Earlier this year The Heritage Center initiated a sponsorship program. Our Board of Directors focused on community partners whose interests coincide with The Center's mission. The generosity of those partners has exceeded our expectations! We are so appreciative of the support given to date. This program is an ongoing one, so we will continue to reach out to businesses and individuals who share a commitment to The Center's work. Our heartfelt thanks to those who have participated so far!

 

The Board is engaged in a review of our existing Strategic Plan. Organizations (like people) have life cycles. As a 22-year old, CRHC has gone through the mature stage and is now experiencing the renewal stage. To that end, one of the Board's activities is refining, re-articulating, and reshaping the Strategic Plan to serve as a blueprint for future efforts. The Plan will include measurable objectives by which to assess our progress. There will be more about this later in the year.

 

The Center is open as usual during the summer months. Contact us for help with your research projects. Our staff are willing and able to serve you, whether it's related to genealogy, land records, or numerous other aspects of local history.

Several people identified last month's mystery photo as 1005 Sophia Street, which in the 1950's was the Fredericksburg Fish Market.  Taken in 1952 by the late Ralph Happel, National Park Service historian, it is from the Beck Collection.   According to City records, the building dates from 2007; that, however, is the current iteration. The original structure that was shown in May's newsletter is older. 

An oral history by John White (Historic Fredericksburg Foundation, 2004 - 2006) provides insight into the evolution of the building. In 1955, Mr. White, 15-years old, cooked crabs for Edward Brown, owner of the Fredericksburg Fish Market. Mr. Brown built an addition using double rows of cement blocks.  A big machine that made ice to keep the fish cold was to be housed in the addition.  For insulation, Mr. White suggested putting sawdust between the rows of blocks. "We also put sawdust on the roof and I think it caved in. Because after a while I think they got a leak in there. What we did when we did the roof, we had to nail it up strong to hold the sawdust, but they got water in there. It got heavy. That building's built that way and I helped build it."

Later in the interview, Mr. White had a revelation while he was cooking. " I remember when I was in Fredericksburg and I had to go to the bathroom, there was, we couldn't go to the bathroom. And you would have to go down under the bridge [Chatham Bridge] to go to the bathroom. . . . That upset me. And that's when I said, why can't black folks go into a restroom? In a store, a restaurant, somewhere? And so that kind of . . . just watching that made me become an activist. 'Cause I felt that that was just unjust."

An antique store operated by Tony Wrenn and Gary Johnson (1984 - 2004) followed at 1005 Sophia Street, and by 2007 it evolved into a very different structure. Today, Jarrell Properties is a handsome building.

• Documents, books, photographs, and news clippings relating to Fredericksburg; some primary documentation dates to the mid 1850's