Chauncey Edward Spencer should definitely be considered. He was the son of
Harlem Renaissance poet, Anne Spencer, was born and raised in Lynchburg, VA.
He was among the earliest African American pilots in the late 1920s and
1930s and was co-pilot on a flight from Chicago to Washington, DC that
proved to certain congressmen that African Americans could fly. This event
helped to open doors that eventually led to the Tuskegee (and other) pilot
training programs for African Americans during WW2. The story of the
Spencer-White flight has been told at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum
and at Tuskegee. The Anne Spencer Foundation in Lynchburg has a wealth of
materials on him.
D. Darlene Richardson, Historian
National Cemetery Administration
Department of Veterans Affairs
810 Vermont Avenue (402B4)
Washington, DC 20420
Phone: (202) 565-5426 Fax: (202) 565-4211
Email: [log in to unmask]
http://www.cem.va.gov
-----Original Message-----
From: Bill Trout [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, July 17, 2003 5:53 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Famous Virginians
Just a thought - I'd suggest adding Frank Padget. He's the slave who lost
his life in 1854 while saving a canal boat load of people stranded in the
James River near Balcony Falls in the middle of a freezing storm.
A monument was erected to him in 1854, which is now in a park in Glasgow VA
which has an annual Frank Padget Day. The episode helped to inspire Paul
DiPasquale's "Headman" statue on Brown's Island, Richmond's city flag, and
Explore Park's batteau living history program.
More about Frank Padget is in the Upper James Atlas published by the
Virginia Canals and Navigations Society, pp.57-69, and in the Winter 1953
Virginia Cavalcade. Tom Kastner in Lexington is the expert on Padget and is
working on a memorial park in Glasgow. He should not be forgotten.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Anne Pemberton" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, July 17, 2003 3:46 PM
Subject: Famous Virginians
> As an addition to my Famous Americans pages for the persons specified in
> the SOLs for study, I have started a collection of Famous Virginians. Most
> of the ones on there now were from the SOLs: Pocahontas, George
Washington,
> Thomas Jefferson, Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee, James Monroe, Booker
T.
> Washington, Maggie Walker, Harry F. Byrd Sr., Arthur Ashe, Jr., and L.
> Douglas Wilder. So far I've added three more, Woodrow Wilson, Irene
Morgan,
> and Joseph Jenkins Roberts.
>
> Any suggestions on who else would be of interest to Virginia and other
> students?
>
> Anne
>
> To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions
> at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html
To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions
at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html
To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions
at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html
|
