Virginia Randolph Cottage

The Virginia Randolph Cottage, now the Virginia E. Randolph Museum, is a museum at 2200 Mountain Road in Glen Allen, Virginia. The museum is dedicated to the history of Virginia E. Randolph (1874–1958), an African-American vocational educator in the area for 55 years. The building, built in 1937 and housing Randolph's home economics classrooms, was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1974 in recognition of her legacy as a trainer of vocational teachers; her remains are interred on the grounds.^[2][4]

Virginia Randolph Cottage
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark
Virginia Landmarks Register
c. 1984 HABS photo
Show map of Virginia Show map of the United States
Location	2200 Mountain Rd., Glen Allen, Virginia
Coordinates	37°39′39″N 77°28′56″W
Built	1937 (1937)
NRHP reference No.	74002126
VLR No.	043-0043
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	December 2, 1974[1]
Designated NHL	December 2, 1974[2]
Designated VLR	March 18, 1975[3]

Description and history

The Virginia Randolph Museum is located east of Glen Allen, on the north side of Mountain Road, just east of the main buildings of the Academy at Virginia Randolph, part of the Henrico County public schools. The museum building is a single-story brick house, with a gabled roof pierced by three dormers. It is not architecturally distinctive, and its interior has been partitioned to better serve its present purpose as a museum. It was built in 1937 with federal funding assistance.^[4]

Virginia E. Randolph was born to former slaves, and made her early career as an educator. In 1908 she was chosen by the Henrico County supervisor to develop a model program of training and supervision for vocational teachers. Under the auspices of the Jeanes Foundation, the methods and plans developed by Virginia Randolph in Henrico County eventually achieved internationally widespread adoption.^[4]

Randolph also continued to teach in the Henrico County schools until her retirement in 1949. The home economics building, where she is said to have had an office, continued to be used as a teaching facility until 1969-70, and was then converted by the county into a museum in Randolph's honor. Randolph is buried in a grave nearby.^[4]

See also

• List of National Historic Landmarks in Virginia
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Henrico County, Virginia

References

1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
2. "Virginia Randolph Cottage". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on October 19, 2014. Retrieved April 21, 2008.
3. "Virginia Landmarks Register". Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Archived from the original on 21 September 2013. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
4. James Sheire (July 31, 1974), National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Virginia E. Randolph Museum - Virginia Cardwell Cottage / Home Economics Cottage (pdf), National Park Service and Accompanying one photo, undated (plus an unrelated photo of Poe Shrine, "oldest house" in Richmond, Virginia) (32 KB)

External links

• Media related to Virginia Randolph Cottage at Wikimedia Commons
• Virginia Randolph Museum - Henrico County Parks
• Virginia Randolph Cottage, Henrico County, one photo at Virginia DHR
• Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) No. VA-65, "Virginia E. Randolph Cottage, 2200 Mountain Road, Glen Allen, Henrico County, VA", 3 photos, 2 data pages, 1 photo caption page
• The Museum In Memory Of Virginia E. Randolph
• TV Interview about the museum