Quantcast

Show advanced options

All results / Stories

Tease photo

A Jackson Ward Journey

Unearthing the history and legacy of civil rights attorney Roland J. ‘Duke’ Ealey

When my wife, Sasha Finch, and I purchased the 1880s East Clay Street building on Jan. 4, 2012, it had been dormant for more than 10 years. Plywood covered its outside window and inside the level of disrepair was undeniable. A fire on the second floor had caused considerable damage to much of the property. Yet something drew us to this building. We saw beauty in this wonderful old brick structure. For five years we worked steadily on the property’s exterior, rebuilding damaged brick walls while preparing the interior for its eventual renovation.

Tease photo

Personality: Utibe O. Bassey

Spotlight on honorary chair of Centennial American Heart Association 2024 Richmond Heart Ball

Nigerian-born Utibe O. Bassey grew up in Connecticut and has family scattered far and wide, but none in Virginia. When she moved to Richmond in the summer of 2020 for a job with Dominion Energy, she was all alone and the pandemic was raging.

Tease photo

Personality: Brent Timberlake

Spotlight on Greater Richmond Bar Foundation board president

The three words that Brent Timberlake used to describe himself — curious, hopeful and hard-working — play a role in many aspects of his life.

Tease photo

Personality: Charlene J. Whitfield

Spotlight on Greater Richmond Partnership board chair

In 2017 Charlene Whitfield became part of a group that brings business to the Richmond area in an effort to ensure economic opportunity for workers. Ms. Whitfield, who then was employed at Dominion Energy, was selected to represent the company at the Greater Richmond Partnership, which provides resources for new businesses in the region, creates quality jobs and increases the tax base for community services.

Tease photo

Personality: Darryl A. Stuckey Sr.

Spotlight on Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity’s Beta Gamma Lambda Education Foundation vice chair

When a young boy sought to escape the bullying he routinely endured in school, Darryl A. Stuckey Sr. stepped in to help the youth gain not only a sense of purpose, but a stronger sense of self.

Tease photo

Personality: Rhonda Keyes Pleasants

Spotlight on chair of Family Representative Council of East Marshall Street Well Project

Rhonda Keyes Pleasants entered the funeral industry in 1996 and became a fully licensed funeral director and embalmer in December 2000.

Tease photo

Personality: Shawna Chapman

Spotlight on America’s United States Mrs. Mid-Atlantic 2024

Growing up in Petersburg, Shawna Chapman never believed pageants were open to women like her, whose background includes dropping out of high school and experiencing periods of homelessness.

Tease photo

Legislating with power and purpose

Jennifer McClellan’s historic first year in Congress

March 7, 2024, marked one year since Jennifer L. McClellan made history, winning a special election to succeed the late A. Donald McEachin and become the first Black woman elected to Congress from Virginia.

Tease photo

A treasure trove of history

Jackson Ward couple discovers legal papers of civil rights icon Roland J. ‘Duke’ Ealey

Five years into the renovation of a 143-year-old brick house on East Clay Street in Jackson Ward, James Vigeant’s work halted. To his surprise and amazement, he found an unexpected treasure — 144 moldy boxes filled with the decaying legal papers of one of Richmond’s legal giants, Roland J. “Duke” Ealey.

Next