The Small and the Mighty: Twelve Unsung Americans Who Changed the Course of History, From the Founding to the Civil Rights Movement

Virginia Randolph was born to formerly enslaved parents in Richmond, Virginia. Her father died when she was a girl, leaving her mother alone with four young daughters. However, her mother worked hard to ensure that her daughters grew up free and educated.

Virginia attended school and started working at eight years old, going to a neighbor’s home to perform housework before and after her classes. Her mother impressed upon her the importance of cleanliness and doing “the next needed thing” to make sure she continued working for a better future (46). At 16, Virginia graduated from Richmond Colored Normal School with a teaching qualification and began working as a teacher.

Virginia’s pedagogy was controversial within Richmond’s Black community. Many African American parents wanted their children to receive the same academic education as white children, and they felt that Virginia wasn’t delivering that promise because her classes focused on things like cooking, basketmaking, and furniture construction. However, the county was short on teachers, and there was no one to replace Virginia.

Virginia began teaching at Mountain Road School when it was severely underfunded and underdeveloped in comparison to nearby schools for white children. At the time, state spending inequalities meant that Black children’s education was often worth less than one-third the cost of white children’s education.