On Saturday, March 3, the University of Virginia and the City of Charlottesville will commemorate the end of slavery in Albemarle County during its second annual celebration of “Liberation and Freedom Day.”
The event will begin at UVA’s Rotunda Dome room at 9:00 AM with speeches and prayer. At 10:00 AM a procession will leave the Rotunda and march through the city until it reaches the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center around 11:00 AM.
Afterward, Nau Center Managing Director William Kurtz will give a short presentation about the Center’s research on USCT soldiers from Albemarle County, Virginia. His talk will be followed by a panel presentation featuring the Nau Center’s director, Gary W. Gallagher, and one of its affiliated faculty, Ervin Jordan. They will be joined by UVA professors John Edwin Mason and Jalane Schmidt, the panel moderator.
The day will conclude around 1:30 PM with a luncheon and awards ceremony.