An American Revolution Symposium: Honoring Black Patriots & Loyalists
Saturday, November 8, 2025 | 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Thomas Balch Library, 208 W Market St, Leesburg, VA
Presented by the Black History Committee (BHC), Friends of Thomas Balch Library (FoTBL), this full-day program will introduce attendees to the often-forgotten contributions of black patriots and loyalists who fought and died during the American Revolution.
Featuring three presentations by experts in the field and a moderated discussion, the Symposium will help the audience better understand the need to commemorate all Americans throughout the celebratory activities of the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution and the creation of the United States.
Schedule
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9am – Welcome Table open for check-in
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9:30am – Welcoming Remarks
Sessions (40 min talk, 5-10min Q&A)
SESSION 1: 10 – 10:50AM- The Untold Story of the Forgotten Patriots of the Northern Theater by Ric Murphy
In time for the lead-up to the nation’s 250th anniversary, a groundbreaking new history book is set to reshape how Americans understand the Revolutionary War. Forgotten Patriots of the Northern Theater brings to light the extraordinary but overlooked contributions of American men, women and children of African and Indigenous ancestry who served during the American Revolution in the Northern colonies. Through painstaking archival research, the book reconstructs their lives, battles, betrayals, and legacies — filling a crucial gap in our nation's founding narrative.
Winner of the 2025 Phyllis Wheatley Book Award for Historical Nonfiction, Forgotten Patriots draws on years of deep archival research, including pension files, military rolls, and firsthand petitions, to tell the stories of those who served at places like Saratoga, Valley Forge, and Rhode Island. The book not only names these forgotten soldiers but brings their voices, struggles, and aspirations back into public memory.
Blending historical scholarship with narrative storytelling, Forgotten Patriots of the Northern Theater is both a call to remembrance and a resource for genealogists, educators, and history lovers alike.
SESSION 2: 11 – 11:50AM - From Records to Roots: Researching Black Patriots in the Colonial Era by Dr. Shelley Viola Murphy
Presented by the Genealogist General of the Society of First African Families of English America, this session uncovers the vital yet often untold contributions of African American patriots during the Revolutionary War. Attendees will explore essential colonial-era records, proven strategies for overcoming African American research challenges, and the role of oral tradition in preserving history. Through the compelling case study of Luke Goins/Goings, a free Black from Loudoun County, Virginia, we connect archival discoveries to the Society’s mission of honoring the legacies and descendants of America’s earliest African families.
LUNCH: 12 -1:25PM - Attendees have the option to bring a “brown bag” lunch or walk to downtown Leesburg (a list of restaurants will be provided).
SESSION 3: 1:30 – 2:20PM - The Loyal Blacks: Their Arrival, Life, and Journey by Andrea Davis
In 1783, more than a thousand Black loyalists arrived in Shelburne, Nova Scotia. Most
Blacks settled in Birchtown, just west of Shelburne, becoming the largest community of free Black people anywhere in North America. At its height, there were 2700 Black people in the community, of whom 1521 were recorded as free. The lecture will cover the arrival of the Black loyalists, the race riot of 1784, and the subsequent disbursement and ex-migration of much of the community.
SESSION 4: 2:30 – 3:20PM - America 250: Engaging the Public During the Anniversary and Beyond facilitated by Alicia Cohen
Join all three in a discussion about how attendee can honor the Black Patriots and Loyalists throughout American 250 and beyond. Why is this important to all of us? Why include the Black Loyalists in the birth of our Nation’s narrative? As a result of your attendance today, how can you engage your institutions, networks and families in honoring, -- on both sides -- the men, women, and children who served during the American Revolution?
- 3:30PM Closing Remarks.
Speakers
Ric Murphy, President General of the Society of First African Families of English America
RIC MURPHY is an educator, historian, author, and documentarian and a leading scholar on America’s Forgotten Patriots. He currently serves as the President General of the Society of the First African Families of English America. His award-winning book, the Arrival of the First Africans in Virginia was turned into a documentary with the same name and has won over thirty international films awards, including being selected as Best Director. His first award-winning book Freedom Road: An American Family Saga from Jamestown to World captures his family lineage and history over fourteen generations, three continents, ten international wars, the birth of a nation and fourteen patriots of the American Revolution including eight Americans of African ancestry. His documented family lineage dates to the earliest colonial periods of Plymouth, Massachusetts, and of Jamestown, Virginia. Mr. Murphy’s lineage has been evaluated and accepted by several heredity societies, including the Daughters of the American Revolution; the National Society of the Sons of Colonial New England; the Sons of the American Revolution; the Sons of the Union Veterans of the Civil War; and the Sons and Daughters of the U. S. Middle Passage. In addition to serving as the President General of the Society of the First African Families of English America; he was the former National Vice President for History for the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society; the former Registrar Society of the Sons and Daughters of the United States Middle Passage; and received the National Genealogical Society’s 2020 President's Citation.
Dr. Shelley Viola Murphy, Genealogist General of the Society of First African Families of English America
Dr. Shelley Viola Murphy, aka "familytreegirl" is a native of MI residing in VA researching her African-American & European lines. Murphy serves on the Boards of the Library of Virginia and the Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Societies. She is a Coordinator and Instructor at the Midwest African American Genealogy Institute (MAAGI) and develops staff and public genealogy educational programs for the Center for Family History at the International African American Museum (IAAM). Serves as the Genealogist General for the Society of the First African Families of English America and Trustee for the International Society for British Genealogy and Family History (ISBHFH). Also serves on the Genealogists Council for the 10 million names project. She holds membership in AAHGS NGS, DAR, and local genealogy groups.
Andrea Davis, Executive Director of the Black Loyalist Heritage Centre
Andrea Davis is a community builder, a natural leader, a strong communicator and powerful champion for those who need to have their voices heard. She is a Nova Scotian born of Black Loyalist descent, with ancestral ties and relationships within the communities of Birchtown, Shelburne and Black communities throughout Nova Scotia. Andrea understands the Black Loyalist Heritage Society is committed to discover, interpret, promote and safeguard the history of Black Loyalists and their descendants, and to the advancement of universal recognition of Black Loyalists as a nascent Canadian heritage community. Her greatest source of inspiration is from her three wonderful children and handsome grandson. Andrea is a descendant of the entries of the Book of Negroes.
