ROANOKE, Va. – Civil rights leader Oliver Hill grew up in Roanoke.
In November of 2018, the Commonwealth and the City of Roanoke unveiled a marker in front of his childhood home.
“This is a historic moment,” said Romana Taylor, President of the Oliver White Hill Foundation.
Hill helped dismantle Jim Crow laws in the South as part of the legal team in the famous Brown v. Board of Education ruling that helped end segregation in schools.
“It wasn’t about brown people. It wasn’t about white people. It wasn’t about Native Americans. It was about injustice. And so everyone that you can touch was impacted,” Taylor said.
“Brown v. Board to lawyers is this incredibly important thing that we study for extended periods of time. It changes the way you think about the Constitution,” said Erin Ashwell with the Virginia Board of Historic Resources.
[RELATED: Collection of Black History Month coverage]
But the City wasn’t done honoring Hill.
In May of 2019, Roanoke named the city courthouse after him.
His late son, on the day of the dedication.
“When we drove up my mother-in-law started crying because from her generation most of their activities were never acknowledged. So this acknowledgment of my father’s work had a real strong meaning for her,” said Dr. Oliver Hill Jr.
Although Hill won his case decades ago, there is still work to do.
“This fight is still going on. He was part of the Brown decision which was 65 years ago And we still don’t have equality in the schools,” Hill Jr. said. “Well, I hope this is going to inspire a new generation of civil rights lawyers. Maybe as people go in and out of this building, they will be inspired to seek justice for all.”