In 1800, a literate slave known as Gabriel planned a rebellion that was to involve a march into Richmond. Although the action was suppressed, it confirmed the growing outcry for justice and the volatility of the slave economy. VCU Libraries hosted "Gabriel's Conspiracy: Exploring the Richmond Slave Rebellion of 1800" on March 13, in partnership with the Year of Freedom Committee, the VCU Department of History, the VCU Department of African American Studies and the Library of Virginia.
The event featured two prominent experts on the subject of Gabriel's Rebellion, discussing this landmark in Virginia history: Dr. Michael Nicholls, professor emeritus of history at Utah State University and author of "Whispers of Rebellion: Narrating Gabriel's Conspiracy," and Dr. Philip J. Schwarz, professor emeritus of history at VCU and author of "Gabriel's Conspiracy: A Document History." Schwarz is also emeritus of the VCU Friends of the Library Board. These two books, "Whispers of Rebellion" and "Gabriel's Conspiracy," both recently published by the University of Virginia Press, aim to present a complete account of the rebellion.