Join us @ The “Meeting Room” of Valley Forge NHP, or attend live (via Zoom):

This presentation represents the culmination of a year’s work examining African American participation during the Valley Forge encampment of 1777 to 1778.  Justin B. Clement has written a Historic Resource Study funded by the National Park Service and facilitated through a cooperative agreement with the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH).

Join us to learn about the hundreds of Black soldiers who enlisted in the Continental Army and endured six months of hardship during the winter encampment.  Also hear about the Black ironworkers who worked at Mount Joy Forge, or the dozens of African American civilians impacted by armies invading their homefront.  Lastly, learn about the legacies and epic journeys of Black Patriots or Loyalists who traveled the world in the years following their experiences at Valley Forge—whether it be Nova Scotia, the Bahamas, Sierra Leone, or Canton, China!

As a historian, Justin B. Clement specializes in the Revolutionary War era.  After earning a degree in Physics, Mr. Clement went on to the College of William and Mary, completing a graduate degree in Early American History.  His Master’s Thesis explored a postwar Loyalist “trade diaspora,” following the American War for Independence.  Mr. Clement’s graduate work at the University of California is on hiatus while pursuing other projects, with his forthcoming dissertation entitled: “‘On both sides by turns’: Violence, Protectionists, and the American Revolution.”  He is currently the Historic Site Supervisor at Pottsgrove Manor.

Registration is requested (whether in-person or virtual): https://www.eventbrite.com/e/patriots-of-african-descent-at-the-valley-forge-encampment-of-17771778-tickets-435782997677