Editor’s note: In this online companion to our December 2019 article remembering notable Richmonders, the author recalls the inspirational life of Richmond civil rights activist Ed Peeples, who died Sept. 7 at age 84.
Ed Peeples (Photo courtesy VCU)
Over the course of my 77 years, I have had the privilege of meeting thousands of extraordinary people. One of the most special was Edward H. Peeples. He was a social justice advocate whose life and work began in the 1950s during the civil rights movement. He grew up in a white South Richmond working-class neighborhood and was one of the neighborhoods thugs, thinking nothing about joining his buddies in harassing black children, even throwing rocks at them.
What changed Ed was Richmond Professional Institute, the forerunner to Virginia Commonwealth University. There he learned about another world, one much larger than the neighborhood where he grew up. His professors took a personal interest in him, spending time with him, opening doors for him and encouraging Ed to continue his education after completing RPI. Their most important contribution to his education was helping Ed to value himself and encouraging him to use what he learned to help others.
One Saturday morning, Feb. 20, 1960, Ed made his way to Thalhimers Department Store, one of the two retail anchors of downtown Richmond. At that time, Ed was working in the Richmond Department of Welfare. Ironically, on that same day in February, a group of black students from Virginia Union University staged a sit-in at Thalhimers to protest the whites-only policy governing the use of the lunch area. Ed was moved by the quiet determination of the students and suddenly felt compelled to join them. He wrote an account of his experience when he returned home that day. His noted that despite his doubt and trepidation, “I finally made my way out of the white crowd and took my place with the Negro protesters. I knew none of them personally and none of them knew me. I nevertheless sensed an intense familiarity with each of them as if we were all part of some great consciousness far beyond ourselves.”
Much later in life, after persistent urges by his friends for Ed to write his autobiography, he finally gave in and wrote “Scalawag: A White Southerner’s Journey Through Segregation to Human Rights Activism.” His biography is a journey of mind and heart. He met the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and later assisted black children who were shut out of their schools in Prince Edward County. During and after his graduate work at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Kentucky (where he earned a doctorate in medical behavioral science), his field-based scholarship prompted the U.S. Justice Department and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy to initiate civil rights investigations in Virginia and other states.
In the early 1980s, Ed and I were appointed by the Richmond City Council to the Richmond Commission on Human Relations and served together. At different times, each of us chaired the commission. I had the good fortune to work with him when he developed what became at the time the largest community-building event in Richmond history. Known as “Good News Week,” it focused on children and the importance of developing interracial friendships. He invited Fred Rogers' “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” troupe to Richmond for a special performance at what then was called “The Mosque,” now Altria Theater. Rogers couldn’t attend, but the rest of the cast showed up. On the day of their first performance, Lynda Johnson Robb, the daughter of former President Lyndon Johnson and wife of then-Gov. Charles S. Robb, welcomed everybody and turned the program over to Ed. What a day! I mention this because, in many respects, Ed was like Mister Rogers — a gentle, sweet person whose heart was centered on kindness and helping other people.
Richmond has lost a great saint, a warrior for justice and a brilliant storyteller who loved to laugh and bring joy to everyone he met. I have lost a beloved brother. The family has lost a beloved father and husband, but eternity has gained a great and gentle soul whose wit and wisdom will live forever in the hearts of those who knew him.
John V. Moeser is a professor emeritus of urban studies and planning at VCU and retired senior fellow at the University of Richmond’s Bonner Center for Civic Engagement.
