Out of Virginia
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-
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- Identifier
- JML.SphexClub_Stinnett_20251106
- Title
- Out of Virginia
- Description
-
Text of a lecture delivered to the Sphex Club on November 6, 2025. Joseph Stinnett’s paper explores the little-known history of Black emigration from Lynchburg, Virginia, to Liberia between 1829 and 1865 through the American Colonization Society. Focusing on Washington Copeland, an enslaved carpenter who became a leading advocate for Liberian emigration, the talk examines the complex motivations behind colonization: white racism and coercion on one hand, and Black aspirations for citizenship, dignity, and self-determination on the other. Stinnett argues that many Black Virginians viewed Liberia as the only place where they could achieve full political rights denied them in the United States. The paper also critiques the Lost Cause mythology that obscured these histories after the Civil War. Through letters, records, and personal stories, Stinnett restores the humanity, agency, suffering, and determination of Lynchburg’s emigrants and their descendants.
- Date
- 6 November 2025
- Creator
- Stinnett, Joseph P.
- Subject
- Emmigration -- Liberia
- Location
- Lynchburg, Virginia
- Digital Format
- Language
- English
- Publisher
- Sphex Club (Lynchburg, Va.)
- Repository
- George M. Jones Library Association
- Rights
- Stinnett, Joseph P.
- George M. Jones Library Association
- Rights Holder
- George M. Jones Library Association
Part of Out of Virginia
