Jackson Ward Historic District

This series of photographs documents Richmond's historic Jackson Ward neighborhood. Jackson Ward hosted a thriving entertainment district centered on the famed Hippodrome theatre and was also the home of a number of large and well-known African-American churches, including the Sixth Mount Zion Baptist Church, founded by famous orator John Jasper. Jackson Ward also hosted a strong retail and business community in which Maggie L. Walker became the first woman in America to found and lead a bank in the United States when she opened the St. Luke Penny Savings. Jackson Ward was also the home and headquarters for civil rights advocate John Mitchell, Jr., editor of the Richmond Planet, which crusaded against the discrimination and persecution of African-Americans in the South.