Trail to Freedom

06/19/2021

06/11/2019

During the spring and summer of 1862, Union Army occupation of Stafford County and Fredericksburg enabled over 10,000 slaves to self-emancipate. The majority of those slaves moved across Stafford County to Aquia Landing and boarded supply ships to freedom in the North.

During the spring and summer of 1862, Union Army occupation of Stafford County and Fredericksburg enabled over 10,000 slaves to self-emancipate. The majority...

06/08/2019

Experience the Trail to Freedom by Walking

Experience the Trail by Walking Click the points on the map for an explanation of points of interest on the walking tour. Explore the world and words of John Washington, a slave for 24 years in Fredericksburg.  Download the AUDIO and MAP.

06/05/2019

What is the Trail to Freedom?

http://www.trailtofreedomva.com/experience-the-trail-to-freedom/what-is-the-trail-to-freedom/

04/04/2019

Explore the world and words of John Washington, a slave for 24 years in Fredericksburg.

Experience the Trail by Walking Click the points on the map for an explanation of points of interest on the walking tour. Explore the world and words of John Washington, a slave for 24 years in Fredericksburg.  Download the AUDIO and MAP.

03/05/2019

Stafford’s Board of Supervisors presented its annual proclamation recognizing Black History Month to former County Attorney Alda White at its recent meeting. White was not only the first woman County Attorney in Stafford County, she was also the first African-American local government full-time attorney in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Remembering Some of the Greats During Black History Month

02/21/2019

African–Americans have been involved in major wars from the American Revolution to World War II, but their service has often been ignored or forgotten.

"Untold Stories 2019: "Looked for in the Hour of Danger—but Trampled Underfoot in the Time of Peace" will give people a chance to experience some of this history firsthand through a series of vignettes at downtown Fredericksburg churches beginning at 6 p.m. Friday. The rain date is March 1.

African–Americans have been involved in major wars from the American Revolution to World War II, but their service has often been ignored or forgotten.

02/12/2019

The first Africans to arrive in English-controlled North America were so little noted by history that many are known today by only their first names: Antony and Isabella, Angelo, Frances and Peter.

Almost 400 years ago, they were kidnapped and forcibly sailed across the ocean aboard three slave ships — the San Juan Bautista, the White Lion and the Treasurer — and then sold into bo***ge in Virginia.

Now their descendants, along with historians and genealogists, are seeking recognition for a group of 20-some Africans they describe as critical to the survival of Jamestown, England’s first successful settlement in North America.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The first Africans to arrive in English-controlled North America were so little noted by history that many are known today by only their first names: Antony and Isabella, Angelo, Frances and Peter. Almost 400 years ago, they were kidnapped and forcibly sailed across the ocean abo...

02/11/2019

01/22/2019

The Fredericksburg Branch NAACP has honored King’s memory with a breakfast program on Martin Luther King Day since 2001, when the Rev. Dr. Nathaniel Young, its president at the time, organized the first one. The program has grown in popularity over the years, and Monday’s was the largest ever, said Charlyne Jackson–Fields, the current Fredericksburg Branch president.

Joshua Cole’s mother spotted a famous face as they were walking to their connecting flight in Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport in 2003.