Black History Bus Wrap

In observance of Black History Month, the Danville Transit System placed in service on Wednesday, February 3, 2021, a new bus wrap that celebrates Black History over a 150-year period.

The concept for Danville’s bus wrap is similar to the Corpus Christi (Texas) Transit System’s 2018 Black History bus wrap. Public input was received regarding the bus wrap via the City of Danville’s Facebook page. Members of the Transportation Advisory Committee selected the images of 12 different African Americans for the bus wrap shown as a mural on both sides of a transit vehicle. The vehicle with the Black History bus wrap will be placed on different fixed-route bus runs. This bus can be viewed at Danville’s Transfer Center, which is located at 515 Spring St., during scheduled service breaks at 10:00 a.m. and 3:15 p.m., Monday through Saturday.

Those featured on the 2021 edition are listed below. In addition, biographical information concerning each distinguished individual recognized in the bus wrap is available for review inside Danville’s Transfer Center.

Carter G. Woodson

Carter Godwin Woodson was an American historian, author, journalist, and the founder of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. He was one of the first scholars to study the history of the African migration, including African American history. A founder of The Journal of Negro History in 1916, Woodson has been called the "Father of Black History". In February 1926, he launched the celebration of "Negro History Week", the precursor of Black History Month. Born in Virginia, the son of former slaves, Woodson had to put off his schooling while he worked in the coal mines of West Virginia. He graduated from Berea College and became a teacher and school administrator. He gained graduate degrees at the University of Chicago and in 1912 was the second African American, after W.E.B. Du Bois, to obtain a PhD degree from Harvard University. Most of Woodson's academic career was spent at Howard University, a historically black university located in Washington, D.C., where he eventually served as the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.

Bishop Lawrence Campbell Sr. and Gloria Campbell

Bishop Lawrence Campbell Sr. and wife Gloria founded Bibleway Cathedral in 1953. Bishop Campbell has served as pastor since that time and has also served as the chief apostle and presiding bishop of the Bibleway Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ, leading over 300 churches in the United States, England, Africa and the Caribbean from 1998 until 2006. Campbell, a U.S. Navy veteran, was a civil rights organizer and leader in Danville during the 1960s, and has been a local voice and civil rights champion ever since. Bishop Campbell recently wrote a book called 1963: A Turning Point in Civil Rights. The book recounts Lawrence's experience with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the struggle for equality in Danville. In a 2013, Danville Register and Bee newspaper article, Bishop Campbell remarked “Bibleway started in June of 1953 in a vacant lot [on White Street]; we used God’s heaven for our roof and his stars for our chandeliers and an old Victrola for my lectern,” Campbell said nostalgically. “A man gave me some old wood and I dug holes and built pews for the people to sit on. That’s how we started.”

W.E.B. Du Bois

William Edward Burghardt Du Bois was an American Sociologist, historian, civil rights activist and writer who rose to national prominence as the leader of the Niagara Movement, a group of African American activists that wanted equal rights for blacks. He was the first African American to earn a doctorate and became a professor of history, sociology and economics at Atlanta University. Du Bois was one of the founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in 1909. He insisted on full civil rights and increased political representation. Racism was the main target of Du Bois's arguments and he strongly protested against lynching, Jim Crow laws and discrimination in employment. His cause included people of color everywhere, particularly Africans and Asians in colonies. He was a proponent of Pan-Africanism and helped to fi for the independence of African colonies from European powers. Du Bois was also a prolific author.

The Edmunds Brothers

The Edmunds Brothers made history in the 2018 National Football League (NFL) when Tremaine and Terrell Edmunds were selected in the first round, which made them the first pair of brothers to ever be taken in the same NFL Draft first round. Their selections allowed them to join their oldest brother, Trey, who was already in the NFL for a year at that point. The trio faced off for the first time in 2019, when Bills linebacker Tremaine went up against Steelers safety Terrell and fullback Trey. It was the first meeting of three brothers in the same game since 1927, according to Elias Sports Bureau. The presence of the three Edmunds brothers in the NFL makes them a second-generation pro football family after their father, Ferrell, who was a two-time Pro Bowler at tight end with the Miami Dolphins and the Seattle Seahawks. The Edmunds brothers are also very involved with supporting their community through various activities including the development of a children's book by providing positive words and motivation to future student-athletes, siblings, and others concerning valuable life lessons.

