Virginia Department of Historic Resources
(www.dhr.virginia.gov)
July 1, 2009
Contact:
Randy Jones
Virginia Department of Historic Resources;
540-568-8175 (off); 540-578-3031 (cell)
—Markers cover topics in the counties of Fairfax, Henrico, King William, Mecklenburg, Northumberland, Orange, and Southampton and the cities of Norfolk and Richmond—
[Note: The full text for each marker is reproduced at the end.]
The individual contributions of three women – two from Virginia – to US history and culture are among the topics highlighted in ten new historical highway markers recently approved by the Department of Historic Resources.
Three new markers will honor the achievements of Civil War veteran Dr. Mary Edwards Walker, civil rights activist Ella Josephine Baker, and celebrated singer and actress Pearl Mae Bailey.
Walker, a nurse and surgeon with the Union Army during the Civil War, is the only woman ever awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. In April 1864, while in uniform, she “walked into a band of Confederate soldiers,” as the new marker reads, “and was taken hostage.”
During her nearly four months of imprisonment at Castle Thunder, a former tobacco warehouse in Richmond, after Walker “complained about the lack of grain and vegetables for prisoners, the Confederates added wheat bread and cabbage to the rations,” according to the new marker. Walker was exchanged by her captors “for a Confederate surgeon of the rank of major,” a trade in rank that made her “proud,” in the words of the marker, which will be erected in Richmond.
Ella Josephine Baker, born in Norfolk, where the sign will be installed, “became one of the most prominent figures in the Civil Rights movement.” After a stint recruiting members and raising money as secretary for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in the 1940s, “Baker later worked with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference organizing voter registration campaigns and working primarily with the youth.”
Recognized for her outstanding organizational skills, Baker also “played a significant role in the founding of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee through which she coordinated the region wide freedom rides of 1961” in the South, the marker states.
The hostility and violence of segregationist whites toward African American and white Freedom Riders drew national and international attention to the South’s Jim Crow laws and traditions. As a result, freedom rides fueled the growth of the civil rights movement during the early 1960s.
A new sign for entertainer Pearl Mae Bailey will be erected in Southampton County, where Bailey, an award-winning black singer and actress, was born before her family relocated to Newport News.
Bailey’s career spanned more than 50 years. In 1946 she made her Broadway debut in “‘St. Louis Woman’ and took secondary roles in several films, among them ‘Carmen Jones’ (1954), ‘Porgy and Bess’ (1959), and ‘All the Fine Young Cannibals’ (1960),” the recently approved text of the new marker reads. In 1968 Bailey won a Tony award for her performance “in an all black cast version of ‘Hello, Dolly!’.” Bailey died in 1990.
The markers for Walker, Baker, and Bailey, all funded by the Department of Historic Resources from a federal transportation grant, arise from the department’s ongoing initiative to recognize significant people, places, and events in the history of women, African Americans, and Virginia Indians in the Commonwealth.
Three other newly approved markers also stem from this endeavor:
* “Indian Prisoners Abandoned on Tangier Island” recalls the decision of the Virginia Council in 1645 to take Indians captured by colonists during “military strikes” led by Governor William Berkeley to the island located in the Chesapeake Bay. Berkeley’s ship transported “all the Indian male prisoners more than 11 years of age to Tangier Island,” according to the marker, “where they were abandoned.” Their fate (and number) remains unknown. The marker will be erected in Northumberland County, close to the terminus for the Tangier Island ferry.
* “William Henry Lewis 1868-1949” highlights the career of this African American athlete and scholar, who was born in present-day Norfolk, where the marker will be erected. Lewis, the first black named All-American in football, became an assistant coach of Harvard’s football team, and earned a degree from Harvard Law. In 1930 he was “the first African American to argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court alone and win.”
* “King William Training School” will be erected at the site of this former African American school in King William County. Constructed between 1922-23, the school was supported by funding and plans provided by the Rosenwald Foundation, “which built more than 5,300 black schools in the South,” according to the marker. “The school provided formal education in grades one through twelve,” and “served as a high school until 1952 and an elementary school until 1961.”
In addition to the above markers, four other markers cover topics ranging from the Revolutionary War and Civil War to the history of Boyd Tavern in Mecklenburg County and Sandston in Henrico County.
