The October 30th 2021 dedication of two Virginia historic markers in downtown Bristol was the culmination of several years of work by a task force of community members.  The markers are the first to recognize African American residents of Bristol, the Reverend Charles Henry Johnson, longtime pastor of Lee Street Baptist Church, and Doctor Charles Spurgeon Johnson, his son. The Bristol Historical Association and Lee Street Baptist Church hosted this event which featured a very special guest, Jeh Johnson, former Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and grandson of Dr. Charles Spurgeon Johnson. The dedication was attended by many city leaders, ministers, historical preservation leaders, and citizens of the Bristol area, as well as a number of Johnson family members. Led by former Bristol Historical Association President Sid Oakley, the task force spent untold hours on the project which began following the publication of a 2017 Bristol Herald Courier article entitled "Bristol's Most Famous (Unknown) Son" which highlighted the life and career of Dr. Charles Spurgeon Johnson. Charles Spurgeon Johnson was born in Bristol and later became a noted scholar on race relations, focusing on understanding the root of racism and dismantling it from within. The Reverend Charles Henry Johnson led Lee Street Baptist Church from its humble beginnings in a little wooden church started in 1865 by thirty-nine freed slaves. The church was the hub of Bristol's African American community, and just two years after Johnson's call to Bristol in 1890, the congregation outgrew the building and moved to a new location on Lee Street between what is now the Bristol Virginia courthouse and the Lee Street Fire Station. The church thrived under C.H. Johnson's leadership, and he remained their pastor until his death in 1932.