Resilience Amid Resistance
Historic Marker Dedication & Exhibition Opening
Saturday, May 17, 2025, 10-11:30 am
You are invited to the dedication of a new state historical marker commemorating the first cases to implement the Brown v. Board of Education decision in Virginia and the ensuing fight against Virginia’s “Massive Resistance” to school integration.
The unveiling ceremony includes distinguished speakers Ms. Betty Kilby, Mr. Alex-Zan, and The Honorable Anne Holton.
The event will take place in front of the Federal District Courthouse, 116 North Main St., Harrisonburg. In case of rain, Court Square Theater.
Exhibition Opening, 12:30-2:30 pm, Rocktown History Museum
Immediately following the marker dedication, join us at Rocktown History for the opening of a companion exhibition that presents the fight for school equality across the state. Students from Rockingham County’s four high schools developed the exhibition in collaboration with the Moton Museum in Farmville, Virginia.
Together, the marker and this gallery honor the fight for school equality across the Commonwealth of Virginia. Resilience Amid Resistance is the 2025 edition of the Farmville Tour Guides Project, a decade-long independent study in which Rockingham County students have traveled to the Moton Museum in Farmville to lead place-based learning experiences about Virginia’s civil rights history. This year, they partnered with Rocktown History to bring that story home—building a bridge between our respective communities and connecting national, state, and local struggles for educational justice.
Historic marker, dedication event, and exhibition made possible by the generosity of Rocktown History donors, Karen Ewell, the Community Foundation of the Central Blue Ridge Douglas Guynn Charitable Fund, and Rockingham Educational Foundation, Inc.