HARRISONBURG, VA (Rocktown Now) — Virginia Humanities has provided a Rapid Grant to help place Harrisonburg’s Ida M. Francis House on the National Register of Historic Places. The grant was awarded to Mountain Valley Archaeology, a regional nonprofit that works closely with community partners to discover, understand, and promote cultural heritage through education, citizen science, and focused research.

The Ida M. Francis House, in the City’s Northeast neighborhood, was a boarding house that served Black travelers from 1912-62. The house is the only surviving Green Book property in Harrisonburg. The Green Book was a listing of hotels, restaurants, and other businesses that served customers during segregation. The home was owned by the same family for 120 years and provides a critical window into Black middle-class life and travel in the Shenandoah Valley during the Jim Crow era.

Several partners came together to recognize and preserve the history of this important home, including Harrisonburg Mayor, Deanna Reed; her father, William Reed; Dr. Mollie Godfrey (JMU English and Africa, African American, and Diaspora Studies Center); Dr. Mark Metzler Sawin (EMU History and Honors Program); Dr. Carole Nash (JMU School of Integrated Sciences and Mountain Valley Archaeology); and JMU Libraries.

“The papers, photographs, books, and furnishings contained in the house, the stories of its occupants that have been passed on to surviving friends, and the house itself, all tell a vibrant story of Black life that is rarely told,” says Dr. Mark Metzler Sawin.

The Virginia Humanities grant will cover the costs of hiring an architectural historian to complete the nomination for National Register status and a graduate student to conduct and transcribe the oral histories. National Register status opens opportunities for public programming, structural stabilization, and preservation.

Virginia Humanities is the state humanities council. It aims to share the stories of all Virginians—or, better yet, find ways for people to share their own stories. It connects Virginians with their history and culture and, in doing that, help us all get to know each other a little better. Virginia Humanities is headquartered in Charlottesville at the University of Virginia and serves the entire state.