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Virginia Capitol C onnections, Summer 2015 21
A Capitol Idea
For A Family Reunion
By Sarah Alderson
It all started with a simple search for
information to include in an otherwise
routine speech. Legislators are asked to
do it all the time – to say a few words
to recognize or commemorate a person,
a group or a particular event. It just so
happened that this time the research lead
to a new and bigger discovery. Which lead
to a few more. And so on.
It’s kind of like how a pebble tossed
into a pond can create a series of ripples
that eventually reach the shore. When
you delve into any one person’s past, it’s possible to unearth any
number of links that can connect a whole string of other lives.
You can even remake history and create far-reaching effects on
generations to come.
In the early 2000s, the late Senator Yvonne Miller sent a
request to the Division of Legislative Services to research the life
and legislation of the late Delegate Roland Ealey for a speech
that she was to deliver at a dedication. It was during this search
that staff member Brenda Edwards discovered the names of some
delegates and senators whose race was indicated as Negro, colored,
or mulatto. Edwards says, “I realized that I had stumbled upon the
fact that African Americans served in the General Assembly after
the Civil War.”
In 2004, Edwards’ findings were presented to the Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr. Memorial Commission. They, in turn, decided
to establish the African American Legislators Project in order to
create a database of all African Americans who had ever served in
the General Assembly from Reconstruction to the present.
According to Library of Virginia staff member John Deal, the
Library got involved with the project in September 2011 by a request
from Commission member and former Delegate Viola Baskerville,
who had taken part in an African American genealogical workshop
at the Library and was impressed by the amount of research
material they had. Baskerville emailed Gregg Kimball to ask if
they would help in the development of the list of legislators along
with the compilation of comprehensive biographical material for
the Commission’s website.
During the winter, spring, and summer of 2012, the staff
involved with LVA’s Dictionary of Virginia Biography worked
extensively with members of the Commission. And since then, the
Library of Virginia and the MLK Commission have collaborated
on several projects to further the research and its uses.
As part of the events celebrating the 150th anniversary of the
Emancipation Proclamation, the Commission decided to honor the
African American legislators from the 19th century with special
resolutions from the General Assembly, which were sponsored by
Senator Henry Marsh and Delegate Jennifer McClellan in 2012. In
2013, commemorative plaques that included the names, tenure, and
localities represented by each of the legislators were unveiled and
hung in the Capitol.
As various ways of honoring these early African American
legislators developed, the search in earnest for their descendants
began so that extended families could take part in the dedications.
Brenda Edwards is proud to say that several descendants have been
found so far. And as family members spread the word about the
project, more descendants contact the Commission to add their
stories to this new series of family trees.
New discoveries continue to be made at every step along the
research process. For instance, they just recently found out that one
of the Commission members, Juanita Owens Wyatt, is actually a
descendant of two of the legislators.
Deal thinks that it’s been especially interesting to learn how
many African American men were ready to participate in politics
as soon as the Civil War was over. “They immediately began
holding political meetings and organizing associations to advocate
for their civil rights, especially voting,” he explained. “A number
of Virginians who had escaped slavery returned to participate
in Virginia’s government after the Civil War. Many African
Americans continued to exercise their right to vote and be elected
to local offices throughout the rest of the 19th Century.”
Author Alex Haley’s own quest to learn more about his family
history resulted in his writing the Pulitzer Prize-winning book
“Roots.” In an article in “Reader’s Digest” in May 1977, he shared
what the research had meant to him personally. “In all of us is
a hunger, marrow deep, to know our heritage – to know who we
are, and where we come from.” In addressing why that search for
heritage is such a universal thing, he also said, “When you start
about family, about lineage and ancestry, you are talking about
every person on earth.
One simple search for background information on one person
at the Capitol has led to a wealth of biographical information that
impacts the history of the entire Commonwealth and, indeed, our
nation.
“This project is extremely important because to the
Commission’s knowledge no other state is doing or has done
what Virginia is attempting to accomplish,” explains Edwards.
“With diminished emphasis on American history, particularly
African American history, few know, understand, or appreciate the
contributions of African Americans to Virginia or this country. The
Commission’s project preserves this vital historic information for
future generations.”
John Deal goes even further by adding, “What I can say without
equivocation is that the Dictionary of Virginia Biography has
profoundly rewritten the history of African Americans in Virginia
and our collaboration with the MLK Commission has brought into
the light their astounding courage and accomplishments.”
The latest way that the Commonwealth is recognizing the
accomplishments of these outstanding Virginians is by hosting
another celebration of their contributions. The descendants
of the African American members of the 1867-1868 Virginia
Constitutional Convention and the African American Legislators
in the General Assembly during Reconstruction are invited to
participate in an extended Family Reunion on Monday, July 6,
2015. The event will be held in House Room 3 at The State Capitol
in Richmond and is co-sponsored by the Dr. Martin Luther King,
Jr. Memorial Commission, the Library of Virginia, the Virginia
House of Delegates, and the Senate of Virginia.
It will also kick off the new exhibition at the Library, “Remaking
Virginia: Transformation through Emancipation” exploring how
the end of slavery and emancipation affected every Virginian,
forcing people to renegotiate and transform their relationships.
As Alex Haley said in describing the importance of family on
history, “In every conceivable manner, the family is link to our
past, bridge to our future.”
Sarah Alderson is an award-winning freelance writer who also
works in the Senate broadcast control room during sessions and
the Capitol Studio throughout the year. She can be reached at
V