Leesburg, Virginia courthouse named after Howard University dean is National Historic Site

LEESBURG, Va. — The Charles Hamilton Houston courthouse in Leesburg, Virginia, where a Howard University dean fought to put an end to all-white juries has been named one of the National Park Service's newest National Historic Sites. 

Between 1933 and 1934, Houston enlisted an all-Black team of NAACP lawyers to represent George Crawford in that courthouse, a man who had been accused of murdering two white women in Middleburg, Va. 

George Crawford like many Black men during this period had been unlikely to face a fair trial. Although he was convicted for murder, legal professors have said Houston's efforts likely kept the man off death row, while also bringing national attention to the case.

David Bradley, a now retired journalist living in Sterling, Va., wrote the 2014 book "The Historic Murder Trial of George Crawford." Bradley told WUSA9 he believes the designation reflects a long-awaited reckoning with Northern Virginia's past. 

"It's overdue. I'm really glad that it's been done and I would commend the Loudoun County government for getting that done," Bradley said.  "When I wrote the book there were monuments to confederate soldiers outside the courthouse, so clearly a lot of changes have been made in a short period of time." 

This moment in history has an official place in the roster of National Historic Sites after a nomination by Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland. 

This designation comes a year after the the county voted to rename the courthouse after Houston. 

Bradley said he believes the biggest milestone of the case was prosecuting the case against all-white juries with an all-Black team of lawyers. 

The National Park Service also acknowledged this feat. 

"Houston ... facilitated widespread recognition of the abilities of Black lawyers and laid the groundwork in the NAACP's campaign to use federal constitutional law to dismantle racial segregation," National Park Service said. 

The courthouse was built in 1894 but looks relatively similar to how it appeared in the 1930s, when Houston prosecuted his case alongside NAACP lawyers.

The courthouse is located in the Loudoun County Courthouse Complex near the corner of King and Market Streets.  

The National Historic Site label gives properties tax credits, access to grants and preservation assistance. There are more than 2,600 NHLs in the United States.

Charles Hamilton Houston died in 1950, more than a decade before Black Americans were able to exercise voting rights and before Jim Crow segregation ended in the United States. Still, Houston was given the nickname, "The Man who Killed Jim Crow" for the case's significance as a step toward racial justice and equality. 

Three other D.C. and Virginia locations were also named National Historic Sites earlier this month:

Washington, D.C.:

- Furies Collective in Northeast

- Slowe-Burrill House in Brookland

Virginia:

- Azurest South on Virginia State University's campus in Ettrick