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.
Our locally-staked program presenters include
- VMI History Professor, Madeleine Forrest Ramsey
- Local historian, Dr. Sandra Hayslette
- RHS Executive Director, Eric Wilson
- RHS Trustee Tom Camden, W&L Special Collections Director Emeritus, and a descendant of one of the families involved in bringing that case to the Rockbridge Circuit Court
Learn more in this News-Gazette article on the topic from November 4, 2026.