RICHMOND, Va. – The Virginia Department of Historic Resources announced that it will dedicate a state historical highway marker in Norfolk to honor Plummer Bernard “P.B.” Young.
P.B. Young is known for starting The Journal and Guide, an African-American weekly paper that was one of the most-widely circulated of its kind during the mid-20th Century.
Officials say that a ceremony honoring the placement of the historical marker will be held at the Vivan C. Mason Arts & Technology Center on Wednesday, December 13 at 11. a.m.
Norfolk Mayor Kenneth Cooper Alexander; Father Harold J. Cobb Jr., Rector, Grace Episcopal Church; Peggy Haile McPhillips, president of the Norfolk Historical Society; Brenda H. Andrews, owner and publisher of the New Journal and Guide; and Dr. Colita Nichols Fairfax, of the Virginia Board of Historic Resources will speak at the event.
Young moved from North Carolina in 1907 to work for the Lodge Journal and Guide, which was owned by an African-American fraternal organization. By 1910 he had bought the paper, expanded it, and renamed the paper to The Journal and Guide.
Young’s paper by the 1940’s was on of the most widely circulated “weeklies” for African-Americans in the nation, according to the highway marker in his honor.
Along with being one of Virginia’s most influential black citizens, he was also a trustee of Howard University and Hampton Institute, and chaired Norfolk State University’s advisory board.
Officials say Virginia’s historical highway marker program, which began in 1927, is considered the oldest such program in the nation. Currently there are more than 2,500 official state markers, most maintained by the Virginia Department of Transportation, as well as by local partners in jurisdictions outside of VDOT’s authority such as Norfolk.
