February newsletter pic

On Sale:   
Daisy Turner's
Kin

On Sale:
The Circle
Unbroken
On Sale:
Fredericksburg Memories
Can you identify this photo?
Central Rappahannock Heritage Center 
Newsletter
A place that loses its history loses its soul
Message From The Chairman
 
On Saturday, February 15, from 2-4 p.m., The Heritage Center will hold an Open House. We invite the public to tour our facilities, learn about our collections, and consider volunteering to support The Center's important work. Our archives contain 100,000+ documents dating from the early 1700s to the present. These documents and photographs are preserved and accessible to researchers near and far. How is this possible? Because of dedicated volunteers and donors.
 
What happens when a collection is donated to The Center? First, our Collections Committee reviews the contents to ensure relevancy to our geographic area. Next, our processing staff assigns accession numbers (unique ID's) and organizes the contents into archival folders. Finally, our data entry staff enters descriptors of the contents into Past Perfect, a software widely used by museums and archives. The collection then is shelved and accessible to onsite visitors and users of our website. This summary fails to capture staff's fascination reading about our local history and acting to preserve it!
 
Staff helps researchers who come to and/or contact The Center to gather information about their ancestors, burial places, property owned, etc. or to conduct title searches or to find details for a school project, or ?. Whatever the question, we enjoy the challenge and satisfaction of helping you discover the answer! If you would enjoy scanning documents and photos, presenting information about The Center to local groups, or performing administrative tasks, we have openings in those areas too.
 
Interested? Whether as a potential volunteer or simply out of curiosity, join us on the afternoon of February 15. Our all-volunteer staff will welcome you!

  
Barbara Barrett, Chairman
The Heritage Center 
 
Welcome New Members
John Humphries





Heritage Center memberships support the important work done by The Center.
 
The Central Rappahannock Heritage Center is a non-profit, all-volunteer archives whose mission is to preserve historically valuable material of the region and make it available to the public for research. 
 
Please join us as part of the Heritage Center's preservation team.  As a  member, you will be helping to preserve our priceless local history.
 
Click here to become a member today!


Thank you for your support,
The Heritage Center
 
MANY THANKS TO OUR GENEROUS 
HERITAGE CENTER SPONSORS

Bill Vakos, Jr.

Jon and Meredith Beckett

Lucy and Wayne Harman

Kitty Farley and Vic Ramoneda

The Cohen Family 

The Greene Family








To become a Heritage Center Sponsor, please visit our website.  If you have any questions, please contact The Heritage Center at (540) 373-3704.

The Heritage Center Volunteers

The important preservation work of The Heritage Center would not be possible without our dedicated volunteers.

The Center currently has a staff of over 45 volunteers.  If you are interested in becoming a volunteer at The Center, please email Meredith Beckett.


Celebrating Black History at the Heritage Center

The Heritage Center is fortunate to have a number of collections that feature or contain black history in the central Rappahannock area.

It is impossible to study or research area history without learning about black history. Going back to the time before the American Revolution, free blacks lived in Fredericksburg. Most prominent was the DeBaptist family. They immigrated from the Caribbean and lived in the west end of town, today it is the 1500 block of Caroline Street. They operated a ferry that crossed the Rappahannock. John DeBaptist served on the Dragon, a colonial ship that guarded the Rappahannock River during the Revolution. The family left Fredericksburg before the Civil War, migrating to Canada and then to Detroit, where they were community leaders.

When Ruth Coder Fitzgerald, a researcher and writer, came to Fredericksburg from Missouri in the 1960s, she couldn't find any information on black residents. Driven by the need to know more, she researched extensively. In 1970, she published "A Different Story," still the definitive work on local black history. Initially, she planned to only cover Fredericksburg, but quickly realized she needed to include Stafford and Spotsylvania. The Center has her book, all of her research notes and other articles she wrote.

Another contributor is Jervis Hairston. Mr. Hairston, Director of Planning and Community Development for the City of Fredericksburg, from 1980 to 2003, also saw a lack of historical resources for the black community. He developed a walking tour - a trail used by black residents, as they traveled around town. Free or enslaved, blacks could not simply walk the streets and paths of the town, they were restricted and had to avoid certain areas. Mr. Hairston, now a vice president with the Silver Companies, donated an illustrated copy of the walking tour to the Center.

Civil rights became the focus in the 1960s with demonstrations followed by peaceful integration.

Come visit the Center and see our area has evolved.


Beth Daly
Volunteer, The Heritage Center

Collections Report

The Collections Committee did not meet in January.

We are always seeking new collections to add to the Center's Archives.  The winter months are a great time for cleaning closets, basements and attics.  If you come across any records, photos, or articles that you no longer want, please reach out to us!


John Reifenberg
Collections Manager, The Heritage Center
Can you identify this photo?

Click on picture to enlarge
Update:  Thank you to the following people who helped identify those present at the 1981 opening of the Farmers and Merchants State Bank's Spotsylvania Mall branch:

Florence Barnick, Georgia Sutton Buchanan, John Cowan, Dennis Sacrey and William B. Young.

Pictured are (left to right):  Jackie Sullivan, George Low, Jimmy Pates, Josiah Rowe III, John Cowan, O'Conor Goolrick Ashby, Ray (unknown) branch manager, William B. Young and Wayne Parrish.
.

February newsletter pic
Click on picture to enlarge.
Before Fredericksburg Hardware moved to 311 William Street the store had another location. Can you identify that location and what is housed there now?

Please contact Sharon Null at snull@crhcarchives.org with your answers.

From the Funk Collection.  
The Heritage Center gladly provides research services.  Please contact The Center for rates.
 
Hours  
 
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 
10:00 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Saturdays by appointment
Please call to schedule during weekday business hours
Location
   
900 Barton Street #111
Fredericksburg, VA
22401 
(540) 373-3704 
 

Click here to join the CRHC mailing list and stay up to date with what is happening at The Center!
 


The Circle Unbroken: Civil War Letters of the Knox Family of Fredericksburg  
 
On sale now at The Heritage Center 
$29.70 for members 
$33.00 for non-members  

Daisy Turner's Kin
An African American Family Saga
Jane C. Beck 
 
On sale now at The Heritage Center 
$25.00  

Fredericksburg Memories
A Pictorial History of the 1800s through the 1930s

On sale now at The Heritage Center
$35.00

Central Rappahannock Heritage Center | contact@crhcarchives.org  540.373.3704 | crhcarchives.org
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