The People of Pen Park with Sam Towler

April 7, 2022

Pen Park is a Charlottesville City Park. Many years ago Lynn Rainville noted there were likely enslaved graves outside the Gilmer, Craven, and Hotopp cemetery. Recently the City of Charlottesville hired a firm which found there are likely 43 or so enslaved graves there. The City asked the Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society if they would investigate and try to determine the surnames of the families that lived there during the Gilmer, Craven, and Hotopp ownership and also try to find living descendants. Sam Towler volunteered to do the research and he presents a summary of his findings as of April 2022.

Next Meeting:

  • The Ledger and the Chain with Joshua Rothman
    February 6, 2025 Join us on Zoom where Joshua D. Rothman will give CVHR a short presentation on The Ledger and The Chain, How Domestic Slave Traders Shaped America. He will then answer questions through the meeting’s moderators. An excellent overview presentation on the domestic slave trade by Dr. Rothman, Sold South, a Brief History
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Questions?

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