04/13/2017
“Finding Our Roots” Local History and Genealogy Event to Uncover Hidden Histories this May
Chatham, VA—History United, a program of Virginia Foundation for the Humanities (VFH), announces a community history and genealogy event, Finding Our Roots, which will be held on Saturday, May 6,2017 from 12 PM - 4 PM. This year’s event will take place at Reid Street Gallery in Chatham, Virginia, the Pittsylvania County seat, in honor of that county’s 250th anniversary.
Now in its third year, Finding Our Roots will offer activities to encourage community engagement in the lesser-known, but important, stories of family and local history. The event will feature one-on-one consultations with professional and local genealogists and librarians, a keynote at 3 PM by historian Lynn Rainville, author of Hidden Hidden History: African American Cemeteries in Central Virginia and will conclude with a free Ancestry.com DNA kit giveaway.
Who: History United, Danville Public Library, Pittsylvania County Public Library System, Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society, Caswell County Historical Association and Pittsylvania Historical Society
What: 3rd Annual Finding Our Roots. FREE and Open to the Public. Registration preferred on Eventbrite: http://bit.ly/FOR2017
When: Saturday, May 6, 2017 from 12:00 PM– 4:00 PM (Keynote at 3:00 PM)
Where: Reid Street Gallery, 24 Reid Street, Chatham, VA24531
About Speaker Lynn Rainville:
Lynn Rainville is a research professor in the humanities and the founding director of the Tusculum Institute for local history and historic preservation, located at Sweet Briar College. Although her PhD is in Near Eastern archaeology, she has spent the last two decades studying historic American cemeteries, segregated schools, and enslaved communities. She is the author of several books, including Hidden History: African American Cemeteries in Central Virginia (University of Virginia Press), a book about Sweet Briar College (Arcadia Press), and her forthcoming book title Doing Their Bit:Virginians in the Great War due out later this year with McFarland Press. Her next book, Invisible Founders: Two Centuries of African American Labor at Sweet Briar, is due out in 2018 (Berghan Press).
About History United:
A program of Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, History United uses local history to encourage investment in the future of the Dan River Region and to build a strong collaborative network of organizations and individuals committed to positive change. For more information, visit History United.org.
About Virginia Foundation for the Humanities:
The mission of Virginia Foundation for the Humanities is to connect people and ideas to explore the human experience and inspire cultural engagement. VFH reaches audiences across the Commonwealth and beyond through Community Programs, Digital Initiatives, Scholarship, and the Virginia Center for the Book. For more information, visit Virginia Humanities.org.
On Saturday May 6th, regional libraries, History United and the Pittsylvania Historical Society will host an open community event known as "Finding Our Roots" (FOR). Since 2014, this event annually explores family, local history, and the connections we share through both. FOR gives the Dan River Reg...
