Harrisonburg’s African American community has a long and rich history. The contributions of African Americans can be seen all over town, from the Lucy Simms Center to the current exhibit at the Virginia Quilt Museum (African American Quilters: Stitching Our Stories in New & Traditional Expressions), to The 150 Franklin Street Gallery, a multicultural art gallery. Harrisonburg is also home to The Furious Flower Poetry Center, the first academic center in the United States devoted to the preservation and promotion of the work of Black poets. The center hosts readings and performances by outstanding black poets at all stages of their careers. Come to Harrisonburg and discover this important part of both our history and our daily life.

Arts and Culture

Virginia Quilt Museum
Through May 20, The Virginia Quilt Museum (301 S. Main Street) is hosting three exhibits that focus on African influences and African American quilters. All three are stunning presentations of textile art that challenge the viewer and delight the senses. African American Quilters: Stitching Our Stories in New & Traditional Expressions features the work of contemporary African American quilters responding to events or important figures in history, technical quilting challenges, or everyday life through their fantastic manipulation of fabric and thread. Hollis Chatelain – Stories of West Africa includes intricately quilted photographs of life in Mali, Benin, Burkina Faso and Togo. African Textiles explores the textiles of Africa and represents the beautiful diversity of design, culture and history present in the woven, dyed and printed fabrics. Together they present a wonderful opportunity to immerse yourself in the ways in which these artists have used traditional and innovative techniques to tell stories in cloth.

The 150 Franklin Street Gallery
A multicultural art gallery featuring exhibits from local painters and photographers as well as works by nationally known artists, 150 Franklin Street is a quiet haven for the arts. On permanent display is the Furious Flower Quilt, a piece honoring African American poets. This massive piece alone is worth a trip for its colorful and symbol-filled depiction of some of the most prominent writers in American literature. A recent exhibit contained photographs the performances of Blues legends like BB King and Big George Brock. The current exhibit is entitled “Rain Voices” and features monoprints and lithographs by Gail D. Panske.

Lucy Simms Mural
Visit the Lucy Simms Mural on the west side of the Elizabeth Street Parking Deck in downtown Harrisonburg to see a mural of a ground-breaking educator whose name also adorns the Lucy Simms Continuing Education Center. You can watch the mural’s creation here.

History

There are many sites in town that offer insight into the history of African American people in Harrisonburg. Court Square once served as the site of slave auctions and the punishment of enslaved peoples. Several centers offer historical information on the foundation of communities on the part of freed slaves after the Civil War. Work has begun on a Shenandoah Valley Black Heritage Center to be located in the Newtown area of Harrisonburg. The planned opening is this spring. You can Read more about the center in the current issue of Shenandoah Living magazine here.

Newtown Cemetery
Several historic markers in this cemetery (297 Kelley Street), opened in 1868 as the burial place for the freed slaves who founded this African American community, offer testimony to the life of community members and the history that is still alive here. The cemetery is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Lucy Simms Center
The Center houses a continuing education program as well as an exhibit commemorating the contributions of the Lucy F. Simms School and the Northeast neighborhood to the city of Harrisonburg. Lucy Simms was an educator who studied at Hampton Institute along with Booker T. Washington. She began teaching in Harrisonburg at the age of 17 in 1874 and continued, here and at Zenda, until her death in 1934. You can read more about the Lucy Simms School and the education of African American students in Harrisonburg here.

Ralph Sampson Park
Located on East Washington Street and named for one of Harrisonburg’s own, Ralph Sampson Park covers 31 acres. The park has two picnic shelters, restroom facilities, two tennis courts, three basketball courts, playground equipment, a sports field, and horseshoe pits. A recently added, natural surface walking trail (0.3 miles) runs through the park as well. This park surrounds the Lucy F. Simms Continuing Education Center.  The annual African American Festival is held here each June.

Harriet Tubman Cultural Center
In this small building (2065 Reservoir St), the remains of the Mabel Memorial Schoolhouse, exhibits and films capture the life and escapades of Harriet Tubman famous for her work on the Underground Railroad which helped take slaves to freedom before the Civil War. Tours are offered by appointment. Call 540-578-6389.

Long’s Chapel and Zenda
A bit outside of Harrisonburg, but worth the trip, is Zenda (1340 Fridleys Gap Road -near the intersection with Indian Trail Road), a community founded by formerly enslaved people on land confiscated from a plantation owner. People bought the land from the government and built a community and a church, Long’s Chapel. The chapel served, also, as a school since the government made no provisions for educating African Americans. Lucy Simms taught here for a short time. A cemetery here contains the remains of some of the original founders of Zenda. A downloadable driving tour is available here. Tours of Long’s Chapel can be arranged by emailing Robin Lyttle at robinlyttle@valleyblackheritage.org.

Crossroads Center
While Harrisonburg was located in the Confederacy during the Civil War, the Brethren and Mennonite population in the area was opposed to slavery. This made for a complicated history. Union generals were hosted by the town’s first mayor in the Hardesty Higgins House, for example. You can get an excellent sense of this history at the Crossroads, Brethren Mennonite Heritage Center. Here you can see a cobbler’s shop, antebellum houses and a one-room schoolhouse as well as learn about the faith communities that struggled through the Civil War.