Berkeley Plantation
In November 2025, members of the Voices For Historical Justice sent a signed letter to Berkeley Plantation in Charles City County, Virginia, to encourage them to continue presenting the narrative of slavery at their site. Berkeley was the home of Signer, Benjamin Harrison V, and most importantly, a large enslaved population. A tour and exhibits on the enslaved of Berkeley had been put together by their docent, Melanie Roberts, the first time that this has ever been done at Berkeley Plantation. Melanie pulled out all the stops in performing months and months of research and using her own funds to make it happen. For calendar year 2026, Berkeley is scaling back the number of times the tour is being offered to only twice a year, other times are by appointment only. Want to know how you can help? Go to their Facebook page or contact them through their website (Contact | Berkeley Plantation) and encourage them to offer the “Freedom For Some Tour” on a more regular basis. This is a new and important part of history that Berkeley must share with the public, the voices of those once enslaved there deserve to be heard.
President’s House Site: Independence National Historical Park (Philadelphia)
On January 22, 2026, at the direction of the Trump Administration, all exhibit panels on the history of enslavement at the Presiden’t House site at Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia were removed after having been flagged for review. These panels portrayed the history of the President’s House when the nation’s capital was temporarily located in that city, including the history of the house, and the roles of the Washington’s enslaved people and the enslaved in American society. Since the removal of these panels, the City of Philadelphia has filed suit against the Trump Administration to have the panels returned. Numerous other groups, including the Voices For Historical Justice, have also mobilized in response. On February 12, the Voices For Historical Justice sent the below letter to Doug Burgum, Secretary of the Interior, calling out the injustice of the removal of the slavery exhibit at the President’s House Site.
