Oral

Louisa County Historical Society staff, volunteers, and community members have recorded hundreds of oral histories that tell the diverse stories of Louisa County’s past.

• Many Voices, One Decade: 1950s Louisa County

  • In 2018, the Louisa County Historical Society began an oral history project with the goal of documenting a broad and accurate picture of life in Louisa County during the 1950s by recording the memories of the people who lived it. The oral histories illustrate both similarities and differences in personal experiences and show that there is no one singular experience of Louisa County during the 1950s. This exhibit highlights major themes that emerged from the first year of this multi-year research project.
  • The oral history project was made possible through grant funding from the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation’s Enriching Communities Program. This exhibition was curated by Steven Jakobovic. We are deeply grateful to those who shared their memories with us and those who worked on the oral history interviews, research, and this exhibition.

• Freedom of Choice

  • On August 30, 1965, eleven years after the U.S. Supreme Court declared racial segregation of public schools unconstitutional, 13 African American students, formerly enrolled at the all-black A.G. Richardson High School or all-black elementary schools, desegregated Louisa County High School. Despite state and local government efforts to deny access to equal education through such measures as Massive Resistance and " Separate but Equal," these students, with the leadership and support of their parents, community members, and the NAACP, courageously sought and obtained the equal education deserved by all children.

• Representing our Residents

  • Representing Our Residents is an on-going campaign to continue oral history collection, broaden outreach programs, digitize and make available oral histories already recorded, and increase the awareness for preserving all stories, particularly those underrepresented, in our Louisa community.