The Three Blackwell Family Trees

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The first Blackwell family tree, “The Blackwell Kinsfolk,”was unveiled at the 7 th Annual Blackwell Family Reunion in Warfield, VA, and now resides in the Library of Congress in Washington, DC and is currently on display in the exhibition entitled Collecting Memories: Treasures from the Library of Congress.  This oral history tree designed on a 6’ x 8’ canvas has 1,500 names inscribed on its limbs and leaves with gold leaf to commemorate Arthur Ashe, Jr., for his tennis champion success at Wimbleton.  This tree without roots dates back to 1789.  It was unveiled on August 29, 1959 at Club DeLiso in Warfield, Virginia.  

Incomplete family limbs were researched back to 1735 and an updated 8.25’ x 11.75’ Blackwell family tree on canvas with roots and 3,333 names of family members on the limbs and leaves was unveiled 12 years later on October 30, 1971 at the Dillard Street USO in Blackstone, Virginia.  This tree resides at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum in Baltimore, MD and is not on public display.

Some of the undeveloped limbs on the tree were extended and, 20 years later, the 9.5’ x 11’ Blackwell family tree with 5,000 family members from 15 states, Africa, Canada, Germany and Haiti was unveiled on October 26, 1991 at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis Hotel in Atlanta, GA.  The Virginia Museum of History and Culture in Richmond, VA, is home to this tree. The canvas was previously featured in the exhibition Determined:  The 400-year Struggle for Black Equality from 2019 to 2020.  The canvas is not currently on display, but there is a permanent digital exhibit for public viewing.