New exhibition Will Open in 2011

Seeking Freedom Where the Rivers Meet: The Contrabands and City Point will focus on the story of the Contrabands who lived and worked in City Point, Virginia. The exhibition is part of the City of Hopewell’s participation in the Virginia Sesquicentennial of the Civil War commemorative events.

The Contrabands Story:

“Contraband” was the name given to slaves who escaped to freedom behind the lines of the Union Army during the Civil War. African American families arrived at City Point seeking freedom with the arrival of the Union army in 1864. Here many found employment in the Union war effort and some went on to become soldiers in the Union army.