Norman Bennett’s earliest spiritual experiences were in the primary department at Orcutt Avenue Baptist Church in Newport News. At age 6 he memorized the 100th Psalm and received his first Bible. While in the junior department at First Baptist Church,…
HERITAGE: Salute to Hargrave
On Sept. 15, 1909 — exactly a century ago next week — Hargrave Military Academy opened its doors to receive boys whose parents desired that they be educated in a Christian environment. From 1975-2007, girls were admitted as day students….
HERITAGE: ‘Our Family’
Uncle Vivian was our family’s historian. He was my great-grandfather’s half-brother. As a boy, I heard him say that “our family” escaped persecution in England and lived for awhile in Amsterdam. He was referring to the branch of our family…
HERITAGE: The roar of lions
By any measure, they are old lions. Henry Langford turned 90 earlier this year. Jim Fox and Elmer West are both 86 and counting. But they can still roar. As young lions they challenged the prevailing social order, risking their…
HERITAGE: Under the shade trees
The venerable Dover Baptist Church is located in the countryside of Goochland just off picturesque Highway 6 (which in the City of Richmond is better known as Patterson Avenue) and under the shade trees there has been an abundance of…
HERITAGE: A good place
The yellow line which runs down the middle of State Street in Bristol is the boundary between Virginia and Tennessee. The street itself has had a renaissance with attractive plantings and interesting shops and restaurants now occupying formerly empty buildings….
HERITAGE: Return to Harmony Grove
She was born 90 summers ago about a country mile or two from Harmony Grove Baptist Church in Middlesex County; and for her home church’s 150th anniversary, Frances Stiff Appel of Richmond wanted to return to Harmony Village. She had…
HERITAGE: The rabbit trap
In 1915 Frederic W. Boatwright was the busy president of the University of Richmond (although at the time the school was still known as Richmond College). He had just lived through the first academic year of the school’s relocation from…
HERITAGE: Transitions
On the last Sunday of May, Bill Tuck was extended warm farewells as he concluded a 20-month interim pastorate at the First Baptist Church of Raleigh, N.C. The congregation formed a long line to give handshakes and hugs to Bill…