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Women’s History Month Richmond Resources

Grade Level

Elementary, High, Middle

Resource Type

Engagement Activity, Primary Source, Short Reading

Download the resource guide here. 

RICHMOND HISTORY TIMELINE

Explore events from Richmond’s past connected to women’s history through objects, documents and images from the Valentine’s collection.

 

Timeline Entry from 2019: Voices from the Garden Dedicated on Capitol Square. A picture of several children standing beside a statue of one of the women. The kids are wearing masks.

Here are some dates to discover stories about Richmond women: 1613 |1853| 1861 |1863 |1863| 1868 | 1869 |1874 | 1875 | 1877 |1890 | 1892 | 1892 |1893 | 1894 | 1894 | 1894 | 1894 | 1895 | 1895 | 1895 | 1896 | 1897| 1899 | 1899 | 1902 | 1902 | 1903 |1904 | 1908 | 1908 | 1909 | 1909 | 1911 | 1914 | 1918 | 1920 | 1929 | 1935 | 1940 | 1943 | 1947 | 1962 |1966 | 1978 | 1982 | 1986 | 1990 | 1997 | 2008 | 2017 | 2019

 

COLLECTIONS IN THE CLASSROOM

Downloadable interpreted primary source packets

Collections in the classroom for Richmond Police Officer Viceretta Davis, 1966. She is receiving a pin of some kind from a gentlemen as students holding flags look on.

FEATURED STORIES

Short readings on Richmond history topics

Portrait of a white woman with her hair up wearing earrings and a high neck black blouse.

Jane King: The Ice Queen in the Sweltering South

Not until 1856 did regular Richmonders have access to a truly cold drink on a summer day. The luxury was brought to us by David King, an immigrant from Northern Ireland, who opened an office and ice house at 1811 East Cary Street. At his dock on the Kanawha Canal, he began to receive schooners from Maine, loaded with frozen slabs of the Kennebec River.

Picture of a young white woman in a white shirt looking to the side. Her brown hair is pulled away from her face.

Mary Munford: Richmond History Maker

Mary Munford once wrote to a friend: “Education has been my deepest interest from my girlhood, beginning with an almost passionate desire for the best in education for myself, which was denied because it was not the custom for girls in my class to receive a college education at that time. This interest has grown with my growth and strengthened with each succeeding year in my life.”

Long red evening gown with one shoulder strap. The silk-life material is gathered across the front of the dress and connected at the shoulder.

Richmond Fashion Designer had an Unlikely Start

Sara Shelburne's journey from a political science student in Richmond to an internationally recognized fashion designer is a story of unexpected success.

Pen and ink drawing of Maggie L. Walker from the chest up. She is looking to the side and has one hand under her chin.

Maggie L. Walker: Richmond History Maker

Maggie L. Walker – a mother, a leader, a civil rights activist, an entrepreneur, a Richmonder.

Lillian Payne stands in the center wearing a black dress. Two Black woman are to her right and another Black woman and a Black man are to her left. All are looking in her direction.

Lillian Payne and the Independent Order of St. Luke

“Who is so helpless as the negro woman? Who is so circumscribed and hemmed in—in the race of life, in the struggle for bread, meat, and clothing—as the negro woman?”

Woman with short hair and glasses is sitting at a desk looking at a book. There is a large floral arrangement in front of her.

Richmond's Women Mayors

Virginia has yet to elect a woman governor. The city of Richmond, however, has had two women mayors.