r/virginiahistory

See also r/VirginiaHistory

As a part of celebrating America’s 250th anniversary, VPM Media Corp. released Declarations: Black Americans and the Revolutionary War by Director Stacey L. Holman earlier this summer.

Four Black Americans are highlighted in the hourlong documentary, which chronicled their push for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for themselves and their communities as the young country fought for independence from England.

Featured are Elizabeth Freeman — formerly known as Mum Bet — a Massachusetts woman who successfully sued for her freedom; James Lafayette, a double agent who helped shepherd the British surrender at Yorktown; Harry Washington, who escaped George Washington’s Mount Vernon and fought with British troops; and Abraham Peyton Skipwith, a Richmonder who petitioned for his freedom and became one of the first Black landowners in the city.

Skipwith's home recently was returned to Jackson Ward from Goochland County after construction of what’s now Interstate 95/64 in the 1950s ripped the historically Black neighborhood in half.

Declarations can be found on both the PBS app and YouTube.

Holman, along with producer Maya Tepler, spoke with VPM News Director Elliott Robinson about the documentary.

Read more here.

Disclosure: VPM Media Corp. is the FCC license holder of VPM PBS and VPM News, which operates as 88.9 FM in Richmond, 89.1 FM in the Northern Neck (Heathsville) and 90.1 FM in Southside Virginia (Chase City). VPM Media Corp. acquired Style Weekly in 2021.

As a newsroom, VPM News does not use generative AI in its content creation and maintains editorial independence — this article went through our usual fact-checking and editing process. Station leadership did not receive questions prior to their interviews, nor view this article prior to publication. Questions about this article and VPM News' overall editorial policy should be directed to Managing Editor Dawnthea M. Price Lisco.