Monday Robinson: A Life of Thorns and Roses
About this event
You are invited to the opening of a new exhibit that explores the freedom, resilience, and survival in early America through the life of one extraordinary man. Please RSVP here to assist us in our planning and see the program.
The program will run from 10:00 - 11:30 AM on Saturday, September 26.
Exhibit:
The exhibit highlights the life of Monday Robinson, a man whose story encompassed enslavement, freedom, and later, the enslavement of members of his own family as a means of protection.
Monday Robinson was born in 1778. After 16 years of research, a descendant and two professional genealogists uncovered his complex life using primary-source documents from Virginia counties, including Lancaster, Northumberland, Westmoreland, Middlesex, Prince William, Fauquier, Essex, Loudoun, Frederick, Shenandoah, and Alexandria, as well as from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The exhibit will guide visitors through census records, tax documents, court orders, deeds, apprenticeship papers, emancipation records, wills, and other sources that reveal Robinson’s connections to enslaved and free women in Alexandria, Virginia, and to his later life in Middletown, Frederick County. Robinson was active in the community and conducted business with Belle Grove Plantation.
This exhibit was made possible by the work of Kristen Laise, Executive Director of Belle Grove Plantation; Frances Norton Burton, a descendant; Char McCargo Bah, an investigative researcher, genealogist, and author; Brenda Burton Nelson, a genealogist, author, and historical researcher focused on Robinson’s life in the Shenandoah Valley; and Jess Pritchard-Ritter, digital public historian and exhibit designer, For the Love of History LLC. Funding came from a grant from Crescent Cities Charities and private donations.
For further information, contact Kristen Laise at Belle Grove Plantation at 540-869-2028 or klaise@bellegrove.org, or Char McCargo Bah at charmccargobah@gmail.com.
Registration Info
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