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On Friday November 14, 2025, the Slover Library Foundation will host "Competing Freedoms: Hampton Roads at the Start of the American Revolution." This one-day symposium will draw distinguished scholars from around the United States and Canada to shed fresh light on Hampton Roads’ critical role at the onset of the conflict.

The symposium, to be held at the Slover Library in downtown Norfolk, will mark the anniversaries of several key events that took place in Norfolk, Portsmouth, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, and Hampton at the start of the Revolution, including:

- The first battle pitting Americans against British soldiers south of New England, in Hampton (October 27, 1775)
- The publication of the British Empire’s first emancipation proclamation, in Virginia Beach (November 15, 1775)
- The creation of Lord Dunmore’s Ethiopian Regiment, the first Black regiment in North America and in the British army, organized and trained in Portsmouth and Norfolk (November 15)
- The first fight between Ethiopian Regiment members and patriots, at Great Bridge at Chesapeake (December 2-9)
- The burning of Norfolk, the single most destructive single act of the war, and a turning point in American attitudes toward Britain (January 1, 1776)
- The first mission of the U.S. Navy, to destroy Lord Dunmore’s forces in Norfolk’s harbor (Spring 1776)
- The emigration of emancipated Black Virginians to Nova Scotia in 1783, many of whom went on to settle the West African colony of Sierra Leone

The day-long symposium is free and open to the public - Seating is limited
Register at SloverLibraryFoundation@gmail.com
For more information, please contact Andrew Lawler at aflawler@gmail.com
Symposium