* “Crossroads to War” highlights the importance during the Civil War of the “junction of Hunter Mill Road and the Alexandria, Loudoun & Hampshire Railroad . . . a vital crossroads as Union and Confederate troops moved along the tracks between Vienna and Leesburg.” The marker will be erected in Fairfax near the intersection of Hunter Mill Road and the current Washington and Old Dominion Trail.
* “The Campaign of 1781 – Lafayette’s Maneuvers” focuses on Marquis de Lafayette’s march “through the Wilderness to rendezvous with Brig. Gen. ‘Mad Anthony’ Wayne.” Lafayette’s army camped near Ellwood and passed by Culpeper Church. During his 1824-25 Grand American Tour, “Lafayette retraced his campaign and visited the Wilderness twice.” The marker will be erected in Orange County, within a mile of the intersection of Routes 20 and 3.
* “The Boyd Tavern” encapsulates the history of this 18th-century tavern. It’s established presence “greatly influenced the selection of Boydton as the Mecklenburg County seat.” The tavern was expanded in the 19th century “into a 35-room structure that included fancy porches and ornamentation showcasing the craft of regional builder-architect Jacob W. Holt.” After closing in the late 19th century, in 1922 the tavern was “converted into apartments.” It has since been restored by Boyd Tavern Foundation, which has owned it since 1988. The marker will be erected at the tavern site in Boydton.
* “Sandston Village” recounts that this Henrico County village arose with the dismantling of a gun powder packing plant in 1918. “The federal government sold 600 acres of land, the electric car line, remaining plant buildings, and 230 Aladdin houses, that were erected for plant workers, to the Richmond-Fairfield Railway Company, organized by Oliver J. Sands.” In 1921, Sands announced the sale of the Aladdin “kit houses” in Fairfield Village, which residents later petitioned to rename Sandston.
All ten markers were approved by DHR’s Historic Resources Board when it convened for its quarterly meeting on June 18.
The Virginia highway marker program, which began in 1927 with the installation of the first historical markers, is considered the oldest such program in the nation. Currently there are more than 2,100 official state markers, mostly installed and maintained by the Virginia Department of Transportation.
The manufacturing costs of new highway markers are paid for by the sponsors, except for those markers sponsored by the Department of Historic Resources.
More information about the Historical Highway Marker Program is available on the website of the Department of Historic Resources at http://www.dhr.virginia.gov/.
Full Text of Markers:
Crossroads to War
During the Civil War, this junction of Hunter Mill Road and the Alexandria, Loudoun & Hampshire Railroad was a vital crossroads as Union and Confederate troops moved along the tracks between Vienna and Leesburg. In Sept. 1862, the Confederate Brig. Gen. Wade Hampton’s cavalry brigade passed here on route to Maryland during the Antietam campaign. Traveling on the way to Pennsylvania on 17 June 1863, part of the Union’s Army of the Potomac bivouacked just north of here, followed by the army’s commander, Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker, on 26 June. The next day, Confederate Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart also passed here en route to Gettysburg.
Sponsor: Hunter Mill Defense League
The Boyd Tavern
The presence of the Boyd Tavern, built in the eighteenth-century, greatly influenced the selection of Boydton as the Mecklenburg County seat. A major mid-nineteenth century renovation expanded the original tavern into a 35-room structure that included fancy porches and ornamentation showcasing the craft of regional builder-architect Jacob W. Holt. A Virginia native, Holt established a reputation locally by reshaping the architectural character of the town and outlying county. The tavern closed in the late 19th century and in1922 was converted into apartments. In 1988, the tavern was deeded to the Boyd Tavern Foundation and restored.
Sponsor: Boyd Tavern Foundation
The Campaign of 1781 – Lafayette’s Maneuvers
In the campaign of 1781, the Marquis de Lafayette marched through the Wilderness to rendezvous with Brig. Gen. “Mad Anthony” Wayne. On 3 June 1781, Lafayette’s army camped south of the Wilderness Bridge across Wilderness Run from Ellwood. The next day, Lafayette reconnoitered Ely’s Ford while the army crossed Germanna Ford to reach Culpeper Church. Afterward Lafayette marching south, recrossed the Rapidan River. During his Grand American Tour, Lafayette retraced his campaign and visited the Wilderness twice. In November 1824, Lafayette attended a reception at the Wilderness Tavern, and in August 1825 he breakfasted at Ellwood.
