Michigan
Detroit - Ypsilanti - Albion - Ann Arbor
Research history
One growing record
Beginning in 2011, community profiles and fact sheets were prepared and distributed in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. The work documented The Invisibles of 1776 by community, county, service, family connection, and other surviving evidence.
Those early paper-based profiles became the foundation for a wider national Atlas—one that allows visitors to move from a place or family question to the people and documented evidence behind the answer.
Public recognition
Communities that chose to honor the Patriots
Communities recognized The Invisibles of 1776 through proclamations, resolutions, and related public acts. The Atlas preserves this recognition history as a separate, documented collection—searchable by community, state, issuing body, or year.
Craven CountyNorth CarolinaGovernorsState legislaturesPublic recognition
Explore honors and proclamations · Public recognitions are kept separate from Patriot records.
Honors and proclamations
Towns, cities, counties, and states honoring local Patriots
This roster transcribes the named communities shown on the National Liberty Memorial Resolutions of Support page. Public Law 98-245, approved in 1984, encouraged state legislatures and city councils to issue proclamations acknowledging Black contributions to the cause of freedom.
Connecticut
Plainville - Farmington - West Hartford - Wallingford - New Milford - Lebanon - Lyme - Litchfield - Coventry - Hebron - Old Saybrook - Somers - Granby - Groton - Mansfield - Bolton - Thompson - Colchester - Norwich
Virginia
Alexandria City - Alleghany - Amelia - Appomattox - Arlington County - Bath - Brunswick - Buckingham - Caroline - Charles City County - Chesterfield - Fairfax County - Fluvanna - Goochland - King and Queen - New Kent - Prince William - Richmond County - Louisa - Scott - Shenandoah - Pittsylvania - Wythe - Nelson - Patrick
Massachusetts
Lancaster - Oxford - Chester - Harwich - Edgartown - Montague - Reading - Great Barrington - Deerfield - Northampton - Woburn - Wellfleet - Natick - Billerica - Amherst - Littleton
North Carolina
Craven County - Charlotte - Anson
Rhode Island
Smithfield - Little Compton
Louisiana
New Orleans
Ohio
Marietta
South Carolina
Saluda County
Statewide actions
Governors, legislatures, and public bodies
Michigan governor2019
Connecticut governorDate documented in source material
Connecticut General AssemblyRecognition recorded
Virginia governor2008
North Carolina governorRecognition recorded
North Carolina General Assembly2013 resolution honoring African American Revolutionary War heroes
Rhode Island governorRecognition recorded
Six-State Fact Sheets
Community research across six states
Liberty Fund D.C. initially shared the names of local Patriots with 426 cities, towns, and counties in five states through its general briefing papers, then extended the work to South Carolina. The briefing papers and community fact sheets explain where Patriots lived, how they served, and how local history could be made visible.
Featured publications
The public case for recognition and remembrance.
The New York Times · July 31, 2004
We Need to Learn More About Our Colorful Past
Maurice A. Barboza and Gary B. Nash explain the public origins, obstacles, and historical importance of recovering African-descended Revolutionary service.
Cardinal News · 2024
Virginia’s Black Patriots Uplift the Spirit of 1776
Richmond Times-Dispatch · December 26, 2023
A monument without the chains, or an emancipator
Virginian-Pilot / Daily Press · 2026
Use a Neglected Corner of the Mall to Honor American Patriots
The Atlas now
Research that began on paper now leads to evidence.
Visitors can move from towns, counties, families, service roles, and public recognitions to the documented people and evidence behind them.
Explore the Atlas