BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) — Virginia Tech has named its second-oldest building for an enslaved family whose history was in danger of being forgotten.
The Roanoke Times reports a three-room, white home near the Duck Pond is now named the Fraction Family House. Virginia Tech’s Board of Visitors voted unanimously on the name in early April.
Historians believe the Fractions had the most family members who lived at the Smithfield, Solitude and Whitethorne plantations on land that’s now part of Virginia Tech’s campus, as well as the Hethwood area of Blacksburg.
Kerri Moseley-Hobbs is a descendant of Thomas Fraction, who was enslaved at Solitude and later enlisted with the Union Army during the Civil War. She says it’s right that the building was named for her ancestors to commemorate all African Americans who worked the land.
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Information from: The Roanoke Times, http://www.roanoke.com
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