A state historical marker will be dedicated next month in Westmoreland County to commemorate a late 19th-century federal court case that helped lay the groundwork for one of the country’s earliest civil rights organizations.

The Stewart Sisters v. The Steamer Sue case involved Westmoreland natives Martha and Winnie Stewart, Mary Johnson and Lucy Jones, who in 1884 were denied first-class accommodations on the Steamer Sue while traveling from Baltimore to visit family in Kinsale because of their race. With support from their pastor, the Rev. Harvey Johnson of Baltimore’s Union Baptist Church, the women sued the Baltimore, Chesapeake, and Richmond Steamship Company, arguing that segregated quarters were illegal and unequal. 

The trial court ruled that segregation was reasonable but awarded each woman $100 because the accommodations were unequal. The federal appeals court upheld the ruling. The case became a catalyst for the creation of the Mutual United Brotherhood of Liberty, a precursor to the NAACP. 

The dedication ceremony is set for Saturday, Oct. 4 at noon at New Jerusalem Baptist Church, 2695 Kings Mill Road, Kinsale. The marker will be unveiled a few yards east of 13890 Cople Highway on Route 202. 

Virginia Tech associate professor Dennis Patrick Halpin, author of “A Brotherhood of Liberty: Black Reconstruction and Its Legacies in Baltimore, 1865-1920,” will provide a historical overview. Stewart descendants Dallas Henderson and Clint Thomas are also scheduled to speak, and Fannie Thomas, the only surviving grandchild of the Stewart sisters, will lead the unveiling with other descendants. A reception will follow at New Jerusalem Baptist Church. 

The Virginia Board of Historic Resources approved the marker in September 2024. The Middle Peninsula African-American Genealogical and Historical Society sponsored its creation.