Browse Items (373 total)

News anchor Stephanie Rochon raised breast cancer awareness through her award-winning “Buddy Check 6” news segments.

Richmond

Mary Janipher Bennett Malveaux is the first African-American woman to serve as a judge of Henrico County’s General District Court and the second to sit on Virginia’s Court of Appeals.

Henrico County

An accomplished artist and musician, Christine Herter Kendall cofounded the Garth Newel Music Center in Bath County.

Bath County

As a teenager, Edwilda Allen Isaac helped lead a walkout of students from R. R. Moton High School that contributed to ending school segregation in the United States.

Farmville

Marcellus Spencer “Boo” Williams, Jr., created a nationally known summer youth basketball program and led the way in developing a state-of-the-art community sports facility in Hampton.

Hampton

Civil rights pioneer Olivia Ferguson McQueen successfully challenged school segregation in 1959, but did not receive her diploma for another fifty-four years.

Charlottesville

James Heyward Blackwell advanced the cause of African American public education in Richmond for more than forty years.

Richmond

Born into slavery, Lott Cary purchased his own freedom and became an early leader in the new West African colony of Liberia.

Charles City County

Seamstress and confidante of Mary Todd Lincoln, former slave Elizabeth Hobbs Keckly wrote a book detailing her life and experiences in the White House.

Dinwiddie County

Born into slavery, Jennie Serepta Dean founded a school at a time when segregation limited educational opportunities for African American students.

Manassas