Oliver White Hill Sr. (1907-2007)

Roanoke (Ind. City) County · dedicated 2008 · 401 Gilmer Avenue NW

Oliver White Hill Sr., Presidential Medal of Freedom honoree, worked to dismantle Jim Crow laws in the United States. Over his nearly seven-decade career as a civil rights attorney, Hill challenged inequities in education, employment, and public facilities. With law partner Spottswood W. Robinson III, Hill argued Davis v. Prince Edward County, one of four cases consolidated into the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board. Hill lived here at 401 Gilmer Avenue NW with Lelia and Bradford Pentecost from 1913-1923. After completing high school, college, and law school in Washington, DC, he returned to Roanoke's Gainsboro community in 1934 to practice law. Hill settled in Richmond in 1939.

USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection

Example

under a mile from where William Gabby lived in the 1760s

what this marker records spans 1777 to 1789, overlapping William Gabby's years here

From one family's 77-marker roster

Upload your family tree and TreeAlive finds the markers near where your own ancestors lived.

See your family's markers

Start with a tree file, a FamilySearch sign in, or a WikiTree ID.

Report a problem with this page

The marker isn't at this spotOur pin may be off. If you know where it stands, tell us.I couldn't find the markerWe record what the source recorded. We have not been to look.The sign reads differentlyThat would be an error, and we can pass it to the program.The historical map looks wrongThe period map behind the pin, not the marker itself.Something else

We may pass what you report to the state's marker program. Please don't include personal details.

Marker program managed by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources.

More markers nearby

Edward Richard Dudley III (1911-2005)under 1 mi
Claytor Memorial Clinicunder 1 mi
Oscar Micheaux (1884-1951) 1893-1951under 1 mi
Hunton Life Saving and First Aid Crewunder 1 mi

On the National Register nearby

Colonial National Bank160 ft

Places within about 300 feet of this marker that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. A nearby listing is not always the marker's own subject.