September 5, 1862
In this letter, published in the abolitionist newspaper The Liberator on September 5, 1862, Harriet Jacobs describes the contraband camps in Washington, D.C., and northern Virginia, noting their dire conditions and the determination of their inhabitants alike. Jacobs was a formerly enslaved woman who self-emancipated and organized relief efforts for those who also fled enslavement.
December 27, 1936
Richard Slaughter, a former slave living in Hampton, recounts his experiences during the Civil War to Claude W. Anderson of the Virginia Writers Project. He details his experience escaping on a gun boat and working as a water boy for the Union Army.
August, 1861
Journal, 1861-1863, of John Frederick Pierson (1839-1932), colonel of the 1st New York Infantry. In an entry named “Ginger” Pierson describes the scene of two boats of fugitives attempting to reach Union Army lines in Newport News. The Confederate and Union armies exchanged fire during the escape attempt.
November, 1861
In the November 1861 edition of The Atlantic Monthly, Private Edward L. Pierce describes his interactions with the escaped slaves at Fortress Monroe, including their thoughts and feelings on their emancipation.
June 12, 2025
A conversation with archivists from the Library of Virginia about how some of their physical and digital collections come to be, the process of preserving historical records, and what types of documents exist within the Virginia Untold archive.