African Descent Archives - Page 15 of 78

Kitty Foster

Kitty Foster was a free African American woman who owned property just south of the University of Virginia, the site of which has been memorialized by the school.

Jane Webb was a free, mixed-race woman in colonial Virginia who sued her husband’s enslaver when he refused to live up to the terms of a contract that would have freed her husband and the bound Webb children.

Esther Georgia Irving Cooper

Esther Georgia Irving Cooper was a civil rights leader in Arlington County, Virginia.

Sally Hemings

Sally Hemings was an enslaved house servant owned by Thomas Jefferson, who is believed to have fathered at least six of Hemings’s children.

Sally Cottrell Cole

Sally Cottrell was an enslaved maid and seamstress in 1800s Virginia.

Millie Lawson Bethell Paxton

Millie Lawson Bethell Paxton was a civic leader who worked toward a more inclusive democracy in Roanoke, Virginia.

Evelyn Thomas Butts

Evelyn Thomas Butts was a civil rights activist and Democratic Party leader from Norfolk who helped overturn Virginia’s poll tax.

Mary Aggie

Mary Aggie was an enslaved woman who became a principal in a court case that changed Virginia‘s statute law.

Virginia Estelle Randolph

Virginia Estelle Randolph, born of formerly enslaved parents in Richmond, was a pioneering educator, community health advocate, organizational leader, and humanitarian.

Ruth Harvey Charity

Ruth LaCountess Harvey Wood Charity was a civil rights activist and defense attorney.