NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — I recently visited The Newsome House Museum & Cultural Center to check out a collection of local history.
This beautiful Victorian style home on Oak Avenue was the home of Joseph Thomas Newsome and his wife Mary — two very important people in the history of Newport News.
"Mr. Newsom planted roots here because he saw a need for a figure like him: a lawyer, a civil rights leader, and an activist," said Tad Williams, a museum assistant at The Newsome House.
Newsome helped establish the first Black high school, Huntington High School. He was a member of the Elks Lodge and he helped establish several churches. He was a champion for voting rights, and The Newsome House was the only Black polling station for many years.
"He was also an amazing criminal defense attorney, which if you can imagine during the time of Jim Crow was very, very needed. He was the Johnnie Cochran of his time in this area," said Williams.
His wife, Mary, was also an advocate in the community. She hosted reading clubs and literacy classes for women in the neighborhood.
"There was no library for Black people at the time. So this home was the library. They had several of those bookcases in the parlor room for people to come and borrow books. This home was the location, it was the cultural hub for the Black community at the time, and those books and those bookshelves were a huge part of it," said Williams.
The Newsome House Museum & Cultural Center is open Thursday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Monday through Wednesday by appointment. Admission is a suggested donation of $2 per person.
Williams added, "If any community organizations are looking for a place to have their events, we're looking for some partnerships to develop that would really help this community. Do give us a call or come visit us and see what we're about."
The Newsome House is also working on a big expansion project to add two neighboring homes as a new event space and history archives.
