Leslie Byrne

Leslie Byrne was the first woman elected to the U.S. Congress from Virginia, serving as a Democrat for one term, from January 3, 1993, until January 3, 1995.

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Frances Berkeley

Upon her husband’s death, Frances inherited his large estate and soon married the Virginia governor, taking up residence at his estate, Green Spring, and vigorously supporting him during Bacon’s Rebellion during the summer of 1676.

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Helen Timmons Henderson

Helen Timmons Henderson served in the Virginia House of Delegates (1924–1925), one of the first two women elected to that body (the other was Norfolk‘s Sarah Lee Fain).

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Margaret Brent

Margaret Brent was one of the earliest residents of Westmoreland County, Virginia, where she owned a sizable estate named Peace plantation and helped to establish Virginia’s first Roman Catholic community.

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Mary Elizabeth Pidgeon

Mary Elizabeth Pidgeon was a suffrage activist who worked for change at every level: as a grassroots organizer, a state politics watchdog, and a researcher at a federal agency.

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Sarah Lee Fain

Sarah Lee Fain was one of the first two women elected to serve in the Virginia General Assembly following ratification in 1920 of the Nineteenth Amendment.

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