Christiansburg Institute shares how they have created African American historical
The African American Legacy Tour series will gradually incorporate additional African American sites of memory and cultural significance that are located throughout the counties and cities of the New River Valley, providing a unique, visceral, and honest pathway for community members to reinvestigate Black histories and experiences in rural Appalachia in Southwest Virginia from Slavery to Civil Rights.
Burrell Memorial Hospital site honored with historical marker
City leaders unveiled Burrell Memorial Hospital’s historical marker Friday afternoon. The hospital opened in 1915 to serve Black patients and train Black nurses during segregation. Former Roanoke mayor Nelson Harris crafted the application for Burrell’s historical marker. “The legacy of Burrell Memorial Hospital is it was created during segregation, which made it an uphill battle for funding, acceptance, and recognition,” Harris said. “They did it, and they did it well.”The building which once housed the hospital is now Blue Ridge Behavioral Health at the Burrell Center.
90 years ago today ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ became the U.S. national anthem
Herbert Hoover made the Star-Spangled Banner the national anthem. The Star-Spangled Banner was also used before it was officially made the national anthem by the U.S. Navy in 1888 and Pres. Here are a few we think stand atop the list:Whitney HoustonHouston sang the National Anthem at the 1991 Tampa, Florida Superbowl XXV. Lady GagaShe took the stage back in January to perform a rendition of the national anthem for Pres. While sporting a navy and red Schiaparelli Haute Couture gown paired with a golden dove symbolizing peace, Gaga performed the national anthem with style.
Historic Lynchburg tavern dating back to 1815 is up for sale
LYNCHBURG, Va. – A historic tavern in Lynchburg is up for sale. The Joseph Nichols Tavern dates back to 1815, and it’s believed Thomas Jefferson was a frequent patron. William Holt is a preservationist and said he bought the building in 2015 because he’s a fan of America’s third president. Holt had plans to restore and reopen the historic landmark last year, but lost the business due to declining health and COVID-19 restrictions.
Two of the first Black women to attend Virginia Tech discuss their experience
BLACKSBURG, Va. – Six women broke the color barrier at Virginia Tech more than 50 years ago, and two of them talked about their time on campus on Friday. Inclusive VT hosted a forum with La Vernee Hairston Higgins and Marguerite Harper Scott as part of its “Unfinished Conversations” series. Higgins and Scott both enrolled at Virginia Tech in 1966. She said the adjustment to college life was difficult because of what she experienced in the classroom. “The hardest part for me was the faculty,” Higgins said.
On This Day: Historic cold of 1985 breaks out in southwest, central Virginia
ROANOKE, Va. – The Flood of ‘85 is obviously a historic day in our area’s weather, but it was two months later when Virginia’s weather history book had to be re-opened. On January 21, 1985, the temperature dropped well below zero in our entire area. The farther south the jet stream dips, the farther south cold air can drop. Reanalysis of historic cold on January 21, 1985According to the National Weather Service in Wilmington, North Carolina , the polar vortex dropped into the Great Lakes on the 19th. This outbreak resulted in the deaths of 126 people, according to the National Weather Service in Morehead City, North Carolina .
Trust Index: A trending meme is inaccurate, but COVID-19 is killing an historic number of people
Daily COVID-19 deaths in December are listed on a trending social media graphic showing the 10 deadliest days in U.S. history. RELATED: The chilling story behind the ‘Deadliest Days in American history’ meme (CNET)RELATED: Did 4 of the deadliest days in U.S. history occur in December 2020? (Snopes)Recent daily COVID-19 death totals are among the worst in U.S. history, but the graphic leaves out other terrible days, including the entire Spanish Flu pandemic in 1918. 1, though we couldn’t find daily death totals. The meme shows daily COVID-19 fatalities for several days in early December rival these historic tragedies.
Transition of power, throughout the years: Most cases peaceful, some awkward
When President Donald Trump lost November 2020′s election, it marked just the 11th time in U.S. history an incumbent president was beaten in a re-election bid. On the surface, it seems like it might be an awkward transition -- in which the current president vacates his office and is forced to witness the inauguration of his successor. In the middle of the night before the inauguration was scheduled to start, Adams departed Washington, D.C. and started his post-presidential life. 1828There was some bad blood between incumbent president John Quincy Adams and challenger Andrew Jackson, which stemmed from a controversial ending to the 1824 election that involved both men. 1932This was not a peaceful transition of power between outgoing president Herbert Hoover and the man who defeated him in the election, Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Rudolph and his nose-so-bright into auction will take flight
This image released by Profiles in History shows a Santa Clause and Rudolph reindeer puppet used in the filming of the 1964 Christmas special "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." (Profiles in History via AP)LOS ANGELES – Rudolph and his still-shiny nose are getting a new home, and it's bound to be a lot nicer than the Island of Misfit Toys. The soaring reindeer and Santa Claus figures who starred in in the perennially beloved stop-motion animation Christmas special “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” are going up for auction. Auction house Profiles in History announced Thursday that a 6-inch-tall Rudolph and 11-inch-tall Santa used to animate the 1964 TV special are being sold together in the auction that starts Nov. 13 and are expected to fetch between $150,000 and $250,000. The figures would make their way to the New York offices of Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass.
Historic Virginian Railway station becomes event venue
ROANOKE, Va. – A landmark railroad station in Roanoke is now a destination for weddings and banquets. The Virginian Railway Station is now an events venue named ‘The Virginian,' run by local company Chanticleer Catering. The event venue replaces Steger Creek, a gift shop that closed its doors last year. The station on the corner of Jefferson Street and Williamson Road was built in 1909 and rehabilitated by Roanoke’s National Railway Historical Society chapter in 2016. The historical society owns the building, and say they are excited to show off the beauty of the train station once again.
