All the people designated as Bridge Builders from 2001 to 2016 had worked to bridge gaps between various parts of the community: between African-American and white citizens, persons who had been incarcerated or who had disabilities, and persons of varying economic status.
DREWARY J. BROWN
Drewary Brown was an inspirational civil rights leader in Charlottesville from the 1960s until his death in 1998. Shortly after his death, City Council voted to name the newly designed replacement bridge on West Main Street in honor of him and periodically to select others who, like him, had built bridges in the community, honoring them by plaques placed on the bridge railings.
THE BOOK
Bridge Builders 2001-2016, Charlottesville, VA is a compilation of brief biographies of Drewary Brown and 36 other people of the greater Charlottesville community who learned to cross bridges of race, economic status, and other differences to work together for a better community. From Drewary Brown to Holly Edwards, from Betz Gleason to William Washington, a history of the community from the desegregation era of the 1940s-50s to the first two decades of the 21st century emerges.