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EXHIBITIONA case from NorfolkCounty details thesad story of anenslaved teenagernamed Elizabeth,who was shippedfrom Norfolk toLouisiana, whereshe died shortlyafter her arrival.RemarkableResourcesDiscover collections forresearching the slave tradeat the Library of VirginiaExhibitions at the Library of Virginia can helpguide researchers to understand more fullythe depth of our collections.While researching for the To Be Soldexhibition, local government records archivistsdiscovered cases heard in Virginia’s ChanceryCourts and other local government records thatilluminate the daily workings of the internal slavetrade. Chancery causes heard in Fairfax andArlington Counties shed light on the slave-tradingactivities of Joseph Bruin, a trader in Alexandria.Harriet Beecher Stowe used Bruin as a templatefor the slave-trader characters found in her bookUncle Tom’s Cabin.These records are remarkable for the storiesthey document of enslaved individuals purchasedin Virginia and taken hundreds of miles away bysea and by land to be sold in the Deep South. Acase from Norfolk County details the sad storyof an enslaved teenager named Elizabeth, whowas shipped from Norfolk to Louisiana, whereshe died shortly after her arrival. The freedomsuit of Hester Jane Carr heard inPetersburg reads like the storylineof the book and film 12 Years aSlave. Like Solomon Northup,Carr was a free African Americanwho was kidnapped and soldinto slavery. Unlike Northup, shenever received her freedom.Records concerning theslave trade also include receipts,letters, lists of names, and afew account books. The accountbooks of the major tradersDickinson, Hill & Co. and HectorDavis were removed fromRichmond at the end of the CivilWar and now reside at the American AntiquarianSociety (in Worcester, Massachusetts) and theChicago History Museum, respectively. Thememorandum book of Captain John C. Epes6 broadSIDE WWW.LVA.VIRGINIA.GOV 2014 | ISSUE NO. 4