Humanities Feature Bureau

Since the 17th century, fortifications have guarded the peninsula that juts out into the Chesapeake Bay,  where the Elizabeth, James and Nansemond Rivers converge.  Fort Monroe has stood sentry the longest, since 1819 — a six-sided stone structure that will continue to be an Army outpost until 2011. From then on, its future is subject to much debate, but its place in African-American history is not, as Sondra Woodward explains:

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