Author Talk with Dan Thorp & His Book "Seeking Justice"
Venue: Blacksburg Library, Blacksburg
Date: Thursday, March 5, 2026
Time: 5:30 - 6:30 PM
Event Types: Speaking Engagements
Cost: Free
Description:
The Blacksburg Library presents an Author Talk with Dan Thorp and his book "Seeking Justice: The Extraordinary Freedom Suits of an Enslaved Virginia Family" on Thursday, March 5, 2026.

Virginia Tech History professor Dan Thorp recently published his latest book entitled "Seeking Justice" and will join us for a presentation.

Before the Civil War brought emancipation to the South, some enslaved people managed to use the legal system, the same one that had concocted and long perpetuated their bondage, to sue for their freedom from owners who unlawfully held them in slavery. In "Seeking Justice", Thorp tells the story behind Unis v. Charlton’s Administrator, one of the most extensive of these freedom suits in all of American history.

It began when a woman, known only as Flora, was born in Connecticut and sold into slavery in Virginia. Her children sued, and over more than 30 years, four cases involving almost fifty plaintiffs moved through the Virginia court system before finally reaching a conclusion in 1855. Seeking Justice narrates this remarkable saga, illuminating Black Americans’ legal literacy and shining a light on the unusual permutations of the antebellum judicial world and the courage it took for Flora’s family to plunge into the legal heart of a slave society. (From the publisher)

Books will be available for sale by Historic Smithfield.

Presented in partnership with Historic Smithfield. A Montgomery County 250 and Virginia 250 Event.

The Blacksburg Library is located at 200 Miller Street in Blacksburg, VA.

To view the event flyer, visit: https://i.postimg.cc/zfy8Nj5M/image.png.

For more information, visit: http://www.montgomery-floyd.lib.va.us/ or https://www.facebook.com/pages/Blacksburg-Library/152248358735 or https://www.facebook.com/events/2400037877100766/ or call 540-552-8246.