HAMPTON, Va. - A presentation at the Hampton History Museum on Monday aims to shed light on a piece Black history that's still being uncovered on the Peninsula.
"Life in the Reservation Community," scheduled for 7 p.m., will discuss the mostly-Black community that was removed in the early 20th century to make room for Naval Weapons Station Yorktown.
A historical marker that reads "The Reservation" was placed outside the base in 2022.
“The reservation was 11,000 square acres of land that the government took in 1918," said Mary Lassiter, one of four descendants of Reservation families scheduled to speak at the presentation. “It was predominantly Black people. Some had been free, but the majority of them had been, before the war, the majority of the people that lived on the land were enslaved.”
It would take a few years for everyone to leave, but says research has uncovered as many as 600 families that were displaced — to new homes across Hampton Roads and beyond. Only some, she says, were reimbursed by the government for their property.
“To see the claims, the things that they had written that they felt that their property was valued, and to see what they got," she told News 3. There was just so much unfairness. We just want people to know what they went through.”
It was just over a century ago, but considering Black history on the Peninsula began with the arrival of the first African slaves in 1619, it's not all that long ago. In fact, at least one person who lived on The Reservation is still alive.
Lassiter says her cousin, Everlean Thompson, turned 105 on Sunday.
"When she was about four or five years old, she remembers riding on the wagon when her mother had to bring their lumber up to Williamsburg to rebuild the house," Lassiter told News 3.
She adds that she hopes Monday's presentation will help others uncover their own family history on The Reservation.
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