Black Lives Next Door - 2025 Symposium

Presentations of student research sponsored by the Center for Mason Legacies and Department of African and African American Studies

Friday, February 28, 2025 10:30 AM to 12:00 PM EST
Fenwick Library, Main Reading Room

Hear graduate and undergraduate students present research that unravels complex, overlooked and often misunderstood stories of historic Black experience in our region, as explored in the projects listed below. (View printable flyer).

“WHAT'S IN A NAME? BETHIA FAIRFAX AND SARAH
AMBROSE: FREE WOMEN OF COLOR IN 19th CENTURY
FAIRFAX COUNTY, VIRGINIA” —Shemika Curvey

“FOUNDATIONS OF BLACK MISTRUST: AN
EXPLORATION OF WHITE POLICING OF BLACK BODIES
IN FAIRFAX COUNTY” —Andrew Snowman

“UNDERPINNING THE COMMUNITY: AFRICAN
AMERICAN HISTORY REVEALED IN THE MASON
FAMILY MANUSCRIPT ACCOUNT BOOK”
—Thomas Seabrook

“SPATIALIZING BLACK STORIES: GEOGRAPHIES OF
COMMUNITY IN LOUDOUN COUNTY VIRGINIA”
—Shemika Curvey and Annabelle Spencer