World War II introduced new opportunities for women in the military and on the home front, although it was not the first time in history women assisted with war efforts. As far back as the American Revolution, women stepped up…

In 1938, during the Great Depression and in the shadow of Jim Crow, a group of Black mothers in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, founded an organization to create educational, cultural, civic, and recreational programs for their children in segregated America.  From those…

In 1929, a fantastic Richmond holiday tradition was born: the Christmas Toy Parade. Every year, just after Thanksgiving, families gathered on Broad Street to watch floats, bands, clowns, and local drill teams herald the arrival of the holiday season.  The…

In 1970, in order to satisfy a federal mandate to desegregate Richmond Public Schools, Judge Robert Merhige Jr. ordered the implementation of a busing program that would attempt to achieve racial balance in the school system. At the time of…

In 1890, Virginia Randolph Ellett opened a small school out of her home on Grace Street in downtown Richmond. Her students, many of whom came from the families of Richmond’s influential leaders, always referred to her as “Miss Jennie.” Beginning…

Richmond used to be a city absolutely full of springs. There were springs on Capitol Square, springs at Chimborazo, Forest Hill, and Byrd Parks.  In 1872, a man named W.G. Taylor bought a 40-acre Southside estate named Fonticello. Like a lot of…

One day in early 1975, an employee at the Life Sciences Products Company in Hopewell began trembling uncontrollably. The shaking didn’t stop.  Other workers at the same chemical company previously had suffered bouts of blindness, joint pain, slurred speech, tremors,…

The first female news photographer in Richmond launched her career in the 1890s. Though criticized for working in a male-dominated profession – and criticized by many for working at all – Edyth Carter Beveridge ignored public opinion and did what she…

One hundred years after Richmond’s founding, two Virginia doctors organized the first medical school here. They selected Richmond because of its large population of African Americans, both enslaved and free. At a time when there was no legal way to acquire…

In 1842, a year before the publication of his book, A Christmas Carol, the world-famous British author Charles Dickens came to Richmond during an American tour. For his 3-day visit, he stayed at the new and luxurious Exchange Hotel at 14th…