Sponsor: Virginia Society of the Sons of the American Revolution
Sandston Village
In 1918 as World War I ended, the Seven Pines Bag Loading Plant #3, used for gun powder packing, was dismantled. The federal government sold 600 acres of land, the electric car line, remaining plant buildings, and 230 Aladdin houses, that were erected for plant workers, to the Richmond-Fairfield Railway Company, organized by Oliver J. Sands. The Aladdin Company of Bay City, Michigan was the first company to offer in the United States kit houses with precut, numbered pieces. In 1921 Sands announced the houses were for sale in Fairfield Village. In Sand’s honor the residents petitioned to change the name to Sandston.
Sponsor: Founders Club of Sandston, Highland Springs
Dr. Mary Edwards Walker
On April 10, 1864, wearing her uniform, Union Dr. Mary Edwards Walker, the only female ever awarded the Medal of Honor, walked into a band of Confederate soldiers just south of the Georgia-Tennessee border and was taken hostage. For four months, Walker was imprisoned at Castle Thunder, near Richmond, Virginia. After she complained about the lack of grain and vegetables for prisoners, the Confederates added wheat bread and cabbage to the rations. On 12 Aug. 1864, she was exchanged, along with 24 other Union doctors, for 17 Confederate doctors. She was proud that her exchange was for a Confederate surgeon of the rank of major.
Sponsor: Department of Historic Resources
Pearl Mae Bailey
1918 – 1990
Pearl Mae Bailey was an American singer and actress who was born in Southampton County and raised in Newport News near this site. She began her singing career which spanned more than 50 years at the age of 15. Bailey made her Broadway debut in 1946 in St. Louis Woman and took secondary roles in several films, among them Carmen Jones (1954), Porgy and Bess (1959), and All the Fine Young Cannibals (1960). In 1967 she and Cab Calloway headlined an all-black-cast version of Hello, Dolly! that returned to Broadway in 1975. Bailey won a Tony award in 1968 for her performance.
Sponsor: Department of Historic Resources
Ella Josephine Baker
1903 – 1986
Born here in Norfolk near this site, Ella Josephine Baker became one of the most prominent figures in the Civil Rights movement. In 1941, she was hired as secretary of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. She traveled the South recruiting members, raising money, and organizing local campaigns. Baker later worked with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference organizing voter registration campaigns and working primarily with the youth. Highly respected as an adult advisor, she played a significant role in the founding of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee through which she coordinated the region-wide freedom rides of 1961.
Sponsor: Department of Historic Resources
King William Training School
Text: King William Training School was erected here in 1922–23 on the site of the King William Academy (1903–22). The Rosenwald Foundation, which built more than 5,300 black schools in the South, the African American community, and the county funded the school. Constructed as a Rosenwald Foundation Plan 4A building, it has natural lighting, four classrooms with a fifth added in 1927, and an auditorium, library, and office. The school provided a formal education in grades one through
twelve. It served as a high school until 1952 and an elementary school until 1961. The Pamunkey Baptist Association bought the King William Training School in 1962.
Sponsor: Pamunkey Baptist Association
Indian Prisoners Abandoned on Tangier island
Following paramount chief Opechancanough’s 1644 organized attacks against the English colonists for encroaching on Indian lands, Governor William Berkeley led further military strikes against the Virginia Indians in July 1645, taking many prisoners. On August 9, the Virginia Council decided to transport all the Indian male prisoners more than 11 years of age to Tangier Island in the Chesapeake Bay “to prevent their returning to and strengthening their respective tribes.” Berkeley's own ship transported the prisoners to Tangier, where they were abandoned. Their fate is unknown.
Sponsor: Department of Historic Resources
William Henry Lewis
1868–1949
William Henry Lewis, a lawyer and football player, was the first African American named as an All-American in football. Born near here in Berkley, Virginia, he first attended college at Virginia Normal Institute (now Virginia State University). Lewis transferred to Amherst College and after graduation attended Harvard Law where he played football for two years, and became an assistant coach for the Harvard team, maintaining that role for 12 seasons. Lewis authored two books and several articles on sports. In 1930, Lewis became the first African American to argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court alone and win.
Sponsor: Department of Historic Resources
Randall Jones
Public Relations & Publications
Dept. of Historic Resources
(540) 568-8175 (off)
(540) 578-3031 (cell)
(540) 568-3652 (fax)
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