Did you know that Martinsville’s Fayette Street was once a vibrant hub of Black-owned businesses, innovation, and community resilience? Known as the “Black Wall Street of the Southside,” this historic corridor thrived even in the face of adversity.

A powerful new painting now graces the Fayette Area Historical Initiative (FAHI) Museum in Martinsville, celebrating the legacy of four remarkable Black military heroes from Martinsville and Henry County.

"It’s one thing to know what you did. It’s another for your hometown to honor what you did."

The goal of FAHI volunteers, working with staff members from the VFH, is to collect, preserve and interpret the Fayette Street experience through recorded oral history, public forums and workshops, lectures and other special programs.