Wednesday Brown Bag Lunch Program at the Lincolnville Museum & Cultural Center

Please join Friends to welcome back  Dr. Roger Smith of Colonial Research Associates discussing his book Hope of Freedom: Southern Blacks and the American Revolution.

During the American Revolution the British military offered freedom to enslaved blacks who fled to British camps to fight.  This offer wasn’t available to those whose owners were loyal to the Crown.  Those taken in were cast out when disease swept through a camp or abandoned to an oncoming American army during retreats, some were resold into slavery.  For a great many people these promises of liberty were designed only to ruin the highly profitable plantation economies of the newly-founded United States.  Many did indeed find their freedom, against all odds, in British East Florida.  Come hear their story.

Dr. Smith received his Ph.D. in Early American History and Atlantic World Studies from the University of Florida in 2011. He is an adjunct professor of American history at Flagler College, represents Colonial Research Associates and speaks nationally on his Revolutionary War Research.

The Lincolnville Museum & Cultural Center is located in the old Excelsior High School.  Originally built in 1925, it was Lincolnville’s educational and cultural hub for decades.  Today the museum is a repository for African American history and culture in Northeast Florida.

The Wednesday Brown Bag Lunch Program is free and open to the public. Doors open at 11:00 a.m. and the program will begin at 11:30. An elevator is available to the second floor. Patrons are welcome to bring their lunch. Light refreshments will be provided by  Friends of the Main Library St. Augustine. For additional information, please contact the Main Library at the number listed or email folmainlibrary@gmail.com.