Roanoke & Newport News Highlighted Free Virtual Programs To Explore Va. Urban Renewal Displacements

RICHMOND

Three free programs exploring urban renewal stories of the displacement of Black neighborhoods in Virginia communities are being offered virtually by The Library of Virginia, presented in conjunction with the exhibition “House to Highway: Reclaiming a Community History,” on view through Feb. 28, 2026.

Urban renewal projects in Roanoke and Newport News that displaced Black families, as well as the story of families displaced for the construction of the Shenandoah National Park will be presented virtually and require registration

The first program on Thursday, Jan. 22 at noon explores the history of urban renewal in Roanoke and its impact on the city’s Black community, presented by journalist Mary Carter Bishop and historian Jordan Bel. Bishop authored the groundbreaking 1995 Roanoke Times’ special section “Street by Street, Block by Block: How Urban Renewal Uprooted Black Roanoke.” Bell is a Roanoke-based educator, historian and community advocate. Registration is required at https://lva-virginia.libcal.com/event/15784638.

  On Feb. 5, author and professor Katrina M. Powell will present a noon virtual talk about the families whose homes were displaced through eminent domain by the Shenandoah National Park’s construction in the 1930s.

Registration is required at https://lva-virginia.libcal.com/event/15784706.

  The Newport News displacement program takes place on March 5 at 6 p.m. with a screening of the short documentary film “Uprooted”, followed by a discussion with director Brandi Kellam and a panel of guests.

The film explores a Black community’s decades-long battle to retain its land as officials in Newport News established and expanded Christopher Newport University. The discussion panel includes Kellam; Robert K. Nelson, director of the Digital Scholarship Lab at the University of Richmond; LaToya Gray-Sparks, community outreach coordinator for the Virginia Department of Historic Resources; and Dwayne Johnson, a community member whose parents, James and Barbara Johnson, are featured in the film and still own one of the five remaining homes in the former Black community.

Registration is required at https://lva-virginia.libcal.com/event/16151474.