Project helps descendants of Virginias enslaved people find past [Video]

White, who is currently the director of Afro-American Historical Association in Fauquier County, Virginia, started researching her family history some three decade ago.  Once she began, she couldn’t stop.  

“I imagine a fisherman – if he really likes to fish – he’s going to go to as many ponds as possible,” White said. “For me, I wanted to find more about different family members.”  

But along the way, White made an unfortunate discovery. Many of the more than 10,000 enslaved people from Fauquier County were documented by their first names and little else. 

“It was easier, I believe, for a person to not consider [someone enslaved to be] fully human,” White said.    

This made it …