Elizabeth “Beth” Walker Mickens Randolph loved spending time with her trailblazing grandmother, Maggie L. Walker, the first black female founder and president of a bank in America. Mrs. Walker chartered the St. Luke Penny Savings Bank in Jackson Ward in …

The 1951 and 1952 All-Star games were all white, although the league had admitted four African-Americans in 1950 — Chuck Cooper, Earl Lloyd, Sweetwater Clifton and Hank DeZone. Another Barksdale “first:” He was the first African-American to play basketball against …

Three Virginia Union University luminaries will be inducted into the CIAA John B. McLen- don Jr. Hall of Fame. They are Dr. Allix B. James, president emeritus of VUU; James Battle, former VUU athletic director; and former Panthers basketball star …

Will Maureen G. McDonnell be the first former first lady of Virginia to be sentenced to prison? U.S. District Court Judge James R. Spencer will determine that Friday, Feb. 20, when Mrs. McDonnell appears before him for sentencing in the …

When officials at the Earl Gregg Swem Library at The College of William & Mary purchased a 1902 diary from an unknown author in 2009 for their special collections unit, they had no idea they had made an historical connection. …

Hundreds of African-American students are becoming doctors, nurses, dentists and medical researchers, thanks to university alliances Dr. Louis W. Sullivan created in Richmond and elsewhere. That is just one of the achievements of the pioneering 81-year-old physician, educator and health …

The Birmingham Pledge to end racism is painted on the wall of the city’s police headquarters in Birmingham, Ala. “I will discourage racial prejudice by others at every opportunity ...” the pledge on the wall reads. A painting of four …

ATLANTA The daughter of late pop star Whitney Houston and singer Bobby Brown was placed in a coma to stop brain swelling after she was found facedown and unresponsive in a bathtub in her Georgia home last weekend, family friend …

Wendell Scott, the Danville native who got his start in auto racing by running moonshine in the 1940s, has been inducted posthumously into the NASCAR Hall of Fame. The trailblazing stock car racer was the first African-American to break into …

Charlie Sifford, who broke the color barrier in golf as the first African-American PGA Tour member, died Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2015, at age 92, the PGA of America announced. Considered the Jackie Robinson of professional golf, Mr. Sifford endured death …

Athletes from historically black colleges don’t figure to make much noise in this year’s Super Bowl, but that wasn’t the case in the event’s early years.

The Seattle Seahawks’ Russell Wilson is listed at 5-foot-11, quite short by NFL quarterback standards. But Richmond’s link to Sunday’s Super Bowl may be up to 6-foot now, maybe even 6-foot-1, if you don’t press the measuring stick too hard …

Virginia Commonwealth University is joining a growing national trend and no longer will require applicants to submit Scholastic Aptitude Test scores. The change will apply to applicants with a high school GPA of 3.3 or higher. VCU President Michael Rao …

Former Gov. Bob McDonnell will remain free on bond while he appeals his conviction on corruption charges. In a win for the one-time Republican star, he will not have to report to prison in two weeks to start his two-year …

Black lives matter to Evandra Catherine. And that means more than fixing a broken criminal justice system. “Black Lives Matter doesn’t only focus on police brutality. Black lives also matter in systematic things like housing, education, looking for jobs, wages,” …