Forty-three days, eight states, 13 cities, an estimated 4,000 miles, 14 repositories, five churches, three dozen cemeteries, and eight speaking engagements! Sounds like a lot, right? It was amazing and yet none of this holds a candle to the people I met and the stories they had to tell. In the current world of chaos …
Tuesday morning, Jan. 30 and it is day three of a 1100-mile journey to recreate the possible route used to walk the Louisiana 16 from Virginia to Louisiana in 1834. The distance traveled thus far is about 625 miles from Orange Co. VA to Bristol, VA the first day and on to Huntsville, AL the …
Watch Video Not an article just a blurb to see what you saw or see what you missed!! It was a fantastic program. Thank you Orange County African American Historical Society OCAAHS (sponsors); Darrell Howard (author); former ball players (amazing ); attendees (estimated between 75 and 100); Art Center of Orange (beautiful facilities); media (Orange Co. …
It has been a bit of a conundrum for me to balance the reason for the trip along this particular route with what one might call a travel log of the current-day experience. There is not a piece of me that would ever wish to trivialize the remarkable journey endured in 1834, while at the …
After four and a half days of travel on some pretty dubious back roads navigated by myself and a frequently frustrated GPS service who commanded me more than once to turn into a field bordered by a substantial fence, I arrived to a warm welcome in New Roads, Louisiana. Before I get too deep into …
And here I thought that six weeks would be more than enough time to bring the Louisiana 16 project to a conclusion. I have not let a moment pass but am concerned that there will not be enough time! As a reminder, I set out to close a few gaps in the documentation of the …
First and foremost, this is an invitation to save the date for a special afternoon: Sunday, Jan. 21, 3 p.m. at The Arts Center In Orange. The Orange County African American Historical Society (OCAAHS) will host its annual membership meeting highlighted by special guest, Darrell J. Howard. Howard, who lives in Charlottesville, is the author …
I could not have received better news and no doubt, Howard Lawson was also pleased that he was not dead, as I had been informed!I could not have received better news and no doubt, Howard Lawson was also pleased that he was not dead, as I had been informed! If you are just now tuning …
Let’s call this a “thoughty” essay posted, if for no other reason than it is the last day of 2017, and I, like millions of others, am contemplating the beginning of a new year. Which by the way is arbitrary: we can, through our own will, begin a new year, a new path, a new …
A few days before Christmas, I was contacted by a fellow who had purchased an older house that had not been lived in for quite some time and had fallen into serious disrepair. That and the fact that it was located on a power line easement left few options: he donated the house to the …