Veronica Alease Davis

Author/Historian Veronica A. Davis earned her undergraduate degree from Hampton University and a Masters of Library Science from the University of Pittsburgh. She is the founder of the Hampton Literary Society and a former president of the Maggie Lena Walker Historical Foundation. Ms. Davis was also the founder of Virginia Roots, where is leading the restoration of 7 historic African American Cemeteries working in cooperation with the City of Richmond's Sheriff's Department, the Department of Parks and Recreation, several community churches, organizations and businesses including Bank of America. Her background includes service as a former school librarian, children’s librarian, acquisitions librarian, reference librarian. She is most notable as the founder and editor of the Virginia Correctional Librarian Newsletter, a publication that she found while working as a school librarian at the Beaumont Juvenile Correctional Facility in Goochland, Virginia. Here Ms. Davis achieved international recognition for her role in creating a state-of-the-art educational facility for in-mates. It may seem obvious to some to create an educational library for a school setting, but Ms. Davis thought outside of the box by seeing her patrons as students and not as in-mates. She studied their files and purchased books that met their reading levels, developed a bibliographic instruction curriculum, and brought in field trips for the students. Most notable, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts traveling exhibit entitled, “Egypt”. It was the first time this exhibit was viewed through the outreach program in a school setting in the United States. Her role in creating this library won her praise from Virginia State Senator Emily Couric, who visited her library and expressed how impressed she was with her commitment. In 2005, her hard work and dedication in creating the correctional library was recognized in the “The Whole School Library Handbook” by (Loertscher, 2005). Ms. Davis is also a contributing writer to the Library of Virginia’s Dictionary of Virginia Biographies. She has also written for a number of serial publications including the Virginia Explorer and American Libraries Magazine. Her first publication Here I Lay My Burdens Down was considered ground breaking by many because it brought to light the neglected conditions of African American cemeteries. For the past three years the Richmond History Museum has ran a specialty tour based on this book. She has authored two more groundbreaking books Inspiring African American Women of Virginia and the Chronology of African American History of Virginia. After researching for an undisclosed number of years she chronicled the lives of over 103 African American native Virginia women who played a major role in shaping our nation. With the Chronology of African American History of Virginia she brings to light many events that many have long forgotten or hidden over the past centuries. While serving as the director of Virginia Roots, Ms. Davis has committed herself to restoring the legacies and histories of our nation’s historic African American cemeteries. She has also donated much of her royalties from her books and revenues from her tours to the restoration project. She has volunteered numerous hours to the clean-up and research of the cemeteries and fights to save them from development. Virginia Roots is an agency that provides tours of and educational programs about African American historical sites in and around Virginia. Ms. Davis spends a considerable amount of time lecturing and for two years she was heard on the weekly program The Community Forum as the “Black Historian” on Norfolk’s Clear Channel 105.3 with radio engineer, Doc Christian. After suffering domestic abuse over nearly a decade Ms. Davis decided to write the book on her experiences. “I wanted people to understand that abuse does not stop at the threshold of a home. For my son and I it played out in the community through gossip and innuendos from my abusers. In turn, people that we knew due to anger and/or personal experiences became emotional abusers.“ When a she came in contact with her Life Coach, Dr. Mauwsai of Agape Counseling Foundation she was able to work to gain the strength to overcome her abuser. “I thank God everyday for Agape Counseling Foundation, some agencies would not counsel us because they knew our abuser.” With the support of her family and Facebook Friends Ms. Davis and her son were able to break the cycle.” If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic abuse please get help by reaching out to the National Domestic Abuse hotline or Agape Counseling Foundation these organizations assist people nationwide.