03/17/2026
“Unity - Cockacoeske’s Dilemma”
Just steps from the State Capitol, the Virginia Women’s Monument serves as a testament to the incredible impact of the women on our Commonwealth.
The monument features the names of hundreds of outstanding Virginian women and the statues of eleven women who led and uplifted their communities:
Anne Burras Laydon was the first English woman to marry in colonial Virginia and gave birth to the first known European child in the New World. A seamstress for the Jamestown colony, Laydon helped to build the foundation of the Commonwealth we know today.
As Chief of the Pamunkey tribe, Cockacoeske was a skilled diplomatic leader and peacebuilder. When her tribe was attacked during Bacon’s rebellion, she led her people to safety through a swamp. She was a leading voice in peace negotiations among multiple tribes and the colonial government.
When Mary Draper Ingles was taken captive and brought hundreds of miles from her home in Southwestern Virginia, she refused to give up. She trekked almost 800 miles from Ohio, across harsh terrain and the Appalachian mountains, to return to her family. She went on to live to the age of 83.
Lifelong Virginian Martha Washington tended to wounds and sewed for soldiers in camps during the Revolutionary War. Later, as the first First Lady of the United States, she strengthened women’s roles in American diplomacy and set a precedent of advocacy for her successors.
The first woman newspaper publisher in the Commonwealth, Clementina Rind led the printing of the Virginia Gazette in Williamsburg after her husband’s passing. She frequently printed submissions from female writers and was the first to print some works by Thomas Jefferson.
Elizabeth Keckley was the personal confidante of Mary Todd Lincoln. After purchasing her freedom from enslavement, she moved to Washington and started a prolific dressmaking business. She used the profits to start an association assisting formerly enslaved people and families of Black soldiers.
An icon of Richmond’s Jackson Ward Neighborhood, teacher and businesswoman Maggie L. Walker helped hundreds of families in her community pay off their homes and build financial literacy. She was the first Black woman to charter an American bank and an outspoken activist for the disabled community.
Laura E. Coperhaver was an agricultural businesswoman and Lutheran lay leader. She advanced the economy of Southwestern Virginia through advocating for cooperative farming practices, herself employing dozens of local women in textile production and helping to establish a local charitable school.
Educational leader Virginia E. Randolph shaped the philosophy and curriculum of rural schools. After leading a one room schoolhouse, she went on to oversee dozens of schools in Virginia and open her own vocational school serving Black students. Her techniques were used as a guide across the country.
Physician Sarah Garland Boyd Jones was the first Black woman to pass the Medical Examining Board in Virginia. After teaching alongside Maggie L. Walker, she graduated from Howard University Medical College and went on to co-found a women’s hospital in Richmond.
Suffragette, public servant and artist Adèle Clark was a fervent changemaker. She co-founded the leading women’s suffrage group in Virginia, served in educational and government bodies supporting women’s education and art, and worked alongside activists in Richmond to protect Black female voters.
I’m proud to be part of a long and storied legacy of Virginia women changemakers.