Booker T. Washington

Booker Taliaferro Washington was an American educator, author, orator, and adviser to multiple presidents of the United States. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the dominant leader in the African American community. Washington was from the last generation of black American leaders born into slavery and became the leading voice of the former slaves and their descendants. Washington was a key proponent of African American businesses and one of the founders of the National Negro Business League. His base was the Tuskegee Institute, a historically black college, which he founded. In 1895, Washington mobilized a nationwide coalition of middle-class blacks, church leaders, and white philanthropists and politicians, with a long-term goal of building the community's economic strength and pride by a focus on self-help and schooling. Washington also supported court challenges to segregation and to restrictions on voter registration.

Fannie Lou Hamer

Fannie Lou Hamer was an American voting and women’s rights activist, community organizer, and a leader in the civil-rights movement, which she represented at the 1964 Democratic National Convention. She also organized Mississippi’s Freedom Summer along with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and was a co-founder of the National Women’s Political Caucus, an organization created to recruit, train, and support women of all races who wish to seek election to government office. Hamer became involved in civil rights activism in 1962. She was known for her use of spiritual hymnals and quotes and her resilience in leading the civil rights movement for black women in Mississippi. She helped and encouraged thousands of African Americans in Mississippi to become registered voters and assisted hundreds of disenfranchised people in her area through her work in programs like the Freedom Farm Cooperative. In 1970, she led legal action against the government of Sunflower County, Mississippi for continued illegal segregation.

Ralph Bunche

Ralph Johnson Bunche was an American political scientist, academic, and diplomat who received the 1950 Nobel Peace Prize for his late 1940s mediation in Israel. He was also involved in the formation and administration of the United Nations and played a major role in numerous peacekeeping operations sponsored by the United Nations. In 1963, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President John F. Kennedy. Mr. Bunche served on the US delegation in the 1940s that drafted the United Nations charter and served on the American delegation to the first session of the United Nations General Assembly in 1946. In 1948, he became an acting mediator for the Middle East, negotiating an armistice between Egypt and Israel. For this success, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1950. He continued to serve at the United Nations, working on crises in the Sinai (1956), the Congo (1960), Yemen (1963), Cyprus (1964) and Bahrain in 1970, reporting directly to the United Nations secretary general. He also chaired study groups dealing with water resources in the Middle East. In 1957, he was promoted to Undersecretary for special political affairs, having prime responsibility for peacekeeping.

Maggie L. Walker

Maggie Lena Walker was born on July 15, 1864 in Richmond, Virginia. She graduated from school in 1883 and pursued a career in teaching. She married a brick contractor in 1886 and left her teaching job, at which point she became more active within the Independent Order of St. Luke, an organization dedicated to the social and financial advancement of African Americans. In 1899, Walker became the grand secretary of the organization — a position that she would hold for the rest of her life. During her tenure, she founded the organization's newspaper and opened a highly successful bank and a department store. By the time she died, on December 15, 1934, Walker had turned the nearly bankrupt organization into a profitable and effective one. Ms. Walker is recognized as the first African American woman to charter a bank and serve as its president in the United States. As a leader, Ms. Walker achieved successes with the vision to make tangible improvements in the way of life for African Americans. Disabled by paralysis and a wheelchair user later in life, Walker also became a role model for persons with disabilities.

Representative John Lewis

John Robert Lewis was an American politician and civil rights activist and leader of the United States House of Representatives for Georgia’s 5th congressional district. He was also the chair of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee from 1963 to 1966. Lewis was one of the leaders of groups, who organized the 1963 March on Washington. He fulfilled many key roles in the civil rights movement and its actions to end legalized racial segregation in the United States. In 1965, Lewis led the first of three Selma to Montgomery marches across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. A member of the Democratic Party, Lewis was first elected to Congress in 1986 and served 17 terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. The district he represented included most of Atlanta. Due to his length of service, he became the dean of the Georgia congressional delegation. While in the House of Representatives, Lewis was one of the leaders of the Democratic Party, serving from 1991 as a Chief Deputy Whip and from 2003 as a Senior Chief Deputy Whip. Congressman Lewis received many honorary degrees and awards including the Presidential Medal of Freedom.