Gwynn's Island Project
FAMILY REUNION
Black & White Together
Gwynn’s Island descendants have gathered three times since 2021 -- a century after the travesty of the Black exodus
2021 -- 20 people from three family lines; 2022 -- 65 people from six family lines; 2023 -- 100+ people from eight family lines
White descendants of the Hudgins family, who enslaved Black Smith, Jones and Gwynn families, joined the gatherings in 2022 and 2023
They were joined by White Mathews county residents interested in reckoning with the history of the Gwynn’s Island Black community
Photo Gallery
Photo Credit: Debra Dilworth
Historical Marker
As a reparative action, a request has been submitted to the State of Virginia Department of Historic Resources
to install an historical marker at Mathews County -- the marker has been approved, but the text will not be voted on until March, 2024
Below is the text that was submitted
If you are interested in documentation sources for facts on the marker, please contact us
Black Exodus from Gwynn's Island
The Black community on Gwynn’s Island likely originated in the 1600s. Numbering 135 in 1910, Black residents had built a church and school, and many owned land. By late in 1920, all Black citizens were gone. Some may have left for economic reasons, but the primary exodus followed a Dec. 1915 fight among local Black and White men. White pursuers chased Black farmer J. H. Smith from the fight, and a White storekeeper averted further violence by holding them off with a shotgun. Only Smith was convicted of assault, by an all-White jury. Fearing for their safety, Black residents left, selling their homes under duress. White intimidation and Black flight created many all-White communities across the U.S.
