Leonard Harris at the Sumner-Ramer School African American Museum and Archive in Martinsburg
Date:
2016-07-20
Creator:
Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
Berkeley County (W. Va.), Martinsburg (W. Va.), Community museums, African Americans--History, Segregation in education, School integration, and African Americans--Appalachian Region
![["With his wife, Leonard Harris (b. Martinsburg, WV, 1936) is the co-founder of Sumner-Ramer School African American Museum and Archive in Martinsburg, West Virginia. He is an alumnus of Sumner-Ramer, which was the Black school in Berkeley County during segregation. The school closed in 1965, one year after schools in the county were integrated and 10 years after the Brown v. Board ruling. The Sumner-Ramer Museum and Archive is located in a ground-floor room of the school building and contains materials from the school and its alumni, including ephemera, photos, artifacts, portraits, and more."]](/thumb/4224HarrisLeonardPhoto00172016 "Leonard Harris at the Sumner-Ramer School African American Museum and Archive in Martinsburg")
![["George Rutherford (b. October 1935) is a native and resident of Charles Town, West Virginia. He has been the president of the Jefferson County NAACP since 1972 and is involved in the Jefferson County Black History Preservation Society as well as the restoration of the Web Blessing House [John Blessing was a friend of John Browns and recipient of his Bible] in Charles Town. He spoke about his work preserving local Black history, and the events and projects of the local NAACP including a Juneteenth Celebration, Black Heritage Festival, soul food tasting, and marches.Jefferson County Black History Preservation Society: https://www.jcblackhistory.org/"]](/thumb/4224RutherfordGeorgePhoto00111719 "George Rutherford in his Charles Town home")