Hear The Voices HLF Site Offers 20 Interviews With Black Rockbridge Leaders
Residents, relatives and descendants of Lexington’s Diamond Hill, where many freed slaves chose to settle after the Civil War, are the focus of a new online collection of 20 audio recordings narrated by the author of two books based on those oral history interviews.
The series is available on the website of Historic Lexington Foundation, www.HistoricLexington.org, in its “projects” section. HLF earlier published two companion books that wove together the recollections and contemporary views of Black Rockbridge elders and leaders.
Dr. Beverly Tucker, a two-term president of HLF, conducted the original interviews and narrates the 20 audio transcripts, and Dr. Laurent Boetsch, former acting president of Washington and Lee University, introduces each segment.
The interview transcripts were published as “The House on Fuller Street” and “Return to Fuller Street.” The “house” of the title was built in 1876 and owned by Hayden and Rebecca Holmes. HLF rescued it from imminent demolition in 2010 and restored its exterior.
In the process, HLF made many friendships, said Tucker, and those led to the oral history project. Each of the 20 recordings reflects a fascinating story, and together they constitute a key chapter in Rockbridge history, she noted.
