Browse Items (9 total)

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

Manassas

Peter Jacob Carter rose from slavery to be an influential member of the General Assembly and sought-after political speaker during the 1870s and 1880s.

Northampton County

For seventy-five years Mary Virginia Hawes Terhune's pen name, Marion Harland, was nationally known to readers of her novels, short stories, and domestic advice.

Amelia County

Concerned about the plight of the working poor in Richmond, Rebekah Peterkin organized Sheltering Arms Hospital to provide free medical care.

Richmond

In 1870 Anna Whitehead Bodeker founded the first woman suffrage association in Virginia.

Richmond

For thirty-four years Mary Julia Baldwin was principal of the seminary that later became Mary Baldwin University.

Staunton

Born into slavery, Lucy Francis Simms was a highly respected elementary school teacher in Harrisonburg for more then fifty years.

Harrisonburg

An extraordinary orator who preached throughout the eastern United States, John Jasper in 1867 established Sixth Mount Zion Baptist Church, in Richmond.

Richmond

Born into slavery, John Wesley Cromwell went on to become an attorney, educator, and publisher of the People's Advocate.

Portsmouth and Norfolk County