Virginia Women in History - Northern Virginia Region
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Description
A driving tour showcasing the Library of Virginia's Virginia Women in History honorees from the Northern Virginia region.
1. Katherine Harwood Waller Barrett
Social reformer and Stafford County native Kate Waller Barrett devoted her life to providing needed medical care, shelter, education, and training for unmarried mothers and their children. She is buried at Aquia Church, where her husband had served as rector.
2. Benita Fitzgerald Mosley
Dale City named a street for its hometown track star Benita Fitzgerald Mosley, an Olympic champion who serves as president and CEO of Women in Cable and Telecommunications and works to expand opportunities for young women in sports.
3. Providencia Velazquez Gonzalez
Community activist Providencia Gonzalez helped distribute food to the homebound, served as a translator in the local courts, and at age 75 became manager of Dale City's nascent farmers' market, located at a commuter parking lot.
4. Monica Beltran
While a student at Gar-Field High School, Monica Beltran enlisted in the Virginia National Guard and later received a Bronze Star Medal for Valor for her heroic actions while under attack in Iraq.
5. Corazon Sandoval Foley
A longtime parishoner at the Church of the Nativity, in Burke, Corazon Sandoval Foley is an advocate and leader for collecting stories of Asian American immigrants through oral history and research projects within her community.
6. Elizabeth Peet McIntosh
After a career as an intelligence agent with the Office of Strategic Services during World War II and the Central Intelligence Agency during the Cold War, Elizabeth "Betty" McIntosh retired to Leesburg and later to the Lake Ridge at Westminster community in Woodbridge.
7. Mary Virginia Jones
A former executive director of Engineering at Aerojet in Gainesville, Mary Jones is an expert in solid propellant rocket motor design and serves as a role model for women in the engineering profession.
8. Sheila Crump Johnson
Entrepreneur and philanthropist Sheila Crump Johnson established Salamander Market after she moved to Middleburg during the 1990s.
9. Louise A. Reeves Archer
Louise Archer Elementary School was named for its highly respected teacher and principal, Louise Reeves Archer, who inspired her students through her dedication and commitment to their education.
10. Dorothy Shoemaker McDiarmid
A leader in Virginia's House of Delegates where she championed the rights of women and children, Dorothy Shoemaker McDiarmid was also an avid member of the Ayr Hill Garden Club, which dedicated its Children's Discovery Garden, now located near Vienna's Caboose, in her memory in 2004.
11. Sharifa Alkhateeb
Sharifa Alkhateeb worked tirelessly to strengthen communities and bridge Islamic and American cultures as an activist, leader, scholar, writer, and educator, including as a diversity trainer for Fairfax County Public Schools, headquartered in Falls Church.
12. Sister Marie Majella Berg
Sister Marie Majella Berg transformed Marymount University from a junior college for women to a coeducational university as its president from 1960 to 1993.
13. Mary A. Marshall
Mary A. Marshall advocated public education and equal rights as a member of the General Assembly for more than twenty years, and Arlington County recognized her work on behalf of its residents when it named a community-based assisted living residence in her honor.
14. Eleanor Bontecou
Attorney Eleanor Bontecou built her home on South Arlington Ridge Road (now on South Lynn Street) in 1936, a few years before she joined the Civil Rights Section of the U.S. Justice Department's Criminal Division.
15. Grace Brewster Murray Hopper
Grace Murray Hopper Memorial Park honors computer pioneer and naval rear admiral Grace Hopper, who lived in the nearby RiverHouse development.
16. Sarah A. Gray
During the 1880s and 1890s, Sarah A. Gray served as principal of Hallowell School for girls, then located at 413 N. Alfred Street, where she had a profound influence on the education of African Americans in Alexandria.
17. Marian A. Van Landingham
Shortly before beginning her legislative career, Marian A. Van Landingham founded the Torpedo Factory, a one-of-a-kind art center, in Alexandria.
18. Ona Judge
Ona Judge grew up enslaved at George Washington's Mount Vernon plantation, but she escaped slavery and defied George Washington's attempts to retrieve her.
