Loudoun Courthouse Renaming For Notable Attorney To Be Official

LOUDOUN COUNTY, VA — Loudoun County's historic courthouse is officially being renamed to honor a civil rights attorney whose 1933 case helped expose racial injustice in the court system and helped provide a foundation for the civil rights movement.

The historic Loudoun County Courthouse in Leesburg will be renamed Charles Hamilton Houston Courthouse at a ceremony at 11 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 9 at the courthouse grounds, 18 East Market St. in Leesburg. Board of Supervisors members and other dignitaries representing Houston's legacy will speak before the new courthouse sign is unveiled. The courthouse will be open to the public after the ceremony and have documents from the Crawford case displayed.

The Board of Supervisors approved the renaming in 2023 after recommendation by Loudoun County's Heritage Commission. The commission cited Houston's work as a civil rights lawyer in the 1933 trial of George Crawford in Loudoun County. Crawford, an African American, was accused of killing white socialite Agnes Ilsley, and her maid Mina Buckner.

Houston had been legal counsel to the NAACP and dean of Howard University’s Law School when he accepted Crawford's case. He brought the first all-Black attorney team to the Loudoun County court, and his team drew praise due to their "competence and professionalism," according to the History Commission.

Crawford was found guilty and received a life sentence, but it was considered progress at the time that he didn't receive the death penalty. However, the commission's research said the case exposed the biased all-white jury selection and helped set up the NAACP’s campaign to undo racial segregation. The case also inspired Houston's two young Howard Law School students — future Supreme Court Thurgood Marshall and famed attorney Oliver Hill.

Houston also helped Loudoun County's African American community succeed in creating a school for Black students — the Frederick Douglass High School opened in 1941.

Loudoun County is seeking National Historic Landmark status for the courthouse due to the significance of the Crawford case to the civil rights movement. The National Park Service’s National Historic Landmarks Committee recommended referral of the nomination for National Historic Landmark to the National Park System Advisory Board for consideration. Action could come by the end of 2024.

Editor's note: This story was updated to clarify the historic courthouse is being renamed Charles Hamilton Houston Courthouse.