Fredericksburg Civil Rights Trail Hailed As New Addition To U.S. Trail

FREDERICKSBURG, VA — The Fredericksburg Civil Rights Trail has been added to the national collection of landmarks that make up the U.S. Civil Rights Trail.

The U.S. trail, which spans 15 states, includes churches, schools, museums and other locations that played a pivotal role in the civil rights movement.

Fredericksburg’s Civil Rights Trail, “Freedom, A Work in Progress,” is the only one of the four sites inducted into the U.S. Civil Rights Trail this year that is not a single entity. The Fredericksburg trail alone added 21 stops to the national trail.

A special event, organized by the city of Fredericksburg and the University of Mary Washington, was held last Thursday at Shiloh Baptist Church — the first stop on the city’s trail — to announce that the Fredericksburg trail had been added to the national trail.

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Fredericksburg Mayor Kerry Devine kicked off the event by revealing the city’s inclusion on the national trail, a surprise to guests who gathered by invitation-only to hear about a “monumental announcement.”

The Fredericksburg Civil Rights Trail is a three-mile journey that winds through parts of historic downtown and the UMW campus. Prominent Black residents of Fredericksburg and pastors of Shiloh Baptist Church, including the Rev. B.H. Hester and the Rev. Lawrence Davies, played major roles in the struggle for civil rights and social justice.

“The landmarks are part of your history, but also part of Virginia history,” Virginia Tourism Corporation President and CEO Rita McClenny told community members gathered in the church. “When you walk up and down these streets where presidents have walked, where the enslaved have walked, where soldiers have walked … if we all can preserve and appreciate and understand that what we have in common is so much greater than what divides us.”

City of Fredericksburg Tourism Sales Manager Victoria Matthews and UMW James Farmer Multicultural Center Assistant Director Chris Williams, who spearheaded the Fredericksburg Civil Rights Trail project, were recognized at the Feb. 8 event.

The Fredericksburg trail includes sites of sit-ins, neighborhoods marred by segregation and locations that illustrate the efforts of Black artists, educators, students and others who sought justice and equality for Black Americans.

The Fredericksburg Area Museum and the Slave Auction Site at the corner of William and Charles streets are also among the trail’s stops, along with UMW’s James Farmer memorial, in honor of the late civil rights icon and Freedom Rides leader who taught history at the University for more than a decade.

“Being added to the U.S. Civil Rights Trail brings more awareness to the important stories here in the City of Fredericksburg,” Matthews said at the event. “We are delighted and honored to be added to the U.S. Civil Rights Trail.”