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Fredericksburg Civil Rights Trail logo

Freedom, A Work in Progress – Motorcoach Edition

The City of Fredericksburg, Virginia, Civil Rights Trail

Contact

Victoria Matthews
Tourism Sales Manager
[email protected]
540-372-1216
groupsatfred.com

Unveiling the Walker-Grant Protest memorial panel

The timeline for this tour begins at the end of the Civil War in 1865. Fredericksburg’s location halfway between Richmond, the capital of the Confederacy, and Washington, DC, made it the site of intense fighting as Union and Confederate armies advanced and retreated. Enslaved Black people took advantage of the shifting lines to emancipate themselves. During the summer of 1862, over 10,000 enslaved people escaped bondage by crossing the Rappahannock River in and around Fredericksburg. At a national level, in 1865, the Thirteenth Amendment was ratified by the states to abolish chattel slavery “within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” In order to regain federal representation, the former Confederate states, of which Virginia was one, had to ratify the Thirteenth Amendment.

This tour includes sites where Black people created educational, housing, and business opportunities in the midst of Jim Crow era segregation, as well as buildings where people protested racial segregation in the 1950s and 1960s. As in the rest of the United States, Fredericksburg’s Civil Rights history continues into the present and this tour includes sites associated with Black political leaders in the mid to late 20th century and the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020.

Directions to Stop 1: Start from the Permanent Bus Parking on Charlotte, proceed left on to Sophia Street.

Stop 1

Shiloh Baptist Church (Old Site) – (801 Sophia Street) – Learn about this church that has served the Black Community since 1815 and was instrumental in the Civil Rights Movement.

Directions to Stop 2: Proceed down Sophia Street.

Black and white photograph of Shiloh Baptist Church Old Site in the 1950s

Stop 2

Johnny Johnson Mural – (Corner of William and Sophia Street) – A prolific artist who taught and inspired many students, before and after desegregation.

Directions to Stop 3: Proceed on Sophia and make left onto Amelia. Make a right onto Charles Street. Make a left on Canal Street.

Mural of Johnny Johnson. Painting of Johnny Johnson painting a piece of art.
Johnny Johnson looking at the camera while painting

Stop 3

Walker Grant Protest (408 Canal Street) – A protest for equal rights to enter a civic building after being denied entry by the City of Fredericksburg.

Directions to Stop 4: Make a right on Prince Edward and left on Pitt, make a right onto Washington Ave. Right onto William Street. Right onto Sunken Road and take Campus Drive to UMW.

walker grant 1950 panel unveiling visitfxbg
Walker-Grant 1950 Senior Class photo

Stop 4

UMW Campus – (this section of the tour requires walking) Stories of desegregation by the Big Five at Mary Washington College. Learn about Dr. James Famer, founder of CORE, architect of the Freedom Rides, and a professor at Mary Washington College.

Directions to Stop 5/6/7: Proceed back to Sunken Road, make a left on William Street. Make a right onto Kenmore Ave. Make a left onto Hanover and slight left onto George Street.

The Big 5 women
Dr. James L. Farmer, Jr.

Stop 5/6/7

Libertytown (Corner of Liberty and George Streets), Colored Cemetery at Potters Field (George and Barton Streets), Racial Convents (600 Block of George Street) – Hear about racial convents, Henry Dean, Jim Crow and the compelling oral history of Robert Christian, who at 12 years old desegregated the middle school.

Directions to Stop 8: Proceed down George Street, make a left on Prince Edward Street and then a right onto William.

Robert Christian, the first black student at Maury School, surrounded by white students as he arrives on the first day of desegregation

Stop 8

The original slave auction block

Original Auction Block (Corner of William and Charles Street) – See the auction site of goods and property including enslaved people. (Auction Block now located at the Fredericksburg Area Museum.)

Directions to Stop 9: Proceed down William Street to Princess Anne Street.

Stop 9

Fredericksburg Area Museum (907 Princess Anne Street) – Visit the Museum where the auction block is now housed and reflect on what it would have been like to have been sold away from your family.

Directions to Stop 10: Continue down William Street to Caroline Street

Lunch counter exhibit at Fredericksburg Area Museum
FAM banners hanging in Market Square

Stop 10

Sit-Ins (Corner of Caroline and William Street) – Hear the story about the desegregation of lunch counters, movie theaters, and drug stores in Fredericksburg.

Directions to Stop 11: Make a left on Caroline, followed by a left on Amelia and make a left onto Princess Anne Street.

Woman carrying a protest sign that reads "My stomach may be empty but what about your heart"

Stop 11

Great Exodus From Bondage Historical Marker

National Bank Building (900 Princess Anne Street) – Hear the story of John Washington who was enslaved as a child in Fredericksburg and gained his freedom by crossing the Rappahannock River to the Union Army.

Directions to Stop 12: Proceed down Princess Anne Street.

Stop 12

Fredericksburg Jail (701 Princess Anne Street) – Charles Blandford’s story in 1904 of nearly getting lynched at the jail and Paul Key’s 1889 trial and hanging in Fredericksburg.

Directions to Stop 13: Continue down Princess Anne Street

Stop 13

Former Greyhound/Trailways Bus Station (601 Princess Anne Street, current Fire Dept.) – Site of the first stop of the Freedom Rides from Washington DC, where 13 Freedom Riders challenged the segregation of interstate travel, to include buses and bus stations.

Directions to Stop 14: Continue down Princess Anne Street

black and white photograph of 11 of the original Freedom Riders
Freedom Riders historical marker

Stop 14

Shiloh Baptist Church (New Site) (Corner of Princess Anne and Wolfe Streets) and the 500 Block of Princess Anne Street. – A Black church, that focused on education for the community that honors Urbane Bass a World War 1 soldier. Discussion of the Green Book, as two hotels for Black travelers were located here, along with the patrol area of the City’s first Black Police officer, Charles Dyson.

Directions to Stop 15: Make a right onto Lafayette Boulevard.

old black and white photograph of Shiloh Baptist Church New Site
Stained glass window of Urbane Bass

Stop 15

Shiloh Baptist Church (New Site) (Corner of Princess Anne and Wolfe Streets) and the 500 Block of Princess Anne Street. – A Black church, that focused on education for the community that honors Urbane Bass a World War 1 soldier. Discussion of the Green Book, as two hotels for Black travelers were located here, along with the patrol area of the City’s first Black Police officer, Charles Dyson.

Directions to Stop 15: Make a right onto Lafayette Boulevard.

Photograph of Urbane Bass in military uniform
Headstone at Urbane Bass's grave