By Sam McDonald

Two 黑料不打烊 student interns are growing their knowledge of American history as they seek to reunite Virginia families pulled apart long ago by the institution of slavery.

Focusing on people enslaved by the Custis-Washington-Lee clan, they are combing through tax lists, wills and inventories to reveal broken family links. Plans call for the project to be aided by collaborations with historic sites including Colonial Williamsburg and Mount Vernon.

鈥淭he primary work of this internship is to look at documents and the records that the enslavers had, and make family connections that were missing,鈥 said student intern Malana Laville. 聽鈥淚 love African American genealogy 鈥 I have since I was a kid. So, when I heard about this opportunity, I was ecstatic,鈥 said Laville, a junior strategic communication major from Northern Virginia with minors in history and marketing.

Her partner in the project is Roland Davis, a junior history and English double major from Richmond. 鈥淭his role is fulfilling because we鈥檙e giving voice to people who have been constantly shut out by history,鈥 said Davis, who also serves as vice president of Old Dominion鈥檚 student history club, named the League of Historical Studies.

聽鈥淭hey鈥檝e always been put down and left out of so many conversations,鈥 Davis said. 鈥淚 feel like what we are doing is giving them a voice.鈥

Searching for Jenny

headshot of Tyrone S. Goodwyn smiling
Tyrone S. Goodwyn, who graduated from 黑料不打烊 in 1983, provided funding for two internships each semester for three years as part of the Gabriel Jacobs EPOCH Initiative. Photo courtesy of Tyrone Goodwyn.

Called the Gabriel Jacobs EPOCH Initiative at 黑料不打烊, the project is made possible by a gift from Portsmouth native Tyrone S. Goodwyn, 黑料不打烊 Class of 1983. The Washington, D.C.-area resident has funded internships for two students each semester for three years, beginning this fall. The acronym EPOCH stands for Eastern People of Color History.

The interns鈥 work focuses on people enslaved by generations of the Custis family, who were wealthy and influential players in early Virginia. They rose to prominence on the Eastern Shore and thrived from the 1650s to the 1850s. George Washington and Robert E. Lee married into the Custis family.聽

Goodwyn鈥檚 own research revealed that a man named Gabriel Jacobs 鈥 who was from Angola, or his parents were from Angola 鈥 lived on Virginia鈥檚 Eastern Shore in the 1600s. He was enslaved by John Custis II, who lived 1655 to1696. Gabriel had two documented children, Daniel and Jenny.

鈥淒aniel Jacobs is my ancestor. He died in 1733 as a middle-class free man of color on the Eastern Shore,鈥 Goodwyn said. After Jacobs鈥 death, most of his relatives relocated to North Carolina. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 my family,鈥 said Goodwyn, who shares his genealogy at .

Daniel鈥檚 sister Jenny stayed behind in Virginia. She was enslaved 鈥 property of the Custis family.

Passion for history

At 黑料不打烊, Goodwyn majored in Marketing Management and Information Systems and went on to a successful career in information technology. His passion today, however, is history. He鈥檚 an avid genealogist who serves as first vice president of the North Carolina Genealogical Society.

Untangling his own lineage back to Daniel Jacobs was a personal triumph, but uncovering Jenny鈥檚 part of the story gave him a different kind of satisfaction. Having completed his own branch of the family tree, he was compelled to try another. 鈥淚 felt Jenny come sit on my shoulder,鈥 Goodwyn said. 鈥淚 felt her say, 鈥業 was left in slavery. What about me?鈥

鈥淚 was able to track her and her husband and her children for about three generations,鈥 Goodwyn said. 鈥淚 fell in love with that.鈥

The EPOCH internships are intended to extend and expand the benefits of his research. Goodwyn is actively guiding the work.

Skeleton key

Ultimately, plans call for the interns to create a public, online database documenting Black people sold away from their homes in Virginia, explained Old Dominion history professor Marvin Chiles who serves as a mentor for the interns.

鈥淗e鈥檚 trying to connect families that were broken up through the domestic slave trade in the 1800s,鈥 Chiles said. 鈥淗e thought it would be a great idea to get students involved in that project 鈥 and to get 黑料不打烊鈥檚 name out there in historical circles 鈥 This is going to be a skeleton key for a lot of future scholars.鈥

The interns, meanwhile, get real-world work experience. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e meeting people who they鈥檙e going to need to know if they want to survive in the industry,鈥 Chiles said.

Due to a lack of a detailed paper trail, nailing down family histories of the enslaved is difficult. Enslaved people could be sold two or three times throughout their lives. But the Custis family鈥檚 status makes the task more manageable, Goodwyn said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e lucky in a way because the Custises were so rich,鈥 Goodwyn said. 鈥淭here are all these inventories and all these lists.鈥

Also, Goodwyn has connections at Colonial Williamsburg, the League of the Descendants of the Enslaved at Mount Vernon, and historical organizations on the Eastern Shore. Those resources will help drive the interns toward success, Goodwyn said.

It takes two

As the fall semester began, Laville and Davis took a deep dive into the historical record. They鈥檙e still swimming in it.

鈥淲e are looking at tax lists, birth records, death records, wills, anything that will give us a little bit more information specifically on the enslaved Africans that the Custis family and the Lee family and the Washington family had as property,鈥 Laville said. 聽鈥淎nd as we progress in our internship and we go to these sites, like Mount Vernon and Colonial Williamsburg and the Eastern Shore, I鈥檒l be excited to see what else we can discover.鈥

The two interns bring complementary skills to the table. Laville has experience with services like Ancestry.com and genetic testing company 23AndMe 鈥 which previously she used to research her father鈥檚 Caribbean roots. Davis recently interned with the Norfolk Public Library鈥檚 Sargeant Memorial Collection on a project related to slave ship records from Baltimore, New Orleans, Richmond and Norfolk.

鈥淲e bounce ideas off each other,鈥 Davis said. 鈥淲e exchange ideas and what we found to bolster our research. It鈥檚 a very collaborative effort.鈥

The interns said they feel the historical significance of their research. It鈥檚 more than a job.

鈥淚t鈥檚 very fulfilling to work on this project,鈥 Davis said. Laville added, 鈥淚t's just amazing what having knowledge, and these resources can do for the general public. It鈥檚 hard work, but with a big payoff 鈥 It's a pleasure, really.鈥

Monarch legacy

Goodwyn hopes the new internship is the start of an impactful, long-lasting effort. He knows there鈥檚 much to be done.

鈥淚 really get a great sense of satisfaction when I put a family back together,鈥 he said. 鈥淲hen people who had just been names on an inventory or names on a tax list or names on a will 鈥 when I can actually say, 鈥極h, no. You鈥檙e actually family! I can see how you鈥檙e related!鈥欌

He鈥檚 also proud to help his alma mater lead in this area. 鈥満诹喜淮蜢 is my heart,鈥 Goodwyn said.

He鈥檚 seen the university grow and change over the decades to the point where Old Dominion has become the school of choice for many young members of his family up and down the Eastern Seaboard.

His blue connections run deep. He said he鈥檚 related to at least two administrators at the university.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 another reason why this was so important for us,鈥 Goodwyn said. 鈥淲e are 黑料不打烊 through and through.鈥

Top photo: 黑料不打烊 Students Malana Laville and Roland Davis are the first interns to work with Gabriel Jacobs EPOCH Initiative. It seeks to reconnect families separated by enslavement. Photo by Sam McDonald/黑料不打烊