House to Highway: Reclaiming a Community History Symposium

The “House to Highway” exhibition is the capstone of a four-year research partnership between the Library of Virginia and The JXN Project to uncover the origin of Richmond’s Jackson Ward neighborhood, highlighting the untold story of Abraham Peyton Skipwith as its “founding father.” Born into slavery, Skipwith became a successful businessman who seized the spirit of the Revolutionary era to achieve his freedom in 1789. His family descendants helped construct a new Black independence in the 19th century through entrepreneurship, community building and political action. As one of the original “Black Wall Streets,” Jackson Ward became the crown jewel for Black Richmond with thriving businesses and cultural institutions. Construction of the Richmond–Petersburg Turnpike in the 1950s, however, sliced the community in two and displaced more than 1,000 residents and business owners.

Our day-long symposium, held at the Library of Virginia on Oct. 25, 2025, explored themes highlighted in the exhibition, including urban renewal, historic preservation and Black history. Additional sessions included a workshop on historic preservation and a discussion on grassroots historic preservation efforts.

View the session recordings below.

Schedule of Events

9:00–10:00 a.m. | Welcome & Keynote Remarks: Jackson Ward’s Reversals of Fortune

Calvin Schermerhorn, professor of history at Arizona State University and author of “The Plunder of Black America: How the Racial Wealth Gap Was Made,” discusses Jackson Ward's history and what it shares with other Black urban neighborhoods in the U.S. 

10:15–11:15 a.m. | Uncovering the History of Virginia's Free People of Color

Warren Milteer, associate professor of history at George Washington University and author of “Beyond Slavery's Shadow: Free People of Color in the South,” discusses his research on the history of free people of color in Virginia, including some of the important sources used to better understand their collective story. 

11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. | Unearthing Urban Renewal’s Lasting Impacts Across Virginia

John Finn, associate professor of geography and chair of the Department of Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology at Christopher Newport University, will examine how the Housing Law of 1937 and the Housing Act of 1949, as well as influential urban planners like Harland Bartholomew, set the stage for the widespread destruction of lower-income Black neighborhoods in Virginia in the name of redevelopment. This session will highlight Norfolk’s Project One, the first federal urban renewal project in the United States, and show how slum clearance and urban renewal in Norfolk strengthened the city’s pre-existing lines of residential racial segregation and further entrenched de facto school segregation in the decades following the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision. 

1:30–2:30 p.m. | The Tragedy and Legacy of Urban Renewal in Richmond, Virginia

Latoya Gray-Sparks, community outreach coordinator for the Department of Historic Resources, shares her research on urban renewal and its impact on historic African American neighborhoods in Richmond. She will also highlight stories in which community activists utilized historic preservation as a tool of resistance and conservation. 

2:45–3:45 p.m. | Grassroots Historic Preservation Panel Discussion

This panel discussion moderated by historian Gregg Kimball focuses on community-oriented preservation efforts in Richmond:

• Ana Edwards, public historian and assistant professor of African American history at Virginia Commonwealth University 
• Viola Baskerville, former Virginia Secretary of Administration, former member of the Virginia House of Delegates and co-founder of Save Richmond Community Hospital 
• Sesha Joi Moon, co-founder and executive director of The JXN Project