“Social Relations During Slavery in the Atlantic World”

By Mike Porter

The Alexandrian Society of the Department of History at Virginia Commonwealth University presents a symposium to examine social relations during the era of slavery. 

“Social Relations During Slavery in the Atlantic World” takes place on Thursday, April 23, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the University Student Commons Theater, 907 Floyd Ave.  The symposium includes scholarly discussions about relationships, motherhood, sex and alcohol during the slave era. The symposium is free and open to the public.

“Slavery was a global phenomenon, but this symposium will focus on its epicenter – the interconnected economies, cultures and societies of western Africa, the eastern regions of the Americas, the Caribbean, and the maritime regions of western Europe that together constituted ‘The Atlantic World’,” said Bernard Moitt, Ph.D., chair of the history department. 

Participating scholars include:

•    Franklin Knight, Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University, professor of history, will deliver the keynote address “Community Construction during Slavery in the Atlantic World.”

•    Philip Schwarz, Ph.D., VCU, professor emeritus, Department of History, will discuss the “The Enslaved and Freed Lumpkin Family.”

•    Maureen Elgersman Lee, Ph.D., executive director of the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia, will speak about “Slave Motherhood on Two Sides of the Atlantic:  The Cases of Canada and Jamaica.”

•    Dawn Miles, VCU alumnus and graduate teaching assistant at Ohio State University, will discuss “Rachel Pringle: From Enslavement to Bajan Entrepreneur.”

•    Sarah Meacham, Ph.D., VCU, assistant professor of history, will discuss “Every Home a Distillery: Alcohol, Gender, and Technology in Colonial America.”

•    Roderick McDonald, Ph.D., Rider University, professor of history, will speak about “Sex, Power, and the Pornography of Slavery in the Americas.”

The symposium is presented with support from the College of Humanities and Sciences and the VCU Student Government Association. For more information, contact the Alexandrian Society at 804-828-1636 or alexsociety@vcu.edu.