What’s in a Name? Bethia Fairfax & Sarah Ambrose, Free Women of Color in 19th Century Fairfax County, Virginia

Burke Historical Society presents: How two free women used naming practices to resist and navigate in Virginia's slave society.

Sunday, June 22, 2025 3:00 PM EDT

Hosted by the Burke Historical Society, George Mason University graduate student Shemika Curvey will discuss her research into Bethia Fairfax and Sarah Ambrose, two free women of color operating within the constraints of a slave society who strategically deployed naming as a discursive practice of resistance, place-making, and collective world-building.

Curvey is a graduate research assistant at the Center for Mason Legacies (CML) at George Mason University, where she earned her BA and is currently pursuing an MA in Interdisciplinary Studies. Her recent CML research includes an online story map, "Spatializing Black Stories: Geographies of Community in Loudoun County, Virginia", narrating the history of Loudoun County Black enclaves Willard and St. Louis, co-authored with Annabelle Spencer and undertaken in collaboration with the local community. Outside of her academic work, Shemika serves on the Board of Directors for the Friends of the Thomas Balch Library and is an active member of its Black History Committee. A military veteran, she moved to Leesburg, Virginia, in 2021 following her retirement from active duty, where she now lives with her spouse, Shannon, and their one-year-old daughter, Alexandra.

The talk will take place at the Pohick Regional Library meeting room, 6450 Sydenstricker Rd, Burke VA 22015,