Join us for a powerful day of reflection, celebration, and remembrance as we honor the stories and contributions of the enslaved Africans and African Americans who shaped the history of Stratford Hall.
We are thrilled to announce that Dr. Edda L. Fields-Black will be our keynote speaker! A Pulitzer Prize-winning author, she teaches history at Carnegie Mellon University and serves as Director of the Dietrich College Humanities Center. She has written extensively about the transnational history of West African rice farmers, including in such works as Deep Roots: Rice Farmers in West Africa and the African Diaspora. Guests can look forward to a wealth of insight, highlighted in her recent book COMBEE: Harriet Tubman, the Combahee River Raid, and Black Freedom during the Civil War.
Admission is free and includes access to the Great House, grounds, and all First Africans Day activities.
2025 Schedule:
African American Cemetery 10:00 – 10:45 AM Opening Ceremony Cheyney McKnight, Shiloh Baptist Church, Tanyah Dadze, Becky Stewart and Slam Stewart
Historic Area & Council House 11:00 AM KanKouran West African Dance Company Great House Lawn
12:00 PM African Ox Flute Performance Joshua Allen – West Yard
1:00 PM Music of the African Diaspora SlamOne – West Yard
1:00 PM Recognizing & Sharing Family Treasures Bessida Cauthorne White – Council House
1:30 PM Tobacco Talk Harold Caldwell – Southwest Outbuilding
2:00 PM African Drumming Circle SlamOne – West Yard
3:15 PM Keynote: COMBEE Dr. Edda L. Fields-Black, 2025 Pulitzer Prize-Winner – Council House
4:30 PM Open Mic & Storytelling Dontavius Williams – Great Hall in the Great House
Stratford Beach 5:30 PM Cosing Ceremony Cheyney McKnight, Becky Stewart and Slam Stewart
Lunch will be served in the Dining Room from 12 - 2 pm, including fried chicken, potato salad, green beans, rolls, dessert, tea, and lemonade; $20 for ages 12+ and $10 for 11 & under. Food Trucks can be found near the Carriage House from 11 am - 3 pm. Enjoy a refreshing treat from Tilly’s Ice Cream, or grab some BBQ, cheesesteaks, hamburgers, or hotdogs from Big Mike’s Food Truck!
Shuttle transportation will be available on a 10-15 minute loop, with stops at the Carriage House, the Council House, and the Payne Cabin. For those with mobility limitations, golf carts driven by Stratford Staff are available to assist.
Date & Time
Sat, Jul 26, 2025 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Venue Details
Stratford Hall
483 Great House Road Stratford, Virginia 22520
Stratford Hall Historic Preserve
Stratford Hall brings together people from around the world to experience two-thousand acres of natural and human history, preserved and presented so that we can all learn from the courageous struggles of our ancestors, taking inspiration both from what they endured and what they accomplished. There are few places in America where people can travel down small, rural roads to arrive at a vast site that preserves so many aspects of early-American life, from the Great House where the influential Lee family helped to forge a new nation, to the fields worked by enslaved Africans, to the waters of the rivers that fueled trade, to the ground, which still yields secrets about the people and animals that lived before.
Come experience this extraordinary place and learn about a layered history that began millions of years ago - a history that continues to educate, inspire, and influence Americans to the present day.
