Host Dutchie Jessee sits down with Christina Vida, curator at the The Valentine in Richmond, to explore the museum’s powerful exhibit “Descent: Liberty and Loyalty in Early Richmond.”

Their conversation dives into the complicated stories of Virginians during the American Revolution, from Loyalists who remained faithful to the British Crown to enslaved people seeking their own freedom. Vida shares the stories behind figures like Samuel Gist, a tobacco merchant who freed more than 300 enslaved people in his will, and London, an enslaved youth who escaped with British forces and later served as a trumpeter in the British Army.

The episode also examines how the museum used artificial intelligence to create portraits of historical figures who were never photographed or painted, helping visitors connect with the people who shaped early Richmond between the 1770s and 1830s.