(WVVA) -- Black History is part of the fabric of American History as Black History Month came to close, in this ‘In Focus’ special we revisit some of the stories of triumph in the fight for equality in the face of adversity.
The integration of Bluefield High School as Principal Erps and his students chart a path for present-day Beavers is where we begin.
Then Joshua Bolden introduces us to Bluefield, West Virginia’s first black firefighter who recalls the tests he faced to enter the world of first response.
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Former reporter Robert Castillo profiles the first black hospital in the city of Bluefield and the work ahead to preserve it.
Research done by John Rankin, a former history professor at Bluefield State University reveals the first black hospital in Bluefield, West Virginia was started by Dr. E.W. Lomax on Bland Street. Rankin’s work titled “The early history and development of Bluefield, West Virginia” claims the hospital first actually opened in a frame house in 1916. Later it was torn down and replaced with a brick and mortar building ten years later in 1926.
Lomax later died and the hospital was purchased by Dr. W.A. Brown and it carried his name. It was known as Brown’s Hospital. The current owner of the building, Patricia Valentine, says she had no idea of the building’s history when she became the new owner of the old building back in 2014.
“One of Dr. Brown’s descendants called me from New Jersey and they had found out that we had purchased the building. They were congratulating me and were glad that we had it. Then I began to do some research on it,” said Valentine.
Valentine says that research took her to Rankin’s work, where she discovered the old hospital could accommodate around fifty people. The building has 19 rooms and had many uses, including space to house nurses during it’s time as an active hospital.
One of the rooms was used as a sun room for recovering patients, while six others were for private use. Valentine says she’s just starting the process to get this building the historical recognition she believes it deserves.
“I’m trying to get it set up first to have it put in the state registry. When I talked with a person she said I don’t see how this wasn’t listed as historical. So this is my job to try and do this first,” said Valentine.
Read Robert’s full report here
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Our friends up the road at our sister station, WDBJ profile a 100-year-old woman who is still making quilts by hand. As Makayla Shelton shows you the stories those quilts tell run deeper than the threads holding them together.
When Edith [Edmunds] was younger, she read about patterns that slaves would use as codes to navigate the Underground Railroad.
“It was just amazing to me to read that the enslaved women learned to do that and they had to do it in a way that their masters wouldn’t know what was really happening,” explained Edmunds.
To honor them, all ten of those patterns can be found in her quilts.
“I think about how slaves were treated, and it really hurts me. If we don’t be careful teaching the children coming up today, we might come to the same thing,” said Edmunds.
Read Makayla’s full report here.
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Returning to Bluefield, West Virginia -- Megan Bailey shows you sometimes preservation isn’t woven but but resurrected brick by brick. This is the case for Hotel Thelma a landmark establishment in the community. This Green Book location served as a safe haven for black individuals of every socioeconomic background and status.
After a $1.5 million dollar grant from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh, state and federal historic tax credits, and 20 other sources of funding, Hotel Thelma will see new life as an apartment building.
“Clearly Bluefield needs not just affordable housing but quality-built affordable housing. That’s the first thing the Hotel Thelma apartments will bring to the community. In Bluefield’s historically black east end and really throughout the city there’s a shortage of that type of housing,” said Brian Tracey with the Bluefield Arts and Revitalization Corporation (BARC) who is working with the apartment project.
In it’s prime, Hotel Thelma boarded several notable celebrities who contributed to the cultural fabric of American history. Now, this landmark gets a new chapter.
“I feel a part of something special, not only the fact of giving back to the community but giving back to the history of the community and keeping history alive, because if we think about all the individuals that have (come) through here, just to name a few, Ike and Tine Turner, James Brown, Etta James, Little Richard, and today, they’re history in their own making,” [Reverend James J. Mitchell Sr., CEO of the Hotel Thelma Apartment Project] explained.
Read Megan’s full report here.
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We conclude our Black History in the Two Virginias Revisited special with a story from former WDBJ reporter, Patsy Montesinos who shows how one Gainsboro, Virginia librarian educated and advocated for the stories of black individuals on the written page.
Virginia Y Lee, born in West Virginia and raised in Roanoke, assumed the role of Gainsboro Librarian in 1928.
“You can’t mention the Gainsboro Branch Library without mentioning Ms. Lee’s name,” said Carla Lewis.
Lewis started working in the library a year after Lee retired in 1971. Wanting to follow in her footsteps, Lewis interviewed Lee twice. Lee shared anecdotes of the library’s early days when it was housed in the basement of the YMCA.
“She said it was a lot of rain. Sometimes the books would get wet, and magazines would get wet,” explained Lewis.
Lee’s determination to provide a better space for the community led her to petition Roanoke City for funds. Records show the city allocated $170,000 to build two libraries.
Read Patsy’s full report here.