-Alexander PhD

Newby-Alexander currently serves as a professor of history and the director of the Joseph Jenkins Roberts Center for the African Diaspora at Norfolk State University. She has spearheaded the 1619 Making of America conference, which seeks to transform the narrative about the role of early Africans in the evolution of America. Her books include An African American History of the Civil War in Hampton Roads and Hampton Roads: Remembering Our Schools and Voices from within the Veil: African Americans and the Experience of Democracy.

The Hampton History Museum is located at 120 Old Hampton Lane in Downtown Hampton. There is free parking in the garage across the street from the museum. For more information call 757-727-1102.