The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Bridge that crosses the Dan River and leads into Danville, Va., on Sept. 2, 2020. The river runs deep through Danville, Va. It holds the town’s history and its promise for tomorrow. Winding back and forth across the border with North Carolina, it stitches together a particular story of the South and of a nation. Tales of heritage and of renewal that seem to be at a perpetual crossroads.
Danville has always hosted the nation’s biggest questions about race and capitalism and democracy. From before the Civil War and well into the 20th century, it was a powerhouse in the tobacco industry and world-renowned for its textile manufacturing. A millionaire’s row of Victorian mansions still tell of the concentrated wealth that once powered the region’s economy.