History has often been compared to a jigsaw puzzle. Both have countless scattered pieces that must be collected and assembled to form a complete picture. On Sept. 24, more than 70 people gathered at Jamestown Settlement’s Robins Foundation Theater for “Introducing Jamestown 1862,” a lecture series that unveiled an exciting new piece of Jamestown Island’s Civil War Black history.

Sponsored by Jamestown Rediscovery, the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation and Let Freedom Ring Foundation, “Introducing Jamestown 1862” examined the period when Union troops and freed Black people occupied Jamestown Island. Attendees learned about physical sites where enslaved people who were escaping may have sought refuge en route to Hampton’s Fort Monroe, where they could seek asylum as contraband.

The evening beg

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