Meet Edith Cumbo, Nation Builder

Posted in Articles, History, Media Archive, United States, Virginia on 2016-07-26 15:57Z by Steven

Meet Edith Cumbo, Nation Builder

Cumbo Family Website: Exploring Cumbo Family Roots and Branches across Generations
2016-07-24

Andre Kearns
Washington, D.C.

We celebrated our 2016 Cumbo Family Reunion last weekend July 15-17 in Williamsburg, Virginia. One of the reasons we chose Williamsburg was because Colonial Williamsburg features a historical figure – Edith Cumbo – who is an ancestral family member.

Edith Cumbo, as far as I can tell, is my first cousin 9 times removed. Continuing to trace back from my 5th great grandfather Britton Cumbo Sr. of Northampton, North Carolina to our original ancestor Emanuell Cambow, the focus of my current research, will help me to confirm this.

Edith Cumbo was a mixed race, free woman of color born around 1735 to Richard Cumbo Jr., the grandson of Emanuell Cambow, and an Irish woman. According to 18th-century Virginia law, the status of your mother determined whether you were born enslaved or free. Both of her parents were free and so was Edith…

Read the entire article here.

Tags: , , , , ,

Comments Off on Meet Edith Cumbo, Nation Builder

Author, 18, from Williamsburg examines race through his family’s eyes in book

Posted in Articles, Biography, History, Media Archive, Slavery, United States, Virginia on 2016-02-25 01:58Z by Steven

Author, 18, from Williamsburg examines race through his family’s eyes in book

The Virginia Gazette
Williamsburg, Virginia
2016-02-16

Heather Bridges, Contact Reporter


Canaan Kennedy, 18, is a freshman at Virginia Commonwealth University who grew up in Williamsburg. He recently published a book, his first, on family members’ experiences with race. (Heather Bridges / The Virginia Gazette)

Canaan Kennedy just wants to change the world.

He says it casually, as if the conviction is common. That’s the kind of drive Kennedy has, the drive he’s always known. His grandfather co-founded an international nonprofit. His grandmother is an award-winning playwright. His father is a writer, producer and publisher.

But as a biracial 18-year-old, Kennedy is still finding his place in the world he seeks to change.

The Williamsburg native recently wrote and self-published a book, “Struggles to Victory,” examining racism in America through the experiences of his father, grandmother and grandfather as African Americans. Kennedy combines biography, interviews and commentary to share his family’s stories…

Read the entire article here.

Tags: , , ,

Comments Off on Author, 18, from Williamsburg examines race through his family’s eyes in book