Virginia Women in History

Virginia Women in History is an annual program sponsored by the Library of Virginia that honors eight Virginia women, living and dead, for their contributions to their community, region, state, and nation.^[1] The program began in 2000 under the aegis of the and Delta Kappa Gamma Society International; since 2006 it has been administered by the Library of Virginia.

2007 honorees[]

• Mary Willing Byrd (1740–1814), Charles City County, planter
• Maybelle Addington Carter (1909–1978), Scott County, singer
• Laura Lu Scherer Copenhaver (1868–1940), Smyth County, founder of Rosemont Industries and Lutheran lay leader
• Mary Alice Franklin Hatwood Futrell (1940– ), Lynchburg, educator
• Mary Jeffery Galt (1844–1922), Norfolk, preservationist
• Sheila Crump Johnson (1949– ), Loudoun County, founder of Black Entertainment Television (BET) and sports franchise owner
• Opossunoquonuske (fl. 1607–1610), Chesterfield County, Appamattuck leader
• Camilla Williams (1919–2012), Danville, opera singer

2008 honorees[]

• Frances Culpeper Berkeley (baptized 27 May 1634–ca. 1695), James City County, leader of the Green Spring faction
• Lucy Goode Brooks (1818–1900), Richmond, founder of the Friends' Asylum for Colored Orphans
• Providencia Velazquez Gonzalez (1917– ), Dale City, community activist
• Elizabeth Bermingham Lacy (1945– ), Richmond, judge of the Supreme Court of Virginia
• Sharyn McCrumb (1948– ), Roanoke County, writer
• Patricia Buckley Moss (1933– ), Waynesboro, artist and philanthropist
• Isabel Wood Rogers (1924–2007), Richmond, moderator, General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA)
• Edith Turner (Wané Roonseraw) (ca. 1754–1838), Southampton County, chief of the Nottoway (Cheroenhaka)

2009 honorees[]

• Pauline Adams (1874–1957), Norfolk, suffragist
• Caroline Bradby Cook (born ca. 1839), King William County, Pamunkey leader and Unionist
• Claudia Emerson (1957– ), Fredericksburg, poet
• Drew Gilpin Faust (1947– ), Clarke County, historian and president of Harvard University
• Joann Hess Grayson (1948– ), Harrisonburg, educator and advocate for abused children
• Mary Randolph (1762–1828), Chesterfield County and Richmond, writer
• Virginia Estelle Randolph (1874–1958), Henrico County, educator
• Mary Sue Terry (1947– ), Patrick County, attorney general

2010 honorees[]

• Mollie Holmes Adams (1881–1973), King William County, Upper Mattaponi leader
• Ethel Bailey Furman (1893–1976), Richmond, architect
• Edythe C. Harrison (1934– ), Norfolk, civic leader
• Janis Martin (1940–2007), Danville, singer and composer
• Kate Mason Rowland (1840–1916), Richmond, writer
• Jean Miller Skipwith (1748–1826), Mecklenburg County, book collector
• Queena Stovall (1888–1980), Lynchburg and Amherst County, artist
• Marian A. Van Landingham (1937– ), Alexandria, civic leader

2011 honorees[]

• Lucy Addison (1861–1937), Roanoke, educator
• Eleanor Bontecou (1891–1976), Arlington County, attorney
• Emily White Fleming (1855–1941), Fredericksburg, preservationist
• Pearl Fu (1941– ), Roanoke, civic leader
• Lillian Lincoln Lambert (1940– ), Mechanicsville, businesswoman and author
• Bessie Niemeyer Marshall (1884–1960), Petersburg, botanical illustrator
• Felicia Warburg Rogan (1927– ), Albemarle County, vintner
• Elizabeth Henry Campbell Russell (1749–1825), Saltville, Methodist lay leader

2012 honorees[]

Monica Beltran, a soldier in the Virginia Army National Guard who was awarded the Bronze Star Medal with Valor, one of the 2012 honorees.

• Susie May Ames^[2] (1888–1969), Accomack County, historian
• Monica Beltran (born 1985), Woodbridge, army Bronze Star Medal recipient^{[3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]}
• Christiana Burdett Campbell^[11] (c. 1723–1792), Williamsburg, innkeeper
• Betty Sams Christian^[12] (1922–2006), Richmond, business executive and philanthropist
• Elizabeth Peet McIntosh (1915–2015), Woodbridge, intelligence agent
• Orleana Hawks Puckett (died 1939), Patrick and Carroll Counties, midwife
• Judith Shatin (born 1949), Charlottesville, composer
• Alice Jackson Stuart (1913–2001), Richmond, principal in a 1935 civil rights turning point

2013 honorees[]

• Mary C. Alexander (1893–1955), Lynchburg, aviator
• Louise A. Reeves Archer (1893–1948), Vienna, educator
• Elizabeth Ambler Brent Carrington (1765–1842), Richmond, civic leader
• Ann Compton (1947– ), Roanoke, news correspondent
• JoAnn Falleta (1954– ), Norfolk, musician
• Cleo Powell (1957– ), Brunswick County, judge
• Inez Pruitt (1962– ), Tangier Island, physician assistant
• Eva Mae Fleming Scott (1926– ), Amelia County, legislator, recipient of the VABPW Foundation Business Leadership Award

2014 honorees[]

