Sheri Huerta, a PhD candidate in the Department of History and Art History, will be giving a talk as part of Loudoun County's Black History Month program on William Jordan Augustus. Augustus left Oatlands in 1809 to seek his freedom in the north. Huerta will present "Freedom Seekers, Public Opinion, and the Law." As courts in slaveholding states meted out harsh punishments to people who aided freedom seekers, courts in "free" states grappled with enforcing laws that protected slavery at the cost of denying individual rights. Follow captured freedom seekers from northern Virginia into courtrooms in Loudoun County, Ohio, and Pennsylvania to discover how public opinion of their efforts sparked intense national debate. The talk will be held at Oatlands, 20850 Oatlands Plantation Lane, Leesburg, VA 20175. Contact: Lori Kimball at 703-777-3174 x103 or lkimball@oatlands.org. See the program for Huerta's talk for a fuller description.
February 11, 2016