The Virginia Department of Historic Resources has approved nine new historical markers across Virginia, including one for the famed Roanoke educator Lucy Addison, as well as the weekly newspaper in the smallest county in the state.
Other notable markers include one in King William County to call attention to the Virginia “racial integrity” act of 1924 that was used to erase the existence of Native American tribes in the state, something that has since been called a “paper genocide.”
The department notes that markers aren’t meant to “honor” a particular person or event but rather to recognize history that has happened.
The department approved other markers to historical figures or places in the counties of Accomack, Chesterfield and King and Queen and the cities of Charlottesville, Richmond and Staunton.
Addison founded Roanoke’s first high school for Black students in the era of segregation. Born into slavery in Fauquier County in 1861, Addison moved to the young city of Roanoke in 1886 to teach. She served as principal of the Harrison School starting in 1917 and expanded the school’s curriculum beyond eighth grade, creating the city’s first four-year high school for Black students. Accredited in 1925, Harrison School was among the largest schools for Black students in Virginia led by a woman.
Addison also sat on the board of nearby Burrell Memorial Hospital and of the Industrial Home School for Colored Girls in Hanover County. Roanoke opened the 19-classroom Lucy Addison High School in 1928. It was the city’s first public building named for a resident. Lucy Addison Middle School in Roanoke still bears her name.
The Recorder is one of the oldest continuously published newspapers in Virginia, and does so in the state’s least populated county — Highland County. The newspaper was founded in October 1877 in Mongerey by George M. Jordan and Philip E. Witts, who transported a Washington printing press — the most popular type of iron, hand-operated press in the country at the time — by horse and wagon from West Virginia. The press was used to print the weekly newspaper until 1903 and was later donated to the Smithsonian Institution.
The Department of Historic Resources said that while other markers mention some newspapers, this is the first historical marker in the state dedicated exclusively to a newspaper.
“We’re very excited,” said Anne Adams, the paper’s publisher. “The Recorder’s legacy is a testament to the tenacity of its publishers and dedicated journalists over that time. The paper has only had 10 publishers since it was founded nearly 150 years ago (I’m the tenth). Witts and Jordan, the first publishers, owned the paper for just a few years, but there were two publishers later who really cemented its continuity. One was H.B. Wood and his family, who owned The Recorder for about 50 years, which is astonishing. He and his wife called their Monterey home “Seldom In,” since they were always working. It was Mrs. Wood who coined the term “Little Switzerland” for Highland County — a moniker that remains in use today. The other was Joe Pritchard. He and his family owned the paper for about 35 years and helped deepen its coverage in Bath County in the 1970s. We hope our community will be proud to have a marker here in Monterey, where the paper got its start only 10 years after the end of the Civil War.”
Here’s the full list of markers approved, with the full text of what the marker will say. The Virginia Department of Transportation must approve the proposed location for each marker in its right-of-way; local public works departments must do so in jurisdictions outside VDOT’s authority. It’s up to each sponsor to arrange funding for the markers, which usually runs about $3,000 or so.
King and Queen Baptist Church
When this church was constituted in 1774, the Baptist denomination in Virginia was rapidly expanding despite restrictions imposed on dissenters from the established Church of England. The congregation grew after the Revolutionary War under the leadership of pastor Theodorick Noel. Pastors Robert Baylor Semple (1813-1827) and Andrew Broaddus I (1827-1848), both baptized here, were influential leaders and writers who ranked among the nation’s most prominent Baptist clergymen. By 1861, when the present sanctuary was dedicated, the church had more than 600 members, about half White and half Black. After the Civil War, Black members departed and formed First Mount Olive Baptist Church.
Sponsor: Upper King and Queen Baptist Church
Locality: King and Queen County
Proposed Location: 1693 Bradley Farm Road
James T. S. Taylor (1840-1918)
James T. S. Taylor, a free Black shoemaker, grew up in Charlottesville and served as a sergeant in the 2nd U.S. Colored Infantry during the Civil War. As a newspaper correspondent, he wrote wartime letters detailing Black soldiers’ experiences and protesting racial injustice. He later became a leader in Charlottesville’s Republican Party. He was a delegate to the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1867-68, where he championed Black suffrage and civil rights. In 1881, he supported the Readjuster Party, a biracial reform coalition that abolished the poll tax and invested in public education. Taylor remained an active Republican into the 20th century and is buried in Oakwood Cemetery.
Sponsor: John L. Nau III Center for Civil War History
Locality: Charlottesville
Proposed Location: 727-849 First St. South
The Recorder
George M. Jordan and Philip E. Witts established The Recorder in Monterey in Oct. 1877 during a period of rapid growth for local journalism in the post-Civil War years. By horse and wagon, they hauled a Washington printing press, the most popular type of iron, hand-operated press in America, from West Virginia. In use until 1903, the press was later donated to the Smithsonian Institution. Although based in Highland County, the weekly newspaper had a regional focus from its outset and later formally expanded into Bath and Alleghany Counties. Persisting despite downturns in the local newspaper industry, The Recorder became one of the oldest continuously published newspapers in Virginia.
