Thursday’s column: Tour celebrates Roanoke’s black history
Longtime Roanoke educator Mignon Chubb-Hale at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. monument at the foot of Henry Street in Roanoke. She’ll conduct a local Black History Tour through Gainsboro later this month. | Photo by Kyle Green | The Roanoke Times
Our nation formed more than two centuries ago, and the history of African Americans stretches back to its beginnings. All of which makes Black History Month, aka February, a fuzzy abstraction in certain ways.
But Tuesday morning, Mignon Chubb-Hale showed me how it doesn’t have to be that way.
She was a schoolteacher for 30 years, one of the first black educators ever assigned to once all-white Wasena Elementary. Later she served on the Roanoke School Board.
Chubb-Hale took me and photographer Kyle Green on a mini, black-history tour of Northwest Roanoke. It was a preview of a formal tour she’ll conduct later this month for Roanoke Parks and Recreation. Much of that history she lived.
“She’s like a walking encyclopedia,” said Melida McKee, a city recreation coordinator.
The tour wasn’t a bit fuzzy or abstract. Instead, we heard pride — tempered with some pain — and saw bricks and mortar, concrete and bronze, flesh and bone.
READ THE REST OF THIS COLUMN HERE.
February 14, 2013 - 6:00 AM
Perfect timing for this column! I’ve been conducting research on slaves and freedmen during the Civil War in Roanoke and am surprised by the lack of information that’s out there. I was hoping the Harrison Museum would be able to help and was disappointed to find they’re not open. Do you know when they’ll be up and running again? If I can alter my plans on the 26th I plan to attend this tour. Thanks for the info.
I enjoyed the column, Dan, especially about the librarian.
Elena – Center in the Square is slated to re-open in May of this year. I would suggest contacting Center’s main office at 540-342-5700. Perhaps they can put you in touch with the Harrison staff!
Dan – Lovely column!
Great column. Mignon-Chubb Hale has been a jewel in the crown of the RCPS for all of her life. And the Gainsboro Library has accumulated an outstanding collection of material on Black History that is a fountain of information for serious researchers. I too was a 1961 public school graduate in the Roanoke valley and started a teaching career immediately
after college. Living through the time period of school desegregation in the Roanoke Valley and observing the changes that were long overdue in our community was an unforgettable time. I was privileged to work on a group for the Roanoke County Schools that initially integrated black history which had long been ignored into the curriculum. The Gainsboro Library with its resources and especially its periodicals collection was a valuable resource in that work.Roanoke has a rich heritage here that needs to continue to be cultivated.
Among the other sites that should be added to the Black history map of Roanoke is the 100 block of Wells Ave. Although it has been reconfigured for the fountain, a hundred years ago it was the location of the black Elks lodge, which besides staging many worthy fraternal community projects was also a social hub that figured in the musical life of Roanoke.
Thanks MikeC!