JAMESTOWN — The foundation that oversees preservation efforts at Historic Jamestowne recently received a state grant that will help it better tell the story of escaped slaves who came to Jamestown during the Civil War.

The Jamestown Rediscovery Foundation was one of seven recipients of the Virginia Black, Indigenous, and People of Color Historic Preservation Grant awarded by the Department of Historic Resources and the Virginia Board of Historic Resources. The foundation received $317,500 for its Jamestown Contraband Project.

The project began with a discovery by summer field students from the University of Virginia in 2023 near Jamestown’s Rediscovery museum.

“As with many things with archaeology out here, this started with an unanticipated discovery,” said Mary Anna Hartley, a senior

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