This public event brings three historians of enslavement together—one focused on the importance of slavery to colonial empires, one focused on captive experiences and health in the slave trade, and one focused on the introduction of African maritime culture (and surfing!) into the Americas—to wrestle with the question: What actually happened in 1619? Click here for a 104-minute video of the presentation on March 12, 2024 presented by UC Santa Cruz Arts, Lectures, and Entertainment.

Dr. Greg O’Malley began by focusing on the voyage of the White Lion as a privateering vessel and then went on to talk about events prior to 1619 that led up to it.

Founded in 1607, Virginia had expanded beyond the original triangular fort at Jamestown by 1619 but was still a colony of just a few hundred people when the slave trade began.

(Above, right) Greg O’Malley, Professor of History at UC Santa Cruz, Elise Mitchell, post-doctoral professor in history at Princeton University, and Kevin Dawson, Associate Professor of History at UC Merced, followed up with a discussion after their presentations.