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Martha Rollins in Byrd Park, where her Richmond odyssey started nearly 50 years ago with the purchase of a brick Colonial Revival house facing the Carillon (Photo by Tina Eshleman)
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Martha Rollins in Byrd Park (Photo by Tina Eshleman)
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Martha Rollins in Byrd Park (Photo by Tina Eshleman)
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Martha Rollins in Byrd Park (Photo by Tina Eshleman)
Even at the tender age of 12, Martha Rollins did it her way. "I loved to sell," the smiling 73-year-old says. "Most of all, I loved mixing up different things to make a better thing." Growing up in a wealthy Martinsville family, the former Martha Franck not only hawked the most Girl Scout Cookies among her peers, she may have helped to pioneer what the youngsters now call "the side gig."
"I took my brother's stroller, a pitcher of lemonade and my Girl Scout Cookies and went downtown and sold the cookies," she says with a bright twinkle in her eye. "Plus, I was selling lemonade and getting money for babysitting my brother."
This inclination to multitask — to balance care with commerce — became hallmarks of the successful businesses she would eventually foster in Richmond — Martha's Mixture antiques and House of Lighting, most prominently. And it was “the root” of Boaz and Ruth, the charitable nonprofit organization, repair shop and thrift store that she founded in 2002.
“I had this burning thought that somehow the refinishing business could be intertwined with healing,” she says.
Boaz & Ruth has helped to spur economic activity in a ramshackle part of Highland Park. Its programs enable low-income residents to find job training and resources, and its side gigs (such as Mountain Movers and Cathedral Construction) help former inmates find job opportunities. Partnering with local businesses, churches and government departments, Boaz & Ruth also facilitates contacts and conversations from across Richmond's racial and economic spectrum.
“That's how you change society," she says. "You get people in pockets and gated communities to know that there's another world that they should be a part of."
Rollins is being honored this month, along with seven others, as one of the Library of Virginia's 2017 Virginia Women in History. The Library's description notes that she "fights racism, recidivism, and prejudice by bringing Richmond communities together."
Women in History honoree Undine Smith Moore, of Ettrick, taught students about music theory as well as the contributions of African-Americans to music and culture. (photo courtesy of Mark Atkinson)
Nora Houston was an artist and advocate for women's suffrage and social reform. (photo courtesy Virginia Historical Society)
Artist and suffragette Nora Houston and music composer and teacher Undine Smith Moore, two fellow Richmond-area inductees, are being honored posthumously. The stories of the extraordinary women are told in a special exhibition that eventually will travel to cultural institutions across the state. There will also be a special program and awards ceremony at the Library of Virginia on March 30 that honors Rollins and her fellow history makers.
Walking her Jack Russell terrier, Braveheart, in Byrd Park, where her Richmond odyssey with her husband, Randy, started nearly 50 years ago with the purchase of a solid-brick Colonial Revival house facing the Carillon, Rollins doesn't seem much fazed by the Library of Virginia honor. She's also (blissfully) unaware that she is also receiving a separate distinction from the Library, the VABPW Foundation Business Leadership Award. "I guess someone forgot to tell me. They've had so many cutbacks over there ..."
Martha Rollins with her Jack Russell terrier, Braveheart (Photo by Tina Eshleman)
Her big concern is how to properly thank the people she claims are truly responsible for her achievements — and she's got a long list of friends, donors, collaborators and inspirations. "I've invited all of the people to come, all the people who worked with me to get to this. They are hidden figures now, but they are really the ones who should get this award."
Those hidden figures include her friends Collie and Audrey Brown Burton, who helped her to form a progressive neighborhood association in Byrd Park that established the award-winning Arts in the Park, and fought for — among other things — the desegregation of the Richmond Times-Dispatch's classified ad pages. “The newspaper had six columns on the page," she recalls. "And one of them read 'Colored Houses for Sale.' When the housing law passed, they had to drop the word 'colored' but they kept the column." She purses her lips at the memory. "We had to push back on this." Rollins says she and others persisted until the newspaper removed the column.
The Burtons also spurred on her activism to help former inmates, and to employ them in her businesses. It was at Martha's Mixture "back when Carytown was rough" that she became an advocate. "We had these hard working African-American men working for us and I wondered why didn't they have a full-time job. It turned out that many of them had been incarcerated and their options were very limited. Some of them, I hired permanently. It taught me a lot about how we label people incorrectly."
Other hidden figures include her friends and fellow members in the Christian Women Business Council she co-founded, including councilwoman Ellen Robertson. It was Robertson who recommended a former fire station in a sketchy part of her 6th District as the place for the burgeoning Boaz & Ruth. "My first thought was 'that's too dangerous,' " Rollins recalls. "'And the moment I said it, I heard this little voice saying, 'What's wrong with you?' “
After all, the inspiration for her healing center came from the story in the biblical book of Ruth. "The important theme in that story is that Boaz was one race and one class and Ruth was another," she says. "Ruth was a foreigner. And from their marriage, Jesus was born. That's powerful. So that's where the name comes from, even though it's really Ruth's story. But the businessperson came out in me, too. This was back when it was important to be near the front in the Yellow Pages." She says that Boaz & Ruth has three main goals: "To build lives through relationships, to empower the community through economic development and to connect people across shared experiences."
Rollins' talent for combining commercial interests with caring, and her lifelong efforts toward racial integration, won her the inaugural Purpose Prize in 2006 (given to distinguished community activists older than 60), But when Rollins retired six years later, she didn't slow down. She turned her attention to assisting an organization that started at Eastern Mennonite University, Coming to the Table, which focuses on healing the fissures caused by the country's history of slavery.
"Everybody's a Boaz with gifts, everybody's a Ruth with needs," the Woman in History says, still smiling. "It's the connected word 'and' that is the most important word, because that's where the healing and the miracles take place."
The 2017 Virginia Women in History exhibition runs through March at the Library of Virginia, 800 E. Broad St., 692-3999. There will be an awards ceremony March 30 at 5:30 p.m. emceed by May-Lily Lee. The event is free and open to the public.
