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News
New Board Members
Oatlands welcomes two new Board members: Elizabeth Coppersmith and Katy Reed. They are a valuable addition Oatlands and we are excited to have their involvement as Oatlands continues to fill our mission and offer opportunities for recreation and education to Loudoun County and beyond.
Dulles Greenway CEO Named to Oatlands Board
Renée N. Hamilton, the CEO of Dulles Greenway owner Toll Road Investor Partnership II, has been elected to the Oatlands Board of Directors.
Read full article in Loudoun Now.
Giving Tuesday
Please join us in supporting an irreplaceable national treasure. Your contribution will make an impact, whether you donate $5 or $10000. Thank you for your support!!!
Oatlands is a nonprofit sanctuary located 5 miles south of Leesburg, Virginia. Oatlands history is American history. Between 1727 and 1964, the property was home to a succession of tenant farmers, influential families, and their servants and workers, including over 150 people who were enslaved. We are working to reclaim the contrasting, yet inseparable, histories of the property’s residents. Our goal is to use this history to inform and build a better future.
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Oatlands’ 400 acres includes a Federal-era country estate, structures used by people who were enslaved, a 4.5 acre English garden, 8 miles of hiking and equestrian trails, 3 historic and renovated Airbnbs and indoor and outdoor venues for events of all kinds.
Facebook pays all the processing fees for you, so 100% of your donation goes directly to the nonprofit.
Don’t have Facebook? Donate here.
Segregated World War I Plaque
Loudoun County to replace segregated World War I plaque on Veterans Day
The World War I memorial plaque in Leesburg, which racially segregated the names of 30 black and white service members, will be replaced with an updated version Thursday on Veterans Day, according to Loudoun County officials.
A descendant of a person previously enslaved at Oatlands is listed on the current World War I memorial plaque on the Loudoun County Courthouse grounds. Valentine B. Johnson’s name is currently listed in the segregated section of the plaque for African American veterans. This will be corrected on Veteran’s Day with the dedication of a new plaque that does not segregate the veteran’s names.
Oatlands honors the service of Valentine B. Johnson and all veterans whose names have been segregated or unrecorded.
Read full article:
CNN: Like Washington and Jefferson, he championed liberty. Unlike the founders, he freed his slaves
It was 230 years ago Sunday that Robert Carter III, the patriarch of one of the wealthiest families in Virginia, quietly walked into a Northumberland County courthouse and delivered an airtight legal document announcing his intention to free, or manumit, more than 500 slaves. He titled it the “deed of gift.” It was, by far, experts say, the largest liberation of Black people before President Abraham Lincoln signed the District of Columbia Emancipation Act and Emancipation Proclamation more than seven decades later.
McLaughlin, Eliott C. “Like Washington and Jefferson, He Championed Liberty. Unlike the Founders, He Freed His Slaves.” CNN. Cable News Network, September 5, 2021. https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/05/us/robert-carter-iii-deed-of-gift-slavery-anniversary/index.html?utm_source=pocket-newtab.
Read full article:
VOA: Tours at Former US Plantations Focus on Telling Truth About Enslavement
Many tours on former plantations in the American South have focused on wealthy white landowning families and glossed over the people who were enslaved. This romanticized version centers on the lavish lifestyles and mansions of the slave owners while disregarding the enslaved people who built the homes and toiled in the fields.
While some plantation tours have intertwined the lives of the slavers and the enslaved, others are evolving as part of a growing awareness in the push for social justice that includes facing the enduring scars of slavery today.
Block, Deborah. “Tours at Former US Plantations Focus on Telling Truth about Enslavement.” VOA. Tours at Former US Plantations Focus on Telling Truth About Enslavement, September 2, 2021. https://www.voanews.com/a/usa_tours-former-us-plantations-focus-telling-truth-about-enslavement/6209773.html.
Read full article >
Employment Opportunities
Looking to acquire a part time job? Consider working with us as a Front Desk Associate or Grounds & Operations Support!
Contact info@oatlands.org with resume and cover letter to apply for either position. See the full job descriptions here for more information.