Devastating 1985 Roanoke flood remembered in new City Market exhibit
The flood happened on November 4, 1985, but a new exhibit at City Market aims to teach those who weren’t alive than about the severity of the storm. Five signs were installed on Market Square Friday morning, showing pictures of the devastation and facts about the flood. The installation is a joint effort of Roanoke Stormwater and the History Museum of Western Virginia. It’s never happened at this scale in Roanoke since, and I’m so thankful that it hasn’t.”The display on City Market is accompanied by a photography exhibit at the history museum, which opens on Sept. 22. “Hopefully the people who were not alive or in the Roanoke area will see what an impact the flood had,” said Webb.
Train history society builds structure to speed up rail car restorations
ROANOKE, Va. – A new addition to a Roanoke rail yard will help keep the city’s train history alive. Roanoke’s chapter of the National Railway Historical Society built a structure on its property to protect both train cars and volunteers from the weather. The structure will soon house Norfolk & Western car 512, a formerly segregated passenger car, as volunteers work to restore it. Chapter vice president Gary Gray said volunteers have often been interrupted in their restoration work by the weather. "It’s going to be great to be able to not get wet.”According to Gray, the new shelter costs $50,000 to construct, which the chapter paid for themselves.
Looking back on Hiroshima, 75 years later: In photos
Three days later, another atomic bomb was dropped on the city of Nagasaki. Below are images of the destruction, copyright Getty Images. (Getty Images)A mother tends to her injured child, a victim of the atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima. (Getty Images)Wreckage of buildings in Hiroshima after the dropping of the atomic bomb. (Getty Images)
On this 50th anniversary for the USPS, mail a letter to a friend
Fifty years ago, the former Post Office Department changed over and became the United States Postal Service. Postal Service, as we know it now, has only been around since 1970? Energized by the Civil Rights Movement, postal workers in New York went on strike, and the movement eventually swelled across the country. Previously, letters were taken to a Post Office, where employees would note the postage due (or paid) in the upper right corner. Postal Service stands financially, perhaps we do have to consider, what if the mail goes away someday?
35 years later, discovery of Titanic was like finding treasure for historians, collectors
Besides, nobody knew exactly where the ship was anyway, and even the most developed technology couldn’t locate it miles below the surface of the ocean. The only problem was that the Navy didn’t want anything to do with the Titanic. Finally, pieces of debris appeared on the cameras of Knorr, one of which was the boiler of the Titanic. In the summer of 1986, Ballard returned to the Titanic wreckage as part of the first submersible that took humans underwater there for further investigation. The aftermathIn the years after the discovery, numerous dives and expeditions have taken place to retrieve valuable items from the Titanic.
How to watch the historic astronaut launch with your children: There’s an invaluable lesson here
If it goes off as planned, this will mark the first mission involving astronauts from U.S. soil since 2011. Still, NASA astronaut Bob Behnken has said he and Doug Hurley are “really comfortable” with the risks. So you’re making educated guesses, at best.”It seems there’s just more uncharted territory when it comes to space travel. “The first astronauts really started out as test pilots,” Garfinkle said. But assuming this launch goes well, “It would be great for kids to see a successful, triumphant moment of science,” Fink said.
2 cities handled this health crisis different. The results couldn’t have been more opposite.
With all due respect to Charles Dickens, this is a tale of how two cities handled a health crisis via social distancing, with opposite results. Days later, hospitals in the area were filled with patients suffering or dying from the Spanish flu. On the other side of the ledger, things were way different in St. Louis. After detecting its first cases of the Spanish flu in the community, St. Louis closed buildings such as schools, churches, courtrooms and libraries. The Spanish flu was nothing to mess around with, since ultimately, an estimated 20 to 50 million people died after contracting the virus.
Kobe Bryant paid tribute to MLK on Instagram just days before his death
Peruse the Instagram page of the late, great Kobe Bryant and you’ll notice a few things: The love he had for his wife and daughters, and just how thoughtful he was in several facets of life. In the post before that one, Bryant gave thanks to Martin Luther King, Jr., saying, “Thank you for THE dream. Bryant posted the sentiment on Jan. 20, which marks the federal holiday on which we celebrate and honor the life of MLK. This wasn’t the only time Bryant has commented on the icon that was Civil Rights leader MLK. And the determination to stick with that, and believe that the human spirit will eventually triumph, are the things that inspire me the most.”#DearBlackAthlete: Kobe Bryant on Martin Luther King, Jr.
About 100 years later, Harlem Renaissance impact still being celebrated
That might sound contradictory and impossible by math standards, but that partly explains the greatness of the Harlem Renaissance. The result was the birth of the Harlem Renaissance, a cultural, artistic, social and intellectual explosion that spanned the entire Roaring ’20s. One of his most recognized works was a poem called “Madam and the Minister,” which spoke of the mood toward religion in the Harlem Renaissance. One of the writers of the Harlem Renaissance, Hurston was a key contributor to a magazine called “Fire! There no doubt will be good celebrations in 2020, but, given the Harlem Renaissance was more than just a one-year movement, the tributes will be lasting for years to come.
Historic Roanoke church reopens sanctuary after eight months of repairs
ROANOKE, Va. – The stained glass windows inside Greene Memorial United Methodist Church’s sanctuary are no longer obscured by scaffolding. The sanctuary, which was built in 1892, reopened for Sunday service after it had been closed for repairs since March. “There is an energy that was crackling in the sanctuary today," said Greene Memorial United Methodist Church’s pastor, Rev. "It’s an enthusiasm and a hopeful feeling as they looked at all we had done in 8 months. Greene Memorial had held its services in its basement and in its lobby while the sanctuary was being repaired.