Josephine Turpin Washington: An Early Voice for Black Womanhood

On this day in 1861, Josephine Turpin Washington was born in Goochland County, Virginia. Her parents were the children of former slaves, and her father was a descendant of Thomas Jefferson (Washington’s great-grandmother was the former president’s paternal aunt). She was born free. By July 1861, the Civil War would have engulfed Virginia—5,000 soldiers had … [Read more…]