Civil Rights Trail Reveals Series of Never-Before-Heard Stories
September 29, 20231 min readThis past February, during Black History Month, the City of Fredericksburg – known for its pivotal role in the Civil War – unveiled a civil rights trail: “Freedom, a Work in Progress.”
Years in the making, the three-mile trail guides participants through the city’s post-Civil War history, including several stops on the UMW campus, tying together a saga of persecution and peril, power and promise. It chronicles court rulings and protests from the Jim Crow era to the Black Lives Matter movement, drawing together never-before-heard testimonies of the people and places that helped shape the civil rights narrative.
“I can’t even begin to describe to you what a fantastic day this is for … our Black community,” Chris Williams, Assistant Director of the James Farmer Multicultural Center said during the February unveiling.
Featuring Virginia historical markers – the second of which is set to be unveiled during this year’s Juneteenth commemoration – the trail brings to public consciousness the struggle for everyday freedoms, justice and equality inherent with being a Black American.
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Chris Williams, Assistant Director of the James Farmer Multicultural Center is available to speak with media.
Simply email him at cwilli27@umw.edu or contact:
Lisa Chinn Marvashti, Media and Public Relations at University of Mary Washington
lchinn@umw.edu to arrange an interview today.