More Than a Fraction is Leading the Nation's Conversation on the History of African-Americans

BALTIMORE - July 5, 2026 - PRLog -- The More Than a Fraction Foundation (MTAFF), is leading the nation's conversations on the real history of pre-Civil War Africans and African-Americans in America. The mission for MTAFF is to re-explore pre-Civil War American history from the point of view of the African peoples of the period, and to explore and identify the influence of that history on modern subjects. Most recent it sponsored the "Saturday Dinner at Grandma's House" at the Solitude House located on the campus of Virginia Tech, which was part of the Smithfield plantation where about 200 people were enslaved. That event was held in collaboration with Virginia Tech's History Department and supported with a grant from the Virginia Tech Appalachian Studies Program. On the same weekend, MTAFF hosted the "Story Time Tour" at the Historic Smithfield museum where Dr. Kerri Moseley-Hobbs provided a tour of the museum using excerpts from her book More Than A Fraction: Based on a True Story.

In September 2026 MTAFF will present research findings at the American Association for State and Local History/National Council on Public History Annual Conference in Providence, Rhode Island from September 16 – 19^th , and on September 13^th they will present at the DEC-UVA (Descendants of Enslaved Communities) Symposium in Charlottesville, Virginia. In October the MTAFF will present its educational research at the International Universities Studying Slavery Fall Conference at University of Maryland (College Park) from October 22-25^th.

Highlights from 2025's MTAFF activities include providing commentary in the PBS documentary "Resolved to Live and Die," presenting a conversation at the "Engagement Scholarship Consortium," hosting its Fraction Juneteenth Family Reunion, and providing research at the "Raising the Shade" community-driven project of the Franklin County, Virginia NAACP Chapter to honor 70 African-American men who served in the United Colored Troops during the Civil War.

In past years the More Than a Fraction Foundation has sponsored the recognition of the Merry Tree on the grounds of Virginia Tech, where enslaved people gathered for 150 years. It was to highlight its importance to the enslaved African community, and how the tradition is continued by the local community today. The Merry Tree fell from a storm in 2020, though a stump is still there. That program was supported in part by The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation.

The More Than a Fraction Foundation operates under the mantel "From Separation to Reunification."

www.MoreThanaFraction.org