Sponsor: The Recorder
Locality: Highland County
Proposed Location: 114 W. Main St., Monterey
Lucy Addison (1861-1937)
Lucy Addison, a pioneering educator who served Black students in Roanoke for 41 years, was born in Fauquier Co. to enslaved parents. Educated in Philadelphia, she moved here to teach in 1886. She became principal of the Harrison School in 1917 and expanded its curriculum beyond grade eight, creating Roanoke’s first four-year Black high school. Accredited in 1925, this was among the largest schools for Black students in VA led by a woman. Addison sat on the board of nearby Burrell Memorial Hospital and of the Industrial Home School for Colored Girls in Hanover Co. In 1928, Roanoke opened the 19-classroom Lucy Addison High School, the city’s first public building named for a resident.
Sponsor: Roanoke City Public Schools
Locality: City of Roanoke
Proposed Location: Intersection of Burrell Street Northwest and Orange Avenue Northwest
Treble Clef and Book Lovers’ Club
Mary Simpson, the wife of a Virginia Union University professor, founded the Treble Clef and Book Lovers’ Club in 1908 to foster appreciation of music and literature. Black women’s clubs were popular outlets for leadership and civic engagement during this era. The club sponsored arts events, supported public education, and awarded scholarships. Members included Dorothy N. Cowling, the first female acting president of Virginia Union University, and Undine Smith Moore, who taught for 45 years at what is now Virginia State University and gained national recognition as the “Dean of Black Women Composers.” This is among the oldest operating African American women’s book clubs in the U.S.
Sponsor: Treble Clef and Book Lovers’ Club
Locality: City of Richmond
Proposed Location: 1214 W. Graham Road
Queen Miller Home
William A. and Queen Elizabeth Miller, an African American couple, operated an orphanage for Black children on land they purchased here. Incorporated in 1910 and later named the Hayes Memorial Industrial School and Orphan’s Home, it was popularly known as the Queen Miller Home. The Millers nurtured and educated hundreds of children from across Virginia and beyond for more than 40 years. Queen Miller, a certified teacher with seminary training, lectured widely to raise funds, which were supplemented by sales of surplus produce from the orphanage’s farm. The Queen Miller Home, which earned a statewide reputation as a refuge for the homeless, survived a fire in 1927 but burned down in 1955.
Sponsor: Friends of Miller-Jackson Institute for Historical Preservation and Education
Locality: City of Staunton
Proposed Location: 2624 W. Beverley St.
“Racial Integrity” and the Tribes of King William
Virginia’s “Act to Preserve Racial Integrity,” adopted in 1924 to protect White “purity,” reinforced centuries of racial discrimination against Indigenous peoples, including the Mattaponi, Pamunkey, and Upper Mattaponi of King William Co. State officials used the law to effectively define Virginians as “White” or “Colored,” denying most Native people the right to identify as “Indian” on official documents. Referred to as a “paper genocide,” this erasure hindered tribes’ efforts to gain state and federal recognition and led many tribal members to leave VA. The tribes protested these policies and continued to practice cultural traditions. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled the act unconstitutional in 1967.
Sponsor: Department of Historic Resources
Locality: King William County
Proposed Location: King William Road/Virginia 30 at intersection with Horse Landing Road
Whitesville Elementary School
This school was built in 1925 to serve the children of Whitesville, an African American community that had developed alongside Parksley in the 1880s. A contribution of $900 came from the Julius Rosenwald Fund, created in 1917 after Rosenwald (president of Sears, Roebuck, and Co.) and Booker T. Washington (founding principal of Tuskegee Institute) had partnered in a school-building campaign. Rosenwald funding helped construct about 5,000 schools for Black students across the South by leveraging local spending. The Whitesville school, built with $1,700 from the Black community and $4,150 in public funds, closed in 1964. Accomack County Public Schools were not fully desegregated until 1970.
Sponsor: International Brotherhood of Yahshua’s Disciples
Locality: Accomack County
Proposed Location: 23459 Leslie Trent Road, Parksley
Dupuy Elementary School
Chesterfield County opened this school for African American students in Jan. 1962, more than seven years after the U.S. Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board decision. After several Black students applied to attend all-White schools but were assigned to Dupuy by the state Pupil Placement Board—which frequently acted to preserve segregation — the families sued in federal court with the assistance of the Virginia NAACP. McLeod v. Chesterfield led to the county’s first enrollment by Black students in a previously all-White school in Nov. 1962. Chesterfield adopted a “freedom of choice” plan in 1966 and fully desegregated in 1970. Dupuy became an annex to Ettrick Elementary and was demolished in 2020.
Sponsor: Concerned Citizens of Ettrick
Locality: Chesterfield County
Proposed Location: 19700 Dupuy Meadows Drive