In celebration of Black History Month, the Historic Petersburg Foundation is sponsoring a free lecture by former U.S. Diplomat to Liberia, Joel Maybury, on Tuesday, February 24, 2026, at 6:00 pm at the Petersburg Public Library, Washington and Market Streets in Petersburg, Virginia. Joseph Jenkins Roberts (1809-1876) was born in Norfolk and later moved with his family to Petersburg, where he worked as a boatman and barber before, in 1829, moving to Liberia, where he would later serve as the first and seventh president of that country. Roberts is just one of a number of people from Petersburg who emigrated to Liberia and held significant positions in the young nation’s government. This program, “Joseph Jenkins Roberts: From Petersburg to the Presidency of Liberia,” will examine the many contributions made by Roberts and other people from Petersburg to the young nation of Liberia. This program is open to the public at no charge.
Joel Maybury had a distinguished 29-year career as a Foreign Service Officer before retiring in June 2024. As a U.S. Diplomat, he served overseas in Africa, including Liberia, where he was the embassy’s Deputy Chief of Mission from 2021 to 2023. In all his overseas postings, he delved into the historical ties between our country and the host country. He continues to research the life of Joseph Fenwick, a Maryland native who served as the first Consul in Bordeaux in the 1790s. Bordeaux is one of our oldest consulates in the world, and Joel was our Consul there from 2010 to 2013. In Liberia, Joel began exploring the lives of Virginia and Maryland-born African Americans who emigrated to Liberia and became leaders of Africa’s oldest republic. He also found that several diplomats who headed the U.S. mission in Liberia’s capital, Monrovia, had ties to Virginia. Prior to joining the Foreign Service in 1995, Joel was an editor, reporter, and photographer at several newspapers in northern California and Minnesota. Two of these were part of the Black Press, which concentrated news coverage on the African American community. He has lectured to overseas audiences on the role of the Black Press, and his journalism skills have been a considerable asset in his historical research. After retirement, Joel has been pursuing his research interests, but he is the Senior Advisor for Papua New Guinea and Liberia at Horizon Engage, a New York-based firm that advises oil and gas companies about economic and political conditions, and he teaches a risk management class to foreign affairs professionals at Fort Barfoot in Blackstone, Virginia. Joel is married and has four children. He and his wife live in Rockville, Maryland.
This Program is Generously Supported by: HOTEL PETERSBURG | TAPESTRY COLLECTION by Hilton