Famous Friends

Virginia governor, promoted racial equality, appointed more African Americans and women to positions in state government

She led a student strike against segregation in Farmville, Virginia in 1951

An African American Union spy

An enslaved Virginian who served as a spy in the Continental Army and won his freedom with the help of a French nobleman

An enslaved African American who escaped to freedom in a Confederate supply ship.

A Virginia abolitionist and spy for the Union Army

The President of a new black college in Petersburg, and the first African American elected to the U.S. Congress from Va

The 3 enslaved men who refused to help the Confederacy, escaped to Fort Monroe, which led to the Contraband decision.

She supported secret routes that enslaved African Americans used, later known as the “Underground Railroad”.

He defeated Union troops at Fredericksburg, Virginia but surrendered at Appomattox Court House

He led a revolt against plantation owners in Virginia

He spoke out against taxation without representation by saying, “…give me liberty or give me death!”

He defeated the Confederates at Richmond and accepted the Confederate surrender at Appomattox Court House

He was the Virginia governor who led a Massive Resistance Movement against the integration of public schools

He was a French nobleman who volunteered his service to the Continental Army and contributed to the victory at Yorktown

She supported equal rights for women and was the first African American woman in the US to establish a bank

She believed the English and American Indians could live in harmony

The first African American to be elected a state governor in the US; served as Virginia's governor

A Civil War nurse who later created the American Red Cross

The first African American major men’s tennis singles champion

He tried to start a slave rebellion by leading a raid on the United States Armory (Arsenal) at Harpers Ferry, Virginia.

He wrote the reasons for colonial independence from England and he also wrote the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom

He wrote the Virginia Declaration of Rights

He helped the delegates reach agreements while writing the Constitution and is often called "Father of the Constitution"

He was the chief of many tribes and taught the Jamestown settlers survival skills

A lawyer and civil rights leader who played a key role in the Brown v. Board of Education decision

He served as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army and is known as the “Father of our Country”

He provided strong leadership in Jamestown and started a forced work program that helped ensure survival.

He was a Confederate general who played a major role in the first Battle of Bull Run (Manassas)

He was the President during the Civil War who used the Union Navy to blockade southern ports