Proposed historical marker would highlight the life of Roanoke’s Arthur Taubman

Arthur Taubman, a Star City resident who died in 1994, has had impacts on people across the world, from humanitarian efforts aiding European Jews during World War II to entrepreneurial efforts helping businesses take off in Israel and back home in Roanoke.

His efforts are carried on by his children. Most recently, his son and daughter-in-law, Nick and Jenny Taubman, gave $25 million to Carilion Clinic’s new cancer center , which will bear the Taubman family name. The city’s art museum also carries the Taubman name.

All these reasons led Nelson Harris, a local historian and former mayor of Roanoke, to choose Taubman’s story to focus on for his next application to the Virginia Historical Highway Marker Program. The Roanoke City Council approved the application during Monday’s meeting, and Harris mailed it off the next morning.

Now begins an estimated year-and-a-half-long process within the state Department of Historic Resources before the marker is potentially approved, manufactured and placed near Taubman’s home on McClanahan Avenue in South Roanoke.

Arthur Taubman came to Roanoke from Pittsburgh in 1932. He purchased three failing auto parts stores, pawning his engagement ring and Masonic ring to make the down payments. These stores became what’s now a nationwide chain of auto parts stores, Advance Auto Parts. According to a 1994 article in The Roanoke Times, Advance Stores never had a money-losing year when Taubman was the owner.

“[It’s] truly a rags-to-riches story,” Harris said. The company’s headquarters office was in Roanoke for decades, and Harris said the jobs and leadership positions created were beneficial to the community.

While living in Roanoke during World War II, Taubman helped an estimated 500 Jews travel to the United States through providing affidavits of support. During the war, this was one of several requirements for those seeking to get out of Europe.

Taubman’s story was the same for every affidavit: He was a “cousin” of the person who wanted to come to the United States. According to Harris, the FBI eventually questioned Taubman once it caught on.

Taubman’s business ventures extended outside the U.S. — he was the founding chairman of Alliance Tire and Rubber Co., which became Israel’s top business exporter, according to Harris.

In 1969, Taubman stepped down as the president of the Advance chain, then became chairman. He retired in 1973, and died in 1994 at age 92.

He was a founding member of the Roanoke Symphony and of United Way’s predecessor in the Roanoke Valley, and a chairman of the Roanoke Valley United Negro College Fund.

He received local recognition for his achievements, including the first brotherhood award of the National Conference of Christians and Jews in 1966, and was inducted into the Southwest Virginia Business Hall of Fame in 1992.

Harris said history is “so easily forgotten.” He spends a lot of time making sure that doesn’t happen in Roanoke. He sends one or two applications yearly to the highway marker program, in order to highlight parts of Roanoke’s history that he deems worthy of a historical marker.

Most recently, a marker was unveiled at the Claytor Memorial Clinic , telling the history of the Claytor family’s medical practice and the impact it had on Black health care in Southwest Virginia — another marker for which Harris was the applicant.

Harris said the historic marker application process is competitive. But, he said he never submits an application that “will not have a good chance at succeeding.”

The DHS scores a potential historic marker site through a point system. Points are gained for impact that reaches past the region or state, and according to the application, these markers are not to honor someone or something, rather to educate or address the history of a “marginalized or underrepresented community.” Harris said only 20 to 25 applications are approved per year for the entire state.

“These are markers that will still be standing long after I’m gone, and they will continue to tell a story,” Harris said.

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