Historical Significance The African-American community at Zenda, originally called Athens, formed around 1880 in the Linville Creek District of Rockingham County. Freed slaves stayed in the area to work following the Civil War, purchasing former…

Historical Significance In 1865, following the Civil War, the Freedmen's Bureau joined with numerous Northern church and civic leaders to successfully encourage teachers to travel to the South to educate newly freed slaves. Such was the case in 1867…

Historical Significance The Winchester Colored School occupied the Old Stone Church building constructed by the city's Presbyterians around 1788. In 1858, it was leased to the Old School Congregation Baptist Church of Color, for $500. The members of…

Historical Significance William G. Price (1868-1941), born and raised in Albemarle County, became a pioneering educator. In 1885, one of his sisters wrote to the principal of the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute asking if he would consider…

Historical Significance The town of Smithfield, first colonized in 1634, is located on the Pagan River near Jamestown. Known to the Nottoway people as "Warascoyack" or Warrosquoyacke", meaning "point of land", the area was renamed "Isle of Wight…

Historical Significance Opened in 1995, the Watson Reading Room is a non-circulating research library of African-American history and culture. It is named in honor of Charles and Laura Watson, African Americans who amassed large landholdings in…

Historical Significance The town of Waterford, Virginia was a place of refuge for African Americans for over 200 years. Waterford was founded in the 1730's by Northern Abolitionist Quakers who were soon outnumbered in the community by other…

Historical Significance Waller and Company Jewelers, a family owned and operated business in continuous operation in downtown Richmond, Virginia for over 100 years, was founded by Marcellus Carrington Waller, known as "M.C," in 1900. M.C. Waller…

Historical Significance Also known as the Governor's Mansion, the Executive Mansion was home to the state's first black governor in 1990, Governor Lawrence Douglas Wilder. Governor Wilder was elected the first black governor in the US since…

Historical Significance The educational institution now known as the Virginia University of Lynchburg, once called "Virginia College and Virginia Seminary," is one of several Virginia schools of higher education for African Americans founded in the…