• Mary Berkeley Minor Blackford (1802–1896), Fredericksburg, antislavery activist
• Naomi Silverman Cohn (1888–1982), Richmond, civic activist
• Elizabeth Ashburn Duke (1952– ), Virginia Beach, banker, recipient of the VABPW Foundation Business Leadership Award
• Rachel Findlay (ca. 1750–d. after August 17, 1820), Wythe County, principal in a freedom suit
• Christine Herter Kendall (1890–1981), Bath County, artist and patron of the arts
• Mildred Delores Jeter Loving (1939–2008), Caroline County, principal in a 1967 civil rights turning point
• Deborah A. "Debbie" Ryan (1952– ), Albemarle County, basketball coach and cancer treatment advocate
• Stoner Winslett (1958– ), Richmond, artistic director and choreographer

2015 honorees[]

• Nancy Melvina Caldwell (1868–1956), Carroll County, legislator
• Nikki Giovanni (1943– ), Blacksburg, poet
• Ruth Coles Harris (1928– ), Richmond, business professor
• Dorothy Shoemaker McDiarmid (1906–1994), Fairfax County, legislator
• Rebekah Dulaney Peterkin (1849–1891), Richmond, philanthropist
• Vivian W. Pinn (1941–), Lynchburg, pathologist and women's health advocate
• Elizabeth Bray Allen, also known as Elizabeth Bray Allen Smith Stith (ca. 1692–1774), Isle of Wight County, planter and philanthropist
• Karenne Wood (1960– ), Fluvanna County, Virginia Indian scholar and advocate

2016 honorees[]

• Flora D. Crittenden (1924–), Newport News, educator and legislator
• Mary Elizabeth Nottingham Day (1907–1956), Staunton, artist
• Sarah A. Gray (ca. 1847–1893), Alexandria, educator
• (1937–), Farmville, civil rights pioneer
• Katherine Coleman Goble Johnson (1918–), Hampton, mathematician
• Ana Ines Barragan King (1957–), Richmond, founder and Artistic Director of the Latin Ballet of Virginia
• (1929–2015), Salem, photojournalist
• Meyera Oberndorf (1941–2015), Virginia Beach, mayor

2017 honorees[]

• (1950–) Fairfax County, Community Activist^[13]
• Nora Houston (1883–1942) Richmond, Artist and Social Reformer^[14]
• Cynthia Eppes Hudson (1959–) Nottoway County, Chief Deputy Attorney General of Virginia^[15]
• (1940–) Prince William County, Mechanical Engineer^[16]
• Louise Harrison McCraw(1893–1975) Buckingham, Author and Executive Secretary of the Braille Circulating Library^[17]
• Doris Crouse-Mays (1958–) Wythe County, Labor Leader^[18]
• Undine Smith Moore (1904–1989) Ettrick, Educator and Composer^[19]
• (1943–) Richmond, Community Activist and Philanthropist. Recipient of the VABPW Foundation Business Leadership Award^[20]

2018 honorees[]

• Gaye Todd Adegbalola (1944–) Blues singer and guitarist, teacher, lecturer, activist, and photographer^[21]
• Rita Dove (1952–) Poet and essayist^[22]
• Isabella Gibbons (d. 1890) Freed slave who became a teacher and minister^[23]
• Marii Kyogoku Hasegawa (September 17, 1918 – July 1, 2012) Peace activist^[24]
• Kay Coles James (1949–) President of the Heritage Foundation^[25]
• Barbara Kingsolver (1955–) Novelist^[26]
• Mary Aydelotte Rice Marshall (June 14, 1921 – October 15, 1992) Virginia House of Delegates^[27]
• Temperance Flowerdew Yeardley (d. 1628) Settler of the Jamestown Colony^[28]

2019 honorees[]

• Sharifa Alkhateeb (1946–2004) Muslim writer and teacher^[29]
• Queen Ann (Pamunkey chief) (fl. 1706 – 1712)^[30]
• (1941–2007) Women's Sports Advocate^[31]
• India Hamilton (ca. 1879 – 1950) Educator^[32]
• Georgeanna Seegar Jones (1912–2005) American physician who with her husband, Howard W. Jones, pioneered in vitro fertilization in the United States ^[33]
• Ona Maria Judge (ca. 1773 – 1848) Fugitive slave of US President George Washington, who successfully escaped Mount Vernon. The Washington family never pursued her, but never freed her ^[34]
• Lucy Randolph Mason (1882–1959) Civil rights activist, labor activist and suffragette^[35]
• Kate Peters Sturgill (1907–1975) Musician and Folk Song Collector^[36]

2020 honorees[]

• Pauline Adams (1874–1957) Suffragist^[37]
• (1864–1951) Social Reformer and Suffragist^[38]
• Elizabeth Dabney Langhorne Lewis (1851–1966) Suffragist^[39]
• (1851–1928) Suffragist^[40]
• (1873–1927) Community Activist and Suffragist^[41]
• Mary Elizabeth Pidgeon (1890–1979) Suffragist and labor economist^[42]
• Ora Brown Stokes (1882–1957) Educator, probation officer, temperance worker, and clubwoman^[43]
• Lila Meade Valentine (1865–1921) Reformer and Suffragist^[44]
• Maggie Lena Mitchell Walker (1864–1934) Entrepreneur and Civil Rights Leader^[45]

2021 honorees[]

• (1978–) Political Activist and Mentor.^[46]
• (1952–) Physician and Community Health Advocate.^[47]
• (1944–) Business and Entrepreneurship, Community Leadership and Philanthropy, Government and Law. ^[48]
• Evelyn Reid Syphax (1926–2000) Educator and Entrepreneur.^[49]

References[]

External links[]

• Virginia Women in History