Descendants of enslaved Blacks explore Virginia history
Susan Svrluga, The Washington Post
Dec. 13, 2020
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An aerial shot of Highland, an estate in Charlottesville, Va., that once was home to President James Monroe.Photo by Gene Runion/William & Mary
Growing up, George Monroe Jr. avoided the historical site that was just a few miles from his family s property in Virginia, James Monroe s Highland. To be honest with you, the old folks, the family back in the day, they frowned on it, he said. Who really wants to go visit a plantation, knowing your family members were enslaved there?
But when an archaeological discovery there a few years ago made headlines, he was drawn to the Virginia property once owned by the fifth president in Charlottesville. And when he told a staff member about what his family had always told him about their past, he forged a connection: Now he s one of a council of descendant advisers who are helping to reframe the way history is to