February 2015


www.hamptonroadsmessenger.com


The Hampton Roads Messenger 7


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WILLIAM HARVEY CARNEY — SOLDIER


SHEILA R. BAXTER — MILITARY OFFICER


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JAMELLE SMITH WILSON — EDUCATOR


FOR SOME, BEING THE FIRST OR THE BEST IS NOT ENOUGH.


LOTT CARY — COLONIAL LEADER


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BETH ANNE BROWN — ASTROPHYSICIST


EARL FRANCIS LLOYD — BASKETBALL PLAYER AND COACH


JAMES “PLUNKY” BRANCH — BANDLEADER


ALONZO HARDING “ZO” MOURNING, JR. — BASKETBALL PLAYER AND PHILANTHROPIST


These African-American Virginians were the first or the best at what they did. But they all had their eyes on something bigger: The people around them and the young leaders coming up behind them.


Dominion and the Library of Virginia are proud to honor the 2015 Strong Men & Women in Virginia History. Each honoree put their personal accomplishments to work helping others in science, music, education, medicine, sports, and the military.


The Strong Men & Women in Virginia History program is sponsored by Dominion and the Library of Virginia to honor the contributions of influential African-American leaders. The program also helps prepare future leaders by providing student scholarships and grants, as well as resource materials for schools. To learn more about the program, its honorees, and available resource materials, visit lva.virginia.gov/smw.


STRONG MEN & WOMEN IN VIRGINIA HISTORY HIGHLIGHTS OF 2015 HONOREES


1821 — LOTT CARY, who purchased his own freedom from slavery, sets sail for the new West African colony of Liberia, becoming an early


Liberian leader and helping others start new lives of freedom.


1863 — WILLIAM HARVEY CARNEY, though wounded, heroically carries the American flag high for his fellow soldiers to see throughout


the ferocious Civil War battle depicted in the movie Glory, becoming the first African American awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.


1950 — EARL FRANCIS LLOYD, after attending segregated schools as a child, is the first African American to play in a National Basketball


Association game and goes on to serve as the NBA’s first African- American assistant coach.


1998 — BETH ANNE BROWN, the first African-American woman to receive a doctorate from the University of Michigan, later joins NASA’s


Goddard Space Flight Center as an astrophysicist, inspiring women and minorities to pursue careers in science.


2003 — SHEILA R. BAXTER receives the promotion that makes her the first African-American female brigadier general in the Army Medical


Service Corps, then develops the screening and health assessment program for returning troops that becomes a model for the Army.


2011 — JAMELLE SMITH WILSON is tapped to become the first African-American superintendent of the Hanover County Public Schools


division, as well as the first woman in that post, and helms the school system to full accreditation by exceeding critical benchmarks.


2013 — JAMES “PLUNKY” BRANCH, saxophonist and bandleader known for promoting the cultural significance of music here


and abroad, is named one of the Richmond Public School system’s “Living Legacies” for expanding children’s musical horizons.


2014 — ALONZO HARDING “ZO” MOURNING, JR., is inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame after an award-winning


career in the National Basketball Association and a gold medal Olympic performance, and uses his fame to help inner-city youth and fellow sufferers of kidney disease.


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