This year to celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. the Office for Sustainability partnered with Albemarle County’s Office of Equity & Inclusion, the City of Charlottesville’s Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Committee, the Albemarle/Charlottesville Historical Society, and the City of Charlottesville’s Office of Human Rights to design a walk through historically significant sites across our community.
The sites include several locations that were featured in Virginia’s Green Books – travelers guides that were published between the late 30s up until the late 60s in response to pervasive racism and discrimination. The guidebooks shared tourist stops – gas stations, hotels, etc. – where African Americans could count on being served.
If you missed it, here is the link to the map and write-up for each location.
1) Lane High School
The Albemarle County Office Building was previously Lane High School. Before desegregation, Lane was the city's high school for white students, whereas Jackson P. Burley High School was the city’s high school for black students. Lane High School was closed in the fall of 1958 by Governor James Almond in an attempt to prevent the court-ordered integration of the school. Ultimately, the school was reopened in February 1959 and integrated by three members of “The Charlottesville Twelve” in September 1959.
2) Jefferson School
The Jefferson School was a title first given to the Freedmen's Bureau School for Black Charlottesville residents in 1867. The current building was built as a public high school in 1926 to serve the Black population of the city and beyond. Benjamin Tonsler was a prominent leader in Charlottesville’s black community and served as Principal of the Jefferson School from its opening in 1895 until his death in 1917. Now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the school is the site of the Carver Recreation Center, the African American Heritage Center, and many other community organizations.
3) Joker's Barber Shop
Joker's Barber Shop was adjacent to a house owned by Ellard and Mae Jackson. This was a Green Book site from 1939-1941 and 1946-1955. Ellard was a dentist, as was his father, who built the house. The Jacksons provided welcome refuge for Black students at the University of Virginia. The students ate home-cooked meals and watched television with the Jackson family on Saturday nights.
4) BONUS STOP (not on the map): The Carver Inn was the premier hotel and business center for African American travelers in the area in the 1940s and 1950s. It was a Green Book site from 1949-1967. The Carver Inn was operated by Beatrice Fowlkes and Theo McCloud. Notable guests included Louie Armstrong and Hattie McDaniel. The Carver Inn was a large, stately white house located at 701 Preston Ave. Unfortunately, it was demolished during the widening of Preston Avenue, which destroyed many black-owned residences and businesses. This occurred within a year of the demolition of Vinegar Hill, a thriving black community that was razed by the City as part of an “urban renewal” plan.
5) Green Book Site
This was the home of Essac and Ella Alexander, who welcomed black travelers into their home for many years. Essac worked as a waiter in a hotel and Ella was a teacher. Alexander’s Tourist Home was listed in the Green Book from 1939-1941 and 1946-1967. The property remains a private residence in what’s now known as the Fifeville neighborhood of Charlottesville. The Fifeville Neighborhood Association is one of the strongest in our community, dedicated to sustaining and improving the quality of life for residents, maintaining the rich diversity of the neighborhood, and ensuring that it is a place that is safe, vibrant and neighborly for all.
6) Fifeville Community Trail
The ribbon cutting ceremony for the Fifeville Community trail took place in November 2022. The trail system, which is on private land owned by Woodard Properties (but open to the public), makes it possible for neighborhood residents and visitors to reach Tonsler Park, businesses along Cherry Avenue, and the heart of Charlottesville, without traveling on busy streets. While the trail’s original purpose was to restore neighborhood connections, the trail is also now a space of nature and tranquility. The Fifeville Neighborhood Association conceived the idea as part of the Cherry Avenue Small Area Plan. They were the indispensable force behind the project.
7) Daughters of Zion Cemetery
This two-acre burial ground was established in 1873 by members of the Daughters of Zion Society, an African American women’s benevolent organization. The site (just across from the segregated Oakwood Cemetery) was intended to provide a place of dignified burial for African Americans. In 2015, the Preservers of the Daughters of Zion Cemetery organized with the mission to restore and preserve this historic cemetery. In 2016, City Council allocated $80,000 to restoration efforts, and shortly thereafter, land surveys revealed that the cemetery contained more than twice the 300 graves originally estimated, meaning many burial sites were unmarked. The Preservers are continuing their restoration efforts and through extensive research are attempting to identify as many of the unknown burials as possible.
