RICHMOND, Va. — Governor Ralph Northam on Friday announced the inaugural Black History Month Historical Marker Contest.
The competition invites students, teachers, and families to learn more about African Americans who have made important contributions to Virginia history. The contest encourages ideas for new signs to teach history along Virginia’s roadways.
The contest will try and inspire schools to feature a different African American historical marker each day of February, it will provide teachers with resources to guide history discussions, promote Black History Month events around the Commonwealth, and initiates a competition for students to submit ideas for new historical markers to the Virginia Department of Historical Resources.
“Black history is American history,” said Governor Northam. “But for too long, we have told an inaccurate and simplified version of that history that did not include everyone. This competition is one new way to help tell a more true and inclusive story of our shared past. It means teaching history that accurately reflects the full spectrum of stories and experiences.”
Virginia’s Historical Highway Marker Program is an effort to recognize and chronicle events, accomplishments, sacrifices, and personalities of historic importance to Virginia’s story. The signs are known for their black lettering against a silver background and their distinctive shape. It is the first program of its type in the United States. The Virginia Department of Transportation and the Department of Historic Resources manage the program.
The Commonwealth has erected more than 2,600 markers along Virginia’s roadways, but only 350 markers honor African Americans. The program was created in 1927.
Click here for more information about the Black History Month Historical Marker Contest.
