All results / Stories
Sort By
Date
Authors
- Everyone
- Jeremy M. Lazarus (391)
- Fred Jeter (264)
- Free Press wire reports (219)
- Joey Matthews (111)
- Associated Press (101)
- Ronald E. Carrington (99)
- George Copeland Jr. (64)
- Free Press staff, wire reports (59)
- Free Press staff report (55)
- Debora Timms (44)
Personality: Chris R. Hairston-White
Spotlight on ART 180 Board of Trustees president
Growing up, Chris Hairston-White had limited exposure to art instruction or education. Thus, she honed her natural skills and creativity without much help or outside influences, resulting in what she describes as “a creative who often creates in isolation.”
Personality: Anthony Bryant
Spotlight on Downtown Neighborhood Association president
As Richmond’s growth spurt continues to attract new businesses and residents, Anthony Bryant wants to guarantee that the community’s interests aren’t left behind.
Personality: Brandy W. Stoney
Spotlight on Robinson Theater Community Arts Center board president
The Robinson Theater Community Arts Center is a Church Hill institution that opened in 1937 as the first theater for African-Americans in the area. After closing in the 1980s, it reopened as an event space for children and adults in 2009. For Brandy W. Stoney, the current president of the Robinson Center board, the building is “now like home to me,” and an East End legacy that she enjoys helping to guide and sustain.
Personality: AnnMarie Gilbert
Spotlight on the Big House Gaines Coach of the Year
Virginia Union University women’s basketball Coach AnnMarie Gilbert continues to add hardware to her already crowded trophy case following a record-breaking season on Lombardy Street. The first-year Lady Panthers head coach, who guided the team to a historic 28-win season and a berth in the NCAA Division II Tournament’s Elite Eight, just received the latest acknowledgment for her coaching excellence. On Monday, Coach Gilbert was named the 2015-16 Big House Gaines College Basketball Coach of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. “We are pleased to recognize Coach Gilbert for the outstanding job she did this season,” stated NSMA Executive Director Dave Goren in a news release. “Her team had a historic season and (she) truly deserves this award.”
Personality: Maureen S. Patterson
Spotlight on the new president of the Midlothian Rotary Club
When Maureen S. Patterson is installed next Wednesday as president of the Midlothian Rotary Club, she will be become the club’s first African-American woman president. She will preside over a club that has only one other African-American member.
Personality: Brenda A. Campbell
Spotlight on founder of The Enhancement Foundation
For Brenda A. Campbell, founding executive director of The Enhancement Foundation, “Christmas: A Season of Celebration, A Lupus Fundraising Event” is an opportunity for her nonprofit organization to reach out to women across the city and inform them about an illness that affects women by a large margin.
Personality: Dr. Lester D. Frye
Spotlight on president of the Baptist Ministers’ Conference of Richmond and Vicinity
In a time of adjustment and reinvention for communities as a whole, Lester Frye is working to guide both toward a better future.
Personality: Dr. Sesha Joi Moon
Spotlight on co-creator of The JXN Project
The 150th anniversary of Jackson Ward’s creation is close, and Dr. Sesha Joi Moon is intent on seeing that the full history of the district in Downtown is recognized and celebrated.
Personality: Martha Jones-Carter
Spotlight on co-founder of Kuumba Afrikan American Quilters Guild of Richmond
If art tells a story, then Martha Jones-Carter has helped weave a multitude of personal and community-built narratives over the course of her life.
Foremost wishes for the new year
With the start of 2023, the Richmond Free Press invited select local officials to share their foremost wishes for the new year. Here are their responses:
With the start of 2023, the Richmond Free Press invited select local officials to share their foremost wishes for the new year.
Personality: Antonio ‘Toby’ Mendez
Spotlight on sculptor of the Maggie L. Walker statue
Antonio “Toby” Mendez did not know much about Maggie L. Walker when he first began working on the statue that now stands at Adams and Broad streets in Downtown Richmond. But as the process of making the statue progressed, he learned more about her life and works.
Personality: Meldon Jenkins-Jones
Spotlight on founder of Black Male Emergent Readers Program
Meldon Deloris Jenkins-Jones has witnessed the difficulties some African-American children have learning to read. She explains how she watched her grandson struggle “despite the fact that his parents and I are educated. I wondered who would help children learn to read if they did not have a strong family background,” she recalls thinking. The Richmond resident, who is a law librarian for the Richmond Public Law Library in Downtown, says she began researching the subject and came across the work of Dr. Alfred Tatum, a reading specialist at the University of Illinois in Chicago.
Personality: Shelia S. Fitzgerald
Spotlight on board president of Big Brothers Big Sisters
Shelia Scott Fitzgerald is president of the board of directors for Big Brothers Big Sisters, which serves Greater Richmond, the Tri-Cities, the Peninsula and Hampton Roads. The Richmond native became involved with BBBS nine years ago because its mission resonated with her.
Personality: Kevin Watson
“A lot of high school and college athletes see themselves as the next LeBron James-level professional athlete. But many falling short of that dream have to learn who they are and their skills and passions.”
Personality: Hassan Fountain Sr.
Spotlight on founder of Fountain for Youth Foundation
Hassan Fountain Sr. has a vision of placing children’s libraries in every subsidized housing community across Virginia, especially in Richmond, to increase literacy and help youths see a brighter future.
Personality: E. Martin ‘Marty’ Jewell
Spotlight on board chairman of Cannabis Equity Coalition of Virginia
In a time of growing econom- ic instability for marginalized communities, E. Martin “Mar- ty” Jewell sees an opportunity in a new industry for Virginia’s minority population and he is determined to seize it.
Personality: Sean David O’Brien
Spotlight on ART 180’s board president
Sean David O’Brien loved Richmond from the time he came to the city as a University of Richmond undergraduate student.
Personality: Clary W. Carleton
Spotlight on Richmond’s 2017 Teacher of the Year
Clary W. Carleton, Richmond Public Schools 2017 Teacher of the Year, could be a prototype for encouraging students to use their spirit of protest productively.
Personality: Christopher Tate Gabbert
Spotlight on Richmond Public Schools’ highest achieving student
Chris Gabbert doesn’t consider himself a bookworm. “I need to read more on my own,” explains Chris, an 18-year-old senior at Richmond Community High School. But Chris has been hitting the books — and hard.
Personality: Michelle Evans-Oliver
Spotlight on AARP Virginia’s 2018 Rookie of the Year Award winner
“I was shocked. I was humbled. I said, ‘Wow! I didn’t think I had done anything out of the ordinary.” That was the reaction of Michelle Evans-Oliver, a volunteer AARP community ambassador, when she learned she had been selected as AARP Virginia’s 2018 Rookie of the Year.
