Escaping servitude and slavery in the 17th-century English colonies demanded creativity in the face of surveillance and threats of violence. How did runaways seek freedom in seventeenth-century Virginia, and with whom? Where did they go, and what strategies actually worked? How did they imagine life beyond bondage? And, how did their imaginings in turn endanger colonial authority? Taylor will discuss ongoing efforts to document glimpses of conspiracies and plots found in court records, and what they can teach researchers and our students.

Taylor is an assistant professor in the history department at Virginia Tech. As a
public historian, she collaborates on projects across the Southeast as diverse as oral histories with boatbuilders, augmented reality tours of historic sites, and reconstructed maps of precolonial landscapes. Her current work connects graduate and undergraduate students to history firsthand through fieldwork experiences in oral history, and an ongoing project documenting escape attempts of indentured servants and enslaved people in the 17th-century Chesapeake.

SouthTalks is a series of events, including lectures, performances, film screenings and panel discussions, that explores the interdisciplinary nature of Southern Studies. This series is free and open to the public. Unless otherwise noted, events are set for Barnard Observatory’s Tupelo Room.