80 Court Square
Harrisonburg, Virginia 22802
Directions from Harry Lee's Shoe Shine Parlor to site 34:
- Continue on S Main St for 250 feet
- Court Square is on the left and the driving is one way around the Courthouse
- Make a right onto Court Square
- Make a left and then another left as you drive around Court Square
- Look for parking if desired
For African Americans in Rockingham County, the Rockingham County Courthouse served as a symbol of a legal structure that was meant to keep them enslaved. Virginia Slave Laws underwent multiple transformations since the arrival of the first slave ship in 1619. Between the 1600s and 1800s, Virginian law became increasingly more restrictive for those who were enslaved and freed and sought to eliminate Black freedmen by creating a structure that made blackness synonymous with being enslaved. In 1803, the Virginia State Legislature passed a law requiring all freedmen in the state to register and acquire papers to carry with them. In 1806, a subsequent law was passed that mandated all newly freed enslaved persons leave the state within one year or risk being sold back into slavery.
Even after emancipation was granted in 1863, Virginia's legal system was designed to exclude Black people from attaining the same rights and protections as those granted to the state's white citizens. Over the decades, many lawsuits were filed in the state of Virginia that opposed racial discrimination laws such as the Racial Integrity Laws, Jim Crow (segregation) Laws, and laws prohibiting interracial marriage.
Historical documents at the Rockingham County Circuit Clerk’s Office unveil the history of African Americans in Rockingham County and Harrisonburg, which is often overlooked. Enslaved African Americans arrived in the Shenandoah Valley when European settlers came and forced them into agricultural or domestic labor. Records show lists of nearly 400 enslaved and freed persons living in the county until the 1860s. Criminal Courts Records Collection provides insight into the legal encounters that African Americans had and their proceedings. It also includes information on cases of freed individuals who remained in Virginia. This filed-away history is a reminder the black lives in Rockingham County’s history are almost forgotten and should be honorably remembered.
Even after emancipation was granted in 1863, Virginia's legal system was designed to exclude Black people from attaining the same rights and protections as those granted to the state's white citizens. Over the decades, many lawsuits were filed in the state of Virginia that opposed racial discrimination laws such as the Racial Integrity Laws, Jim Crow (segregation) Laws, and laws prohibiting interracial marriage.
Historical documents at the Rockingham County Circuit Clerk’s Office unveil the history of African Americans in Rockingham County and Harrisonburg, which is often overlooked. Enslaved African Americans arrived in the Shenandoah Valley when European settlers came and forced them into agricultural or domestic labor. Records show lists of nearly 400 enslaved and freed persons living in the county until the 1860s. Criminal Courts Records Collection provides insight into the legal encounters that African Americans had and their proceedings. It also includes information on cases of freed individuals who remained in Virginia. This filed-away history is a reminder the black lives in Rockingham County’s history are almost forgotten and should be honorably remembered.
