76x25 2024
This mural was commissioned and funded by the Cook Foundation. From left to right:
Woman with Hat observes the arc of history and the iconic women who transformed Gloucester over the last 150 years and inspires the viewers to consider their place and inspiration for the coming 150 years.
Judith Lomax, (1774 – 1828), was the first woman to publish a book of poetry in Virginia, The Notes of an American Lyre, printed by Samuel Pleasants.
The Suffragette represents the first women in Gloucester to vote.
Kacey Caneal, (1935 - 2022) Accomplished, self-taught, naive folk artist.
Jennie Booth Moton, (1879-1942), a Gloucester native, served as the Director of the Department of Women’s Industries at the Tuskegee Institute, was a lifelong educator, and was married to Robert Russa Moton.
Mary Shipko, (1949), an aviation pioneer is the first woman to become a commercial aviation pilot for Hughes Air.
Margaret Ann Tunner, (1917 - 2009), WASP during World War II who retired to a beautiful farm in Ware Neck, Virginia in 1960 with her husband Lt. General William Tunner. She also testified before Congress to request recognition of the WASPs as having performed militarily during WWII. Her request was successful and transformed history for the women she served alongside.
Irene Morgan, (1917 - 2007), a civil rights icon whose landmark case in 1944 - 1946, argued by Thurgood Marshall on behalf of Morgan and the NAACP, resulted in a US Supreme Court decision that set a legal precedent that bolstered the Freedom Rider movement largely credited to Rosa Parks. Morgan also worked during this time on the production line of the B-26.
Thank you to @the cook foundation for your generous support of the arts and the amazing people of Gloucester VA for their kind hospitality. I am honored to have gotten to learn about and celebrate these amazing women! Thanks to @derpdolls @jesraschella @medializzy for all your help! Thanks to Theresa Barisonek for the great drone footage!