Getting in to “Hot Water” – An informal talk presented by Dr. Braxton

Freedom Park

A talk by Prof. Joanne M. Braxton, Ph.D., Frances L. and Edwin L. Cummings, Professor of English and the Humanities and Director of the College of
William and Mary Middle Passage Project and 1619 Initiative.

In collaboration with the College of William and Mary Middle Passage Project 1619 Initiative, Dr. Braxton will explore the importance of the Hot Water Tract, site of today’s Freedom Park. In this informal talk, Dr. Braxton will explore the relationship of the Middle Passage which brought Africans to the Americas for involuntary servitude, and the independent community established and maintained by former slaves and their descendants after many were freed in 1803 by the will of William Ludwell Lee. “Hot Water” later became a part of the still vibrant community of Centerville.