On March 28, 1952, during the dinner hour in the home of Estelle Blackwell in Richmond, Virginia, after the eulogy and burial of her brother, May (Mai) Woodrow Blackwell, Estelle said, “The family should gather often for a happy occasion.” The dinner enjoyed by relatives following the sad event marked the beginning of the Blackwell Family Reunions. 1st 1953 - Richmond, VA 2nd 1954 – Richmond, VA 3rd 1955 - Richmond, VA 4rd 1956 – Lunenburg County, VA 5th 1957 – Washington, DC 6th 1958 – Baltimore, MD 7th 1959 - Warfield, VA 8th 1960 - Philadelphia, PA 9th 1961 - Baltimore, MD 10th 1962 - Brooklyn, NY 11th 1963 - Richmond, VA 12th 1964 - Bridgeport, CT 13th 1965 - Washington, DC 14th 1966 - Philadelphia, PA 15th 1967 - Bridgeport, CT 16th 1968 - Pittsburgh, PA 17th 1969 - Richmond, VA 18th 1970 - Washington, DC 19th 1971 - Blackstone, VA 20th 1972 - Bridgeport, CT 21st 1973 - Washington, DC 22nd 1974 - Victoria, VA 23rd 1975 - Richmond, VA 24th 1976 - Petersburg, VA 25th 1977 - Seat Pleasant, MD 26th 1978 - New York, NY 27th 1979 - Baltimore, MD 28th 1980 - Richmond, VA 29th 1981 - Durham, NC 30th 1982 - Richmond, VA 31st 1983 - Newport News, VA 32nd 1984 - Petersburg, VA 33rd 1985 - Atlantic City, NJ 34th 1986 - Philadelphia, PA 35th 1987 - Petersburg, VA 36th 1988 - Bridgeport, CT 37th 1989 - Detroit, MI 38th 1990 - Hampton, VA 39th 1991 - Atlanta, GA 40th 1992 - Hampton, VA 41st 1993 - Richmond, VA 42nd 1994 - Cherry Hill, NJ 43rd 1995 - Bridgeport, CT 44th 1996 - 45th 1997 - Philadelphia, PA 46th 1998 - 47th 1999 - Petersburg, VA 48th 2000 - Norfolk, VA 49th 2001 - Southfield, MI 50th 2002 - Petersburg, VA 51st 2003 - Cleveland, OH 52nd 2004 - Hunt Valley, MD 53rd 2005 - Richmond, VA 54th 2006 - Philadelphia, PA 55th 2007 - Atlantic City, NJ 56th 2008 – Baltimore, MD