THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, March 27, 1996 TAG: 9603270151
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY LARRY W. BROWN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 182 lines
BLACK HISTORY does not exist solely within the confines of one winter month.
It can be seen and felt far beyond what was a 29-day display in 1996.
In fact, the cities of Hampton Roads hold a load of historic land and buildings that tell tales of black contributions, birthplaces, heroism, creative firsts and cultural marvels.
As February's Black History Month ended, so did many of the displays, exhibits and special events connected with Black History Month, but there exists throughout the area a plethora of historic sites people can visit all year long. What follows is an historical ``tour'' of black history through the area. This tour should be viewed merely as a springboard to the wealth of black history in Hampton Roads.
NORFOLK
Travel through the 1000 block of Church Street and you're sure to notice the historic Crispus Attucks Theater, which was once the site of countless shows for future stars. The Attucks Theater was designed by a black architect in 1919 and has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places and the Virginia Landmarks Register.
It was a leading hot spot in black cultural life for more than 35 years but has remained closed for several years. Civic groups have been working in the past few years to restore and reopen the building.
The building's architect was Harvey Johnson of Portsmouth. Johnson also was pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church, which still has a thriving congregation.
West Point Cemetery, in the northwest corner of Elmwood Cemetery on Princess Anne Road, is not far from the Attucks Theater.
Black soldiers and sailors killed in the Civil War were buried at West Point Cemetery. Their graves were separated from those of white soldiers by a brick wall. A monument for those killed in battle was erected by blacks in the community in the 1880s.
First Baptist Church, at 418 Bute St., has been regarded as the mother church of Norfolk's black Baptists. The congregation, which organized in 1800, was one of the few independent black churches that existed during slavery.
The location was acquired in 1830. There a small wooded church called the Old Salt Box was erected. The present church opened its doors in 1906. The Virginian-Pilot that year lauded the building, calling it ``the handsomest church owned by the race in the South.''
The building's architect, Reuben H. Hunt, also designed Court Street Baptist Church in Portsmouth.
Other points of interest:
One of the nation's largest predominantly black universities sits on Corprew Avenue: Norfolk State University. The school was established during the Depression and once was part of Virginia State University.
St. John African Methodist Episcopal Church, at 545 E. Bute Street. It is the oldest A.M.E. Church in Norfolk and considered the ``mother church of African Methodism in Virginia.'' The first church was built on that site in 1888.
CHESAPEAKE
This thriving city also was a focal point of black heroism and escape during the 1800s. The area's Great Dismal Swamp was a natural refuge for runaway slaves making their way north from North Carolina. The expansive marshes, dense vegetation and wild animals reach from Great Bridge to the northeastern counties of North Carolina.
A generation earlier, blacks fought on both sides in the Battle of Great Bridge, one of the most important battles in the Revolutionary War. The area was a key spot during the war because Great Bridge was the only land approach to Norfolk. William Flora, a free black Portsmouth native, was regarded a patriot hero.
PORTSMOUTH
Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, which has the oldest black congregation in the city, dates back to 1772 and was built by slaves. That year Methodist preacher Francis Asbury converted a slave named Lewis Gray, who, in turn, converted other slaves to Methodism. The African Methodist Society was born.
The present building was completed in 1857.
The historic Truxtun neighborhood was making news in the early 1900s as being the first wartime government housing community constructed exclusively for blacks. The 42-acre, 250-house area was established in 1918 by the U.S. Housing Corporation as a model neighborhood for Norfolk Naval Shipyard workers and their families.
The experimental area featured a number of planning innovations for the era, including indoor plumbing and lights, varied street facades and additional spacing between houses.
Truxtun was placed on the Virginia Landmarks Register in 1980 and the National Register of Historic Places two years later. There have been some slight alterations to some of the houses since they originally were built, but only a few of the original homes have been demolished.
Also, Norfolk Naval Shipyard, the oldest Navy drydock in continuous use, was built in the 1830s using slave labor and, by some accounts, freed men hired by the federal government.
SUFFOLK
Another historical church is the Macedonia African Methodist Episcopal Church on Pine Street. The church, which has one of the oldest established black congregations in Suffolk, dates back to the mid-1800s.
Drive down the 300 block of East Washington Street in Suffolk and you're likely to pass a simple building that held a vault of dreams.
The Phoenix Bank of Nansemond was built in 1921 to help blacks form their own commercial businesses. The bank was founded mainly to help black laborers and farmers in Suffolk and the former county of Nansemond, which now is part of the city.
After the death of the bank's founder and first president - Dr. W.T. Fuller - vice president John W. Richardson took over. Ironically, Richardson served as president of the Phoenix Bank and was janitor of the white-run American Bank and Trust Company. His dual roles landed him in the 1940 edition of Ripley's ``Believe It or Not.''
A victim of few depositors and the Great Depression, the bank closed its doors in 1931. The building is now vacant and was used recently as a Chinese restaurant.
The Phoenix Bank was entered into the Virginia Landmarks Register in August 1990 and into the National Register of Historic Places the following January.
VIRGINIA BEACH
Black history sometimes seems harder to find in the former Princess Anne County, but the Nimmo United Methodist Church, with a balcony that was reserved for slaves, holds loads of Colonial-era information in nearly every corner and every pew.
The church, at 2200 Princess Anne Road, is one of the oldest Methodist churches in the country and was founded in the early 1790s. In addition to being used for religious functions, the building also was converted into a federal hospital during the Civil War.
The building has been renovated in recent years.
Mount Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church, organized by former slaves in 1872, sits not far from Nimmo. The current site was purchased a year later.
Black history landmarks also can be found throughout Western Tidewater, the Eastern Shore and on the Peninsula.
Southampton County is the site of one of the bloodiest and most memorable slave insurrections in history. It is the site of Nat Turner's revolt, where Turner and about 70 followers began killing their way from home to home intending to form a new republic for free and enslaved blacks. More than 60 whites were killed.
The insurrection ended at Belmont, located near Capron, when the home's owner, Dr. Samuel Blunt, was forewarned of the approaching band and assembled his slaves, as well as family and friends to fight Turner's dwindling forces. Turner's men were ambushed and soon were executed. He later was caught, confessed to the crimes and was hanged.
Hampton University in Hampton is one of the nation's oldest black universities. The school was founded in 1868 by missionaries after the Civil War as an educational site for blacks and Native Americans. It remains one of the nation's most prestigious predominantly black universities.
Also, nearby Fort Monroe was considered a safe haven for hundreds of slaves during the Civil War, when it remained in the Union's control. ILLUSTRATION: [Cover, Color illustration]
BLACK HISTORY TOUR
The cover illustration for this black history tour was done by staff
artist John Earle.
Staff photo by BILL TIERNAN
This monument in Elmwood Cemetery in Norfolk honors black Civil War
veterans.
Staff photo by MIKE WILLIAMS
Truxtun was the first wartime government housing community for
blacks.
Staff photo by JIM WALKER
Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Portsmouth dates back
to 1772 and was built by slaves.
Staff photo by STEVE EARLEY
The balcony at Nimmo United Methodist Church was reserved for
blacks.
Staff photo by MICHAEL KESTNER
The Phoenix Bank of Nansemond helped blacks until it closed in
1931.
File photo
St. John A.M.E. Church is the oldest of its kind in Norfolk.
KEYWORDS: TOUR HISTORICAL SITES BLACK HISTORY TOURISM by CNB