An introductory slideshow presentation will be followed by a roundtable conversation illuminating some of the ways in which local Rockbridge residents challenged Virginia’s 1924 Racial Integrity Act, just a few months after its passage (2 S. Main St., Lexington). Meaningfully, we will gather in the Community Reading Room on the ground floor of Rockbridge’s 1897 “Old Court House”: the very same building where one of these challenges — petitioning to receive a marriage license under the terms of the newly restrictive state law– was successfully litigated 102 years ago. The event is scheduled for November 15th, 2026 at 2:30pm.
Join us on October 19th at 5:15pm in the University Chapel on the campus of Washington and Lee to hear from Monticello President & CEO Dr. Jane Kamensky. If you can’t make the talk, learn more in the recent article in The News-Gazette.
Join RHS in April and May to explore the histories and experiences of some of the nearly 1,500 free Black people who lived in Rockbridge between its founding in 1778, and the arrival of Emancipation in 1865. Check back here for more details on specific events, and related resources, as our series progresses.
The Rockbridge Historical Society’s new exhibit, ROCKBRIDGE AT PLAY: Toys, Games & Histories, welcomes “kids of all ages” at the RHS Museum (101 E. Washington St.): open Saturdays & Sundays 12-4 PM through December 2025. The exhibit features a variety of toys, historic photographs, and locally-tied artifacts, drawn from both RHS’ permanent collections and unique community-sourced loans. Displays cluster around a range of themes marking childhood and adolescent play in the 19th and 20th centuries: including Sports, Scouting, Sewing, Shopping … and even the Circus. For more, click HERE for the feature article in Lexington’s News-Gazette. RHS Museum Open House: ‘Bring Your Old Toys’Saturday, September 27,…
