Lucy Goode Brooks

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Lucy Goode Brooks
Born
Lucy Goode

(1818-09-13)September 13, 1818
Virginia, U.S.
DiedOctober 7, 1900(1900-10-07) (aged 82)
Richmond, Virginia, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Known forFounding the Friends' Asylum for Colored Orphans

Lucy Goode Brooks (September 13, 1818 – October 7, 1900) was an enslaved American woman who later became instrumental in the founding of the Friends' Asylum for Colored Orphans in Richmond, Virginia.

Early life and education

Goode was born on September 13, 1818,

livery stable, for which he collected rent, but also permitted Albert to keep his additional earnings and use them to buy his freedom. In 1841 when the Baptist church divided, she was one of the group that joined in forming the First African Baptist Church.[2]

Career

When Sublett died in 1858, his heirs threatened to sell Lucy and her children to different masters. She was able to negotiate with merchants who purchased her children and allowed them to live with her as long as they showed up for work daily. The sole exception was a daughter who was sold to owners in Tennessee.[3] The knowledge that they could be separated made the Brookses work hard to try to buy the freedom of Lucy and the children. Her new master, Daniel Von Groning, who also owned her three youngest boys, allowed Albert to pay for their freedom in installments. It took four years, but on October 21, 1862, their deed of manumission was signed. The older three boys were not freed until the Civil War was ended.[2]

The loss of her daughter and a previous son—who had been sold away as an infant—motivated Brooks to try to help children who were separated from their parents, after the war had ended.

Quaker congregation to help found the Friends' Asylum for Colored Orphans.[3] The plan was approved and building's location was authorized by the city council in 1867, with the orphanage opening two years later.[5] The organization is still operational and functions as the Friends Association for Children,[6] though its current focus is to provide childcare and family support services to low- and moderate-income families.[7]

Brooks died on October 7, 1900, in Richmond, Virginia,[8] and she was buried in the Mechanic's Cemetery of Richmond.[1] She was honored in 2008 by a Virginia Historical Marker being erected at the corner of Charity and Saint Paul Streets.[9] A book about her life was published in 1989.[10]

See also

References

  1. ^
    Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  2. ^ a b c Kneebone, John T.; Dictionary of Virginia Biography (August 27, 2015). "Lucy Goode Brooks (1818–1900)". Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, Charlottesville, Virginia: Encyclopedia Virginia. Retrieved December 4, 2015.
  3. ^ a b c Sinclair, Melissa Scott (July 26, 2011). "The Forgotten Fighters". Richmond, Virginia: Style Weekly. Retrieved December 5, 2015.
  4. ^ Jones 2015, pp. 146–147.
  5. ^ Rabinowitz 1994, p. 80.
  6. ^ Meola, Olympia (February 8, 2006). "Lucy Goode Brooks". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Richmond, Virginia. Retrieved December 5, 2015.
  7. ^ "Friends Association for Children". Richmond, Virginia: Better Business Bureau. September 2014. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  8. Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  9. ^ Greater Jackson Ward News (March 14, 2008). "Lucy Goode Brooks to be honored Saturday". Richmond, Virginia: Richmond Virginia News. Retrieved December 5, 2015.
  10. ^ Brooks 1989.

Bibliography

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