In 1975, Sylvia Clute, a former attorney for Reynolds Metals, decided to open a solo law practice. But despite her reputation as a successful attorney, five banks turned her down for a business loan. If they did return her calls, they…
On the day after Christmas in 1811, an enslaved African American blacksmith named Gilbert Hunt was visiting his wife downtown at a home where she was a servant. While there, news reached them that the nearby Richmond Theater had caught…
In August 1908, 387 stock-holding members organized a private club called the Old Dominion Country Club before realizing that the name was already taken. Under a new name, they raised money to buy 110 rolling, wooded acres that lay four…
It was September 1965. Three male college students went to register for classes in Richmond, only to be denied. The administration informed them that in order to register, they needed to cut their long hair and shave their beards. Not…
In May of 1927, Charles Lindbergh completed the first solo flight across the ocean. The 3,500-mile trip from Long Island to Paris – made without radar or radio – took him thirty-three and a half hours. Later that year, on…
By 1872, the narrow strip of land between the James River and Church Hill was too crowded with development to allow easy passage for goods. That’s when work began on a tunnel so cargo could be moved quickly between Shockoe…
By the end of the Civil War, the James River and its tributaries were too polluted with industrial waste for swimming. Desperate for relief during the summer, Richmonders headed for park fountains to cool off. The fountain in Monroe Park had become…
For nearly twenty years, a giant party overtook Richmond each June. Founded in 1976 to celebrate the arts, the June Jubilee was coordinated by the Arts Council of Richmond and the City of Richmond, with main funding from the National Endowment…
In 1908, the publisher of the Richmond Times-Dispatch died. The next year, Joseph Bryan’s widow bought a 262-acre estate called Rosewood and gave it to the City of Richmond to establish a free public park called Bryan Park in her…
The original 1737 layout of Richmond placed the heart of the city in a verdant valley. This valley was named after the creek that formed it. The Powhatans called the creek Shacahocan – meaning stone – for the rocky outcropping…
