W&M Bray School Lab

06/16/2026

Check out this terrific overview of Virginia genealogical resources by Shannon Combs-Bennett for Family Tree Magazine! https://familytreemagazine.com/virginia-genealogy/?

Sources such as church records, tax records, court records, military records and insurance records are all being used in the search for the descendants of Bray School students.

Make the most of your state research time! With everything from online records guides to expert tips, learn how to find your Virginia ancestors.

06/15/2026

Juneteenth celebration at William & Mary's Sadler Center

👉 Thursday, June 18th from 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM.

Come join us for a wonderful time of Remembering, Restoring and Renewing!

06/12/2026

✨New Blog Post Up! ✨

Bray School Lab genealogist, Elizabeth Drembus, is the author of the newest post to A Reasonable Progress. In her blog entitled “The Next Generation Adds to the Bray School Story” Elizabeth shares her experience working with and mentoring W&M students through genealogical research and other projects in the Lab. https://go.wm.edu/yGHr90

W&M students working in the Lab engage in extensive historical and genealogical research. Their work aims to reconstruct the lives of the Bray School's students, to search for their descendants, and to contextualize the educational and social environment of the time.

📣W&M students, if you or someone you know is interested in working in the W&M Bray School Lab, please email us at [email protected]. 💚💛

📷Grace Helmick, SCP

06/11/2026

📣 Bray School Stories is back!

🗓️ Monday, June 29th at 6:00 PM

👉 Register here: https://go.wm.edu/qHbWqy

This month, we present a new project from the Bray School Lab. While conducting research on the history and legacies of the Williamsburg Bray School and its students, Bray School Lab staff and students have continued to find primary source evidence to suggest that education was delivered earlier and more widely across Virginia.

Elizabeth welcomes Dr. Maureen Elgersman Lee (director of the Bray School Lab) and Dr. Shannon White (associate director of the Center for Geospatial Analysis) to discuss the project and the process for Mapping the Literacy of Enslaved Virginians, 1619-1865.

Free and open to the public; registration is required. All are welcome!

06/11/2026

Mark your calendars for Juneteenth Celebration at William & Mary's Sadler Center on Thursday, June 18th from 10-1. Come join us! Hope to see you there.

06/09/2026

Juneteenth celebration at William & Mary's Sadler Center

👉 Thursday, June 18th from 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM.

Come join us for a wonderful time of Remembering, Restoring and Renewing.

06/06/2026

Huge thank you to The Highland Council of Descendant Advisors for an amazing day! We were so happy to be with you today.

What an incredible day of learning, making genealogical connections, seeing familiar faces, hearing stories of resilience across so many descendant communities, and being uplifted & inspired by beautiful music and the relaxing & restorative grounds at James Monroe’s Highland. Until next year…

06/06/2026

Lunchtime is always the highlight of Descendants Day! A wonderful time of gathering, sharing stories, and catching up with friends.

06/06/2026

06/01/2026

F***y, daughter of Sharlot, was baptized at Bruton Parish in 1766. F***y attended the Williamsburg Bray School in 1769. She and her mother were enslaved by William & Mary.

👉To learn more about F***y, visit Adam & F***y’s World: https://go.wm.edu/XdrrQY

📸Photo courtesy of https://heritagecenter.brutonparish.org/