Who were the players in those early journeys to racial dialogue which made stops in Gloucester and Mathews?
Nation and state
Dr. Robert Russa Moton, 1867-1935; born in Amelia County, Moton graduated from Hampton Institute and after entering a career in higher education, was named president of Tuskegee Institute in 1915. He had married as his second wife Jennie Dee Booth of Gloucester in 1908. He built Holly Knoll in Gloucester in 1935 and resigned from Tuskegee due to failing health the same year. He died in 1940. He is buried at Hampton University.
Harry Flood Byrd, 1887-1966, was known late in his life as the architect of Virginia’s Massive Resistance against integration of public schools. But in 1920, he was a senator in the Virginia General Assembly and rising fast in state politics. He was elected governor in 1925 and at this time, according to the Wikipedia article, became involved in the Interracial commission. Byrd went on to the U.S. Senate in 1933, serving until 1965.
The Rev...