‘It was a community within a city. It was a city within a city’ One Roanoke artist brings Gainsboro neighborhood to life
ROANOKE, Va. (WFXR) — In Gainsboro and Northeast Roanoke, thriving black neighborhoods existed with streets lined with black-owned enterprises like grocery stores and restaurants.
While this neighborhood no longer exists, one local artist, David Ramey, is ensuring they’re never forgotten.
“The smells coming from the different restaurants and hotels, the horns blowing, people chattering, smoke rising from the buildings. It was just something that he loved to see on each and every day of his life,” shared David Ramey Jr., the artist’s son.
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David Ramey Jr. is talking about the community his father grew up in the 40s through the 60s, the lively Northeast and Gainsboro area in Roanoke.
It was a community within a city. It was a city within a city,”
Charles Price, board president of the Harrison Museum.
At that time, it was a rare place where African Americans didn’t have to worry about segregation.
“When you are in the northeast Gainsboro area, you don’t have to worry about that. You drank from whatever fountain was there; that was a public fountain,” shared Price. “You didn’t have to worry about stepping to the side of the sidewalk to let someone else who’s not your race go past.”
According to the Gainsboro History Project, the area held 1,600 homes, several schools, more than 20 churches, and countless businesses, is a distant memory.
“He managed to record from memory, even without the use of photographs, which I find so amazing,” stated Karl Willers, the Chief Curator of the Taubman Museum of Art.
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He wanted to share it with individuals,”
David Ramey Jr.
Split between the Harrison Museum of African American Culture and the Taubman Museum of Art, people can travel to the once-vibrant neighborhood and view 200 drawings paired with 150 stories.
“A man with a unique talent. I think that comes along, maybe once or twice a century,” shared Willers.
“There are no photographs, or if there are, very few that could illustrate what he is doing from a personal perspective,” stated Price.
David, a self-taught artist, takes people like Charles Price back in time to the neighborhood he remembers before it was demolished to make room for buildings and roads used today.
“The Bergland Center and McDonald’s, all of those places used to be homes and businesses,” shared Ramey Jr.
“To see something in your mind, you could think about, but not illustrate. David has done that. He has pulled things out that, I remember, and say, Oh, yeah, that’s how we stood on the corner,” shared Price.
David Senior is gone, but his work ensures those memories and his memory will always stay alive.
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That was his legacy to, not only make sure people could see the images, but they could read and the stories and learn about how it was,”
David Ramey Jr.
Ramey Jr. says he hopes his father’s work not only lives on at the Harrison Museum of African American Culture and Taubman Museum of Art, but eventually travels to other museums. For now, explorers can experience the exhibition through March 30.
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