CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) – New banners along West Main Street are marking the 100th anniversary of Jefferson High School and honoring the Black community that built its legacy.
The Jefferson School African American Heritage Center installed the displays to recognize the school that once stood at the heart of Charlottesville’s Black community. Jefferson High School opened in 1926, 51 years after the African-American population first called for a high school in 1875.
“So we wanted to recognize that fact. The African-American population called for a high school in 1875, and they finally got one in 1926,” said Andrea Douglas, executive director of the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center.
The floors of the original Jefferson High School building will be 100 years old on Feb. 20. The school closed as a high school in 1951 when Burley High School opened, representing over 20 years of history in the 1926 building.
The banners mark the landscape between 4th Street and 8th Street, tracing historic sites from churches to businesses that were central to Black life in Charlottesville. Some banners stand in front of First Baptist Church, while others mark a site that now houses a wine shop but was originally the location of Kessler’s funeral home.
“What we’re wanting to do is mark that landscape between 4th Street and 8th Street. And to make people aware of those people who would then grow up to become leaders in our community,” Douglas said.
Douglas said the project aims to make history visible in spaces people walk every day.
“What I appreciate about it is being able to tell Charlottesville’s full history, that as you’re walking down Main Street over the course of the next year, you will be able to understand that there was a high school here, that there were students here who were accomplished, that there was a marching band here,” she said.
“And I want everyone who comes to this town, every student that walks up and down Main Street, to understand what land they’re walking in, what histories they’re walking through, and how those histories still are here in our present day,” Douglas said.
Douglas said understanding that history creates belonging rather than division.
“We want to create this polarization. But it’s not about being polarized. It’s about understanding who you are as a full and complete self. And that includes understanding where you live. That’s where you get your sense of belonging,” she said.
The Jefferson School African American Heritage Center offers tours every third Saturday of the month, including murals and monuments tours, parks tours, and history tours.
The center has also added a walking tour to its app that takes visitors through Charlottesville to learn about Black history that continues today. The app includes a new Liberation and Freedom Day tour.
“Take a stroll. The weather’s getting nicer. But also come to the Heritage Center. This is where the stories are. They’re on the walls here,” Douglas said.
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