Norfolk, VA
2 first-person accounts from the Revolutionary era.
Historical Voices
Refugees Who Answered Dunmore's Proclamation
Liberty to Slaves
The names of most of them are lost. We know that perhaps 800 to 2,000 enslaved people made it to Lord Dunmore's ships after his November 1775 proclamation, and that many more tried and failed. We know...
Modern Voices
The Town That Burned Twice
The conventional story of Norfolk's destruction goes like this: Lord Dunmore bombarded the town from his ships on January 1, 1776, and the fires destroyed most of the buildings. The reality is more co...
