Virginia Untold: The African American Narrative: Petitions to Remain in the Commonwealth

Virginia Untold: The African American Narrative is a project that provides digital access to historical records that document some of the lived experiences of enslaved and free Black and multiracial people in the Library of Virginia’s collections. The subset entitled Petitions to Remain in the Commonwealth include applications that formerly enslaved individuals submitted to state and local courts requesting permission to remain in Virginia. Information from these documents can include: the name(s) of the petitioner(s), their locality, approval status, the circumstances of free status including method of emancipation, previous enslaver, names of affiants, and additional names of free Black people and enslaved people.《弗吉尼亚秘辛：非裔美国人叙事》（Virginia Untold: The African American Narrative）是一项旨在提供数字化访问服务的项目，用户可通过该项目获取弗吉尼亚图书馆馆藏的历史档案，这些档案记录了部分被奴役以及获得自由的黑人和多种族群体的生活经历。其中名为《留居英联邦请愿书》（Petitions to Remain in the Commonwealth）的子数据集，收录了前被奴役者向州及地方法院提交的、请求获准留居弗吉尼亚的申请材料。此类档案所涵盖的信息包括：请愿人姓名、所属地区、审批状态、获得自由的相关情况（含解放方式）、原奴隶主姓名、宣誓证人姓名，以及其他自由黑人和被奴役者的姓名。