8) BONUS STOP (not on the map): Apex Beauty Parlor was located at 211 W Main Street, the current location of the Townsman Hotel. It was listed in the Green Book from 1939-1941 and 1946-1952. The beauty parlor was operated by Beatrice Fowlkes, operator of the Carver Inn. The beauty parlor also served as a women’s training program.
9) The Chauffer’s Rest Tourist Home was located at 129 Preston Ave, but unfortunately has since been demolished. The site is located at what is now the Omni parking lot. This was a Green Book site from 1939-1967 and operated as a resident inn. The home served as a respite for black men who were chauffeuring white men to Charlottesville. It was owned by the Commodore siblings, Joyce and Anna.
10) As you can imagine, there were many other sites of historical significance to the Civil Rights Movement here on Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall. We have insufficient details to share about the Big Apple Dance Hall, Odd Fellows Dance Hall, the Virginia Inn, the Paramount Inn, and other locations of importance. To learn more, the Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society offers a Black History Tour of our central business district and more.
Resources to key work being done by Charlottesville-based community leaders
The three-mile walk will include stops at significant sites and a brief explanation. In addition, we encourage you to check out the plethora of resources and information on a variety of projects led or co-led by Black leaders in our community – organizers, researchers, scholars, activists, and educators.
The Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society offers a diverse variety of experiences that explore the history of Albemarle County and Charlottesville, including guided walking tours.
https://albemarlehistory.org/programs/tours/
The Architecture of the Negro Traveler’s Green Book is a public architectural history project that studies the sites listed in The Green Book to discover their history and support their preservation. https://community.village.virginia.edu/greenbooks/content/home
Beloved Community Cville is a grassroots organization that provides resources, opportunities, and a platform for those working to create social change and equity within the Charlottesville area. Beloved Community Cville is about the power of embodying our values and highest ideals.https://www.belovedcommunity-cville.com/
The Preservers of the Daughters of Zion Cemetery is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with the mission to restore and preserve Charlottesville’s historic African American cemetery, located on the corner of Oak and First Street South in Charlottesville, Virginia.https://daughtersofzioncemetery.org/
The Jefferson School African American Heritage Center, led by Director Dr. Andrea Douglas, has a mission to honor and preserve the rich heritage and legacy of the African-American community of Charlottesville-Albemarle, Virginia and to promote a greater appreciation for, and understanding of, the contributions of African Americans and peoples of the Diaspora locally, nationally and globally. Check out Picture Me As I Am, a digital story map that weaves the story of Charlottesville’s history around the turn of the century as seen through some of the Black men, women, and children who had their photos taken at the Holsinger Studio. https://jeffschoolheritagecenter.org/
Mapping Cville is a project for the Jefferson School African-American Heritage Center (JSAAHC) that maps inequities in Charlottesville from past to present. The first map collects deeds that include racist covenants prohibiting the sale of homes to African Americans.https://mappingcville.com/
Memory Project, led by Jalane Schmidt, is part of UVA’s Karsh Institute of Democracy and is partially funded by the Mellon Foundation and the Ford Foundation. It promotes research, curriculum development, and public engagement to address issues of public memory, memory conflict, and memory politics in the wake of the white supremacist violence in Charlottesville in 2017.https://memoryproject.virginia.edu/
Raised/Razed, a film written and directed by Lorenzo Dickerson and Jordy Yager, dives deep into Charlottesville, VA’s oldest African American neighborhood, charting the lives of residents as they faced racially discriminatory policies and a city government that saw them as the only thing between it and progress. https://www.vpm.org/raised-razed
Swords into Ploughshares is an innovative project to melt down the statue of Robert E. Lee that formerly stood in one of Charlottesville's public parks and use the bronze to make a new work of public art. Read the proposal and 28 letters of support here.https://sipcville.com/
If you know of another important resource, please email us and we will add to this list. We hope that this year’s walk may serve as a foundation for future walks to raise awareness about repair and healing from our past.