Panels will commemorate Johnny Johnson, Dr. W. L. Harris and others. Plus, more events presented by the Fredericksburg Area Museum in celebration of Black History Month.
by Adele Uphaus
MANAGING EDITOR AND CORRESPONDENT
Five new wayside panels will debut in Fredericksburg next month as part of the community’s commemoration of Black History Month, representing further steps taken towards telling a more complete history of the area.
The new panels include one about Johnny Johnson, the longtime beloved local artist, teacher and mentor; one about the Manahoac indigenous tribe; one about the 1935 Walker-Grant building, which housed the first and only public school for Black students; one about Decoration Day, a precursor to modern day Memorial Day celebrations; and one about Dr. W. L. Harris, a dentist and entrepreneur who built more than 35 houses in the Mayfield neighborhood to provide affordable housing for local African Americans unable to secure bank loans.
The panels will be unveiled on February 3 as part of a series of events commemorating Black History Month and presented by the Fredericksburg Area Museum.
The content and design of the panels was a collaborative effort involving Gaila Sims, curator of African American History and Special Projects at the museum; Beth Parnicza with the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park; John Hennessey, retired chief historian with the park service; Christine Henry, associate professor of historic preservation at the University of Mary Washington; Will Mackintosh, City Councilor and associate professor of history at American studies at UMW; and other community members.
The group recently inventoried all of Fredericksburg’s wayside panels for “content and condition,” Sims said, and made a commitment to introduce five new panels and revise 10 existing panels every year for the next three years.
The museum will host a reception on February 3 at 1:30 to celebrate the new panels, followed by a trolley tour to visit each of the sites, where the panels will be introduced by different community members with ties to the subjects of the panel.
Space on the trolley is limited, so the museum will host two other trolley tours, one on February 10 and one on February 17. Reserve a seat at Eventbrite.
Harris will be the sole subject of another Black History Month event—a panel discussion at 6 p.m. at the Fredericksburg Food Coop titled “Dr. W.L. Harris: Dentist, Builder, Entrepreneur, and Community Leader.”
Harris, born in 1889, was a traveling dentist who took his practice around the area. He was also an entrepreneur who built the Hotel McGuire, which was located on Princess Anne Street immediately south of Shiloh Baptist Church (New Site). The 40-room hotel was included in the Green Book, a guidebook for Black tourists traveling through the segregated south.
In addition, Harris was a real estate developer who was passionate about providing affordable housing opportunities to Black families who often struggled to get bank loans due to discriminatory lending practices, Sims said.
Sims will be joined by community members who knew Dr. Harris—Willie “Sonny” Holmes and sisters Marceline Catlett, superintendent of city schools and School Board member Malvina Rollins Kay—for the panel discussion.
Sims, along with Joy Crump, chef at Foode, will kick off the Black History Month series with a talk on February 1 on “Fredericksburg Foodways: Past and Present.”
The conversation, held at the 718 Venue and sponsored by the Fredericksburg Free Press, also launches the Fredericksburg Food History Project, an initiative leading up to an exhibit on the city’s food history at the museum in 2026. Sims—who was formerly a food history intern at the Smithsonian Institution—said the talk and future exhibit will explore “the ways in which the foods we eat now are informed by community, history and people.”
“Relationships are formed through this thing—food—that we all need,” she said.
The final Black History Month event is a virtual talk on “African American Women in Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania, and Stafford History,” presented by Sims on February 23 as part of the Central Rappahannock Regional Library’s “Lunch and Learn” series.
Sims will share individual stories of Black women in Fredericksburg, Stafford, and Spotsylvania, beginning during enslavement with Ellen Mitchell, Sarah Tucker, and Maria Richards, continuing into the twentieth century with activists Gladys Poles Todd, Mildred Brown Queen, and Mamie Scott, and culminating with contemporary leaders Dr. Marci Catlett, Gaye Adegbalola, and Juanita Shanks.
More information about these events and links to register are at the museum’s website.
Local Obituaries
To view local obituaries or to send a note to family and loved ones, please visit our website at the link that follows.
Support Award-winning, Locally Focused Journalism
In less than a year, FXBG Advance has become the news leader in Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania, and Stafford through its innovative mix of:
Twice-daily newsletter – At 6 AM and 5 PM every Monday through Friday, the Advance brings the most important news directly to your inbox.
Education Reporting – Adele Uphaus has won multiple awards for her coverage of education issues locally and across the state. Now, she brings her experience, insights, and expertise to the Advance, providing our citizens some of the finest education writing and reporting in the commonwealth.
Political Reporting – From council meetings to campaigns, and fundraising to finance, the Advance is returning the Fourth Estate to its rightful place as a government watch dog.
Breaking News – From court cases to high-profile government moves, the Advance is the first to inform residents.
Investigative Journalism – Last year, the Advance broke major stories around improperly filed election documents, misleading sample ballots, disenfranchising Spotsylvania Count School parents, and book bans.
Election Coverage – The Advance offered the most complete coverage of the 2023 election, with in-depth candidate profiles, daily tracking of events, leading debates, and pre-dawn to post-midnight Election Day coverage. And 2024 brings even greater coverage.
Spotlights – From local businesses to nonprofit organizations and regional leaders, the Advance brings the people who make things happen to your attention.
Multi-partisan Commentary – Martin Davis is a 20-plus-year journalist recognized for superior commentary and political writing; Shaun Kenney has his hands on the pulse of political leaders across the Commonwealth. Together, they bring an unparalleled level of analysis and insight into the issues that drive debate in our region.
Political Cartoons – Clay Jones is a nationally recognized talent who draws weekly for CNN. He has returned to Fredericksburg to level his critical eye and razor-sharp drawing at the topics which make us both laugh, and look closer at ourselves.
New Dominion Podcast – Each week, Martin Davis and Shaun Kenney interview guests from across the region and the state. Growing to over 1,000 listeners in just six months, NDP has become a leading force in political, cultural, and social discussion.
We thank each and every one of you who have made the Advance a part of your day, and we’re excited to say that more-exciting announcements are just around the corner as we continue to innovate and expand our coverage of the region.
The donations of individual readers have made this year possible. Please join the hundreds who are supporting excellence in journalism by subscribing for just $8 a month.
Where does your money go?
It goes to support the great journalists we have – like Adele Uphaus – and the ones we look to hire in the year ahead.
If you can spare $8 a month, we’ll be both grateful, and reward your trust in us with more journalism, more stories, and more connections to organizations and people who make our region a great place to live.
If you can’t, thank you for reading the FXBG Advance!, and consider sharing us with your friends.
In 2024, let’s build an even better Advance – together!
Thank you for reading and supporting FXBG Advance.
-Martin Davis, Editor-in-Chief