The City of Winston-Salem and the Forsyth County Historic Resources Commission announced on May 28 that they will host a public unveiling of a new North Carolina Civil Rights Trail marker on Saturday, May 30, at 3 p.m. The event will take place at the YWCA Best Choice Learning Center, located at 1031 Highland Avenue.
The installation is part of a statewide initiative to recognize sites significant to the Civil Rights Movement. The new historic marker commemorates the 1914 State Supreme Court decision in State v. Darnell, which limited cities’ authority to enforce residential segregation ordinances. The marker is provided by the North Carolina African American Heritage Commission with support from the North Carolina Office of Archives & History, Visit NC, and the William G. Pomeroy Foundation.
In 1914, William Darnell and his wife Lillie moved into a home on Highland Avenue in what was then a predominantly white neighborhood. They were charged under a city ordinance restricting where Black and white residents could live. After lower courts found Darnell guilty, the North Carolina Supreme Court ruled that Winston lacked authority to enforce such an ordinance. This ruling invalidated similar laws elsewhere in North Carolina and received national attention as an early legal challenge against Jim Crow-era housing restrictions.
The text for the historic marker reads: State v. Darnell: “In 1914 William Darnell won N.C. Supreme Court Case overturning segregated residential ordinance in Winston-Salem.”
The City of Winston-Salem serves as a municipal government overseeing local public services and governance for its residents; it operates under a City Council system with eight members representing wards and a mayor elected citywide, according to the official website.
