Freedom on Paper: An Exhibition of “Free Negro Registers” from the Virginia Untold Project

On display from June 13 to June 27, 2022

In celebration of Juneteenth, the holiday that commemorates the ending of slavery in the United States, visitors to the Library of Virginia will have the rare opportunity to view a selection of “Free Negro Registers” displayed in the lobby. These records demonstrate Virginia’s efforts to control and regulate its growing free Black population from the late 18th century to the Civil War. The registers provide the names, ages, and physical descriptions of free Black and multiracial individuals who were required to register in their Virginia locality.