Join us at Woodlawn this spring for our Historic Grounds series, where we bridge the gap between scholarly research and community dialogue. Each session pairs scholarly insight with discussion, offering a unique space to learn, reflect, and connect.
When: Third Saturday of the month, 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm
Tickets: $50 (or book a Spring Pass and save 20%!)
Historian Warren Eugene Milteer, Jr. will discuss his new book, Freedom in the Age of Slavery: A History of Free People of Color in Virginia. He explores the complexities and contradictions of life for free people of color residing in Virginia from the colonial period through Reconstruction. Virginia was the state with the largest or second largest, depending on the period, population of free people of color in the United States and also the state with the largest population of enslaved people in the nation. Milteer investigates the ways Virginians managed the seeming contradiction. He examines the competition between the advocates of freedom, including free people of color themselves, and the radical alliance between the proponents of slavery and white supremacy. Milteer’s research seeks to balance the real hardships that free people of color faced as a result of discriminatory policy and bigoted practices on the ground with the successes and opportunities free people of color found within Virginia’s complicated social order.
Itinerary:
2:00 pm: Join a subject matter expert for an in-depth exploration of local history and its national relevance. Engage in spirited conversation with the speaker over coffee and light refreshments.
3:00 pm: An exclusive experience tied to the day’s topic - such as a specialized tour or vault access to rarely seen collection objects.
Your Ticket Includes:
Lecture & Q&A: Admission to the keynote presentation and interactive Q&A session
Book: Purchase of ticket includes a copy of Freedom in the Age of Slavery: A History of Free People of Color in Virginia
Vault Access: A viewing of rarely seen artifacts from the Woodlawn & Pope-Leighey House Collection.
Historic Tours: Access to the Woodlawn estate for open house tours.
Refreshments: Complimentary coffee and light bites.
About the speaker:
Warren Eugene Milteer, Jr. is an associate professor of history at the George Washington University. He received his Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His publications include four academic books, Out of This Strife Will Come Freedom: Free People of Color and the Fight for Equal Rights in the Civil War Era (UNC Press, 2026); Freedom in the Age of Slavery: A History of Free People of Color in Virginia (UVA Press, 2026); Beyond Slavery’s Shadow: Free People of Color in the South (UNC Press, 2021); and North Carolina’s Free People of Color, 1715-1885 (LSU Press, 2020), the independently published Hertford County, North Carolina’s Free People of Color and Their Descendants (2016), as well as articles in the Journal of Social History and the North Carolina Historical Review. Milteer was the recipient of the Southern Historical Association’s Charles S. Sydnor Award for the best book in Southern history in 2022, the North Carolina Literary and Historical Association’s Ragan Old North State Award for nonfiction in 2022, and the Historical Society of North Carolina’s R. D. W. Connor Award in 2014 and 2016 for the best journal article in the North Carolina Historical Review.