A look at the life of “Mary Bowser”

An Evening with Lois Leveen

Thursday, May 28, 7:00-8:15 PM via Zoom

Did you know that Richmond was home to some of the Civil War’s most significant spies, including African Americans who risked their lives for the cause of freedom?

Join historian and author Lois Leveen for a Zoom discussion of one of these figures, the woman most often referred to as “Mary Bowser” who lived right next door to Richmond Hill, enslaved in the home of Elizabeth Van Lew. Together, we’ll consider the similarities between what folks are facing in this historical moment — a pandemic, job insecurity/economic uncertainty and disrupted education systems — and what Mary Bowser Richards Denman and other African Americans faced in the wake of Emancipation.

Dr. Leveen is the award-winning author of “The Secrets of Mary Bowser.”