By Julie Campbell, Immediate Past President and Contest Chair

On Sept. 27, a pleasant fall Sunday, about a dozen mask-wearing folks spread out around the Virginia Women’s Monument on Capitol Square in Richmond to honor our Communicator of Achievement, Frances Broaddus Crutch􀀂eld.

As an earlier VPC story described her, Frances is not only a communicator but also “a community powerhouse … best known for her advocacy for women’s rights and Virginia’s underserved Indian tribes.” Thus the location for the event, as Capitol Square features two recent monuments that she helped create, one honoring women, the other honoring Native Americans.

For the Virginia Women’s Monument, Frances guided the commission in the selection of a Native American woman to be immortalized with a statue. One prominent supporter wanted Pocahontas, but Native Americans sought another option. Frances, therefore, suggested Cockacoeske, who led the Pamunkeys as chief from 1656 until her death in 1686. Frances had learned about her through the Pamunkey Indian Museum and Cultural Center in King William, Virginia, and through her friends Mildred Moore, a renowned potter, and her daughter Debora Moore, descendants of Cockacoeske. (In 2012, VPC member Nancy Wright Beasley wrote this piece about Mildred Moore.)

Frances also found information about Cockacoeske in a book by Donna Lucey, I Dwell in Possibility: Women Build a Nation, 1600 to 1920. Both she and the author are members of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
For the other monument, Mantle: Virginia Indian Tribute, our COA served on the planning commission as a citizen member representing Virginia Indians. “We worked long and hard,” she told us, “and solicited information from every indigenous group.” Wanting to avoid any realistic sculpture or other similar depiction, the commission came up with a circular design that represents eternity.

The attendees comprised VPC members; a handful of the honoree’s non-VPC friends, who came bearing owers; and Frances’s proud son, Henry Broaddus, who drove up from Williamsburg. After remarks by VPC President Julie Grimes, longtime VPC member Martha Steger recapped the many good reasons she found to nominate Frances for COA.