There are no known first-hand accounts of Christmas holidays written by a member of Monticello’s enslaved community or a descendant. Yet other primary sources shed light on a season that was at once a complicated mix of labor, resistance, celebration, and family reunion. Watch this Q&A with Emmanuel Dabney, Museum Curator at the Petersburg National Battlefield, and Brandon Dillard, Monticello’s Manager of Historic Interpretation, as we discuss winter holidays for those who lived in bondage.
Work, Resistance, and Celebration: Winter Holidays and the Enslaved Community
This livestream was made possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.