Events and Activities
Victory Stadium: How a Lawyer, a Minister, and Twenty Football Players Helped End Segregation in Virginia and Professional Sports
Thursday, February 13 at 7:00pm at Roanoke College's Logan Gallery, inside the former Farmers National Bank building
View the livestream Here.
In August 1961, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Colts were scheduled to play a pre-season football game at Victory Stadium in Roanoke, Virginia. However, a Virginia statute required that seating for the contest be segregated. In response to the decision by local organizers and officials to sell tickets to the game on a segregated basis, a local civil rights lawyer and a local minister worked together to bring national attention to the injustice of the law by organizing the first successful civil rights boycott of a professional sporting event.
Based on his upcoming journal article, Professor Alex Long of the University of Tennessee College of Law will deliver the talk a talk on the incredible significance of this civil rights milestone. This Speaker Series talk will be held February 13, 2025 at 7:00pm on the Roanoke College campus. It will be in the ground floor Logan Gallery of the former Farmers National Bank building. The talk is free and open to the public.
Parking for this event is available in the following Roanoke College parking lots: P10, P11, P14 and P28. This event is a joint presentation of the Salem Museum & Historical Society, the Historical Society of Western Virginia, the Roanoke College Anthropology Concentration, the Roanoke College Center for Studying Structures of Race, and the Roanoke Valley Preservation Foundation.
Hands-On History Saturdays
Join us each week for Hands-on History Saturdays! On Saturdays from 10-4, visitors will get the chance to pull on curators’ gloves and hold a piece of history in their hands. Come see, up close, artifacts that are not often on display. A new theme every month!
Mark Your Calendar
Monthly Speaker Series
Second Thursday of each month. March=Salem Rescue Squad
"Give Me Liberty" 250
March 23, 1:30pm. Join us at the Museum for a livestream of Richmond's 250 commemoration of Patrick Henry's famous speech.
Rescue Squad Day
March 29, 10am-4pm. Visit the Museum to meet members of the Rescue Squad and see some of their trucks and equipment.
Salem Red Sox History Night
April 5, 6:35pm. Salem Red Sox celebrate the 30th anniversary of Carillion Field. Join Museum staff at the game to see items from Salem's baseball history.
Glenvar Student Art Reception
April 15. To open the Glenvar Student art show, celebrate these students and their wonderful art work.
Lexington and Concord US250 Celebration
April 19, 10am-4pm. Can't make it to Boston to celebrate? Visit the Museum instead to meet living historians and hear lectures about this important battle that began the Revolutionary War.
Arts Days 2025
May 3, 10am-4pm. Come see how artists make their craft and try it out for yourself.
Andrew Lewis Weekend
June 7 & 8. Join us to celebrate 250 years since Lewis expelled Lord Dunmore from Williamsburg. Meet living historians and see the unveiling of the Museum's new VA250 exhibit.
Lord Dunmore Day
September 6, 10am-4pm. Hear the other perspective of history. Meeting living historians and learn about the British perspectives during the Revolutionary War.
Ghost Walk 2025
October 2-4, 6pm-8pm. Our annual Ghost Walk returns to East Hill Cemetery.
Gingerbread Festival 2025
December 6. The Salem-Roanoke County Chamber of Commerce Festival returns to Longwood Park with the annual Gingerbread House Competition on display inside the Museum.
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Sun - Mon: Closed
Tue - Sat: 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
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Sun - Mon: Closed
Tue - Sat: 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
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