Norfolk History – Page 2 – ODU Special Collections Blog

Spooky Rare Book Spotlight: “The Witch of Pungo” by Louisa Venable Kyle

by Jessica Ritchie, Head of Special Collections and University Archives

WPIllustration — Illustration of Grace Sherwood’s “ducking” from *The Witch of Pungo* *and Other Historical Stories of the Early Colonies* by Louisa Venable Kyle

If you have lived, visited, or grown up in Virginia Beach like I did, then you are probably familiar with the infamous Witchduck Road. The road was named after the site of the last “witch ducking” that took place in Virginia in 1706. According to historians, local townspeople were searching for answers as to why their crops were dying and, as was fashionable at the time, they blamed women. They were particularly suspicious of the farmer’s wife Grace Sherwood, who dared to wear trousers, worked as a midwife, and knew a little too much about the healing power or herbs. Neighbors accused Grace of bewitching their pigs and cotton crops, and even flying through a keyhole in the black of night! A judge agreed with Grace’s accusers and ordered her to be tried by ducking. On July 10th, 1706 Grace was bound by her toes and thumbs, and dropped into the Lynnhaven River. The judge decreed that if she