Henrico Black History Month Spotlight – Virginia Estelle Randolph
In honor of February as Black History Month, the Henrico Citizen will spotlight (on each weekday during the month) an important current or former Black resident of Henrico whose life has helped shape the county.
Virginia Estelle Randolph devoted more than half a century to educating generations of Black children in Henrico County and reshaping public education in Virginia.
Born in Richmond in May 1870 (though her birthday is commonly listed as June 8, 1874) to formerly enslaved parents Edward Nelson Randolph and Sarah Elizabeth Carter, Randolph grew up in a household that centered learning. Determined that their daughter receive a strong education, her parents enrolled her in Baker School and later graduated at just 16 from the Richmond Colored Normal School, now known as Armstrong High School, in Richmond.
After briefly teaching in Goochland County, she obtained a position in Henrico County that would define her life’s work.
In 1892, Randolph opened the Mountain Road School for Black children in rural Henrico. At a time when educational resources for African American students were severely limited, she built a program that combined traditional academics with practical instruction. Students learned reading, writing, and arithmetic alongside cooking, sewing, gardening, and woodworking.
Randolph firmly believed in “learning by doing,” emphasizing self-reliance, dignity, and community responsibility. Her classroom became a model of progressive education during the era of segregation.
Randolph’s impact expanded dramatically in 1908, when she was appointed the nation’s first Anna T. Jeanes Supervising Industrial Teacher, funded through the Jeanes Foundation to improve rural Black schools. In this groundbreaking role, she supervised 23 elementary schools across Henrico County, mentoring teachers and promoting industrial and agricultural education.
That same year, on March 30, 1908, she organized Virginia’s first Arbor Day celebration. With her students, she planted 12 sycamore trees on the Glen Allen campus that now bears her name, naming them for the 12 disciples — a symbolic gesture reflecting her belief in moral as well as academic growth.
Her work gained national recognition, and educators from across the country visited Henrico to observe her methods. In 1915, the Virginia Randolph Training School opened in Glen Allen, later evolving into today’s Virginia Randolph Education Center. A second school, Virginia Randolph Community High School, opened in 1957, further cementing her legacy. The Virginia Randolph Foundation, established in 1954, continues to award scholarships annually to Henrico students pursuing four-year college degrees.
Randolph retired in 1949 after 57 years in education. She died in Richmond on March 16, 1958. She is buried on the grounds of the Virginia Randolph Museum in Glen Allen — fittingly, at the heart of the campus she helped build.
Remembered as determined, enthusiastic, and visionary, Virginia Estelle Randolph transformed education for Black students in Virginia and left an enduring imprint on Henrico County. Her philosophy — that education should prepare students for both life and service — continues to resonate more than a century after she first stepped into a rural classroom.
