Slavery at James Madison's Montpelier with Zann Nelson and Elizabeth Chew

Join  Zann Nelson and Elizabeth Chew for a discussion on the following topics:

African American research in Virginia: (challenges, what works, successes)

Why is it important? 

How Montpelier's African American heritage project differs from other plantations and how it relates to the ongoing discussions about the Constitution.

Zann Nelson is an award-winning freelance writer specializing in African American historical investigations. She is the former president of the preservation nonprofit organization, Friends of Wilderness Battlefield, Inc., the current president of History Quest, co-founder of the African American Heritage Alliance, and is currently the Consultant for “The African Americans of the Montpelier Community Project.”

Elizabeth Chew is Vice President for Museum Programs at James Madison's Montpelier. She has worked in the museum field for thirty years, focusing on the interpretation of women's and African American history. At Monticello, where she was Curator for 13 years, she co-organized, with Rex Ellis, the exhibition "Slavery at Jefferson's Monticello: Paradox of Liberty" for the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.  At Montpelier, she oversees the documentary and archaeological research into the identities and stories of the enslaved people on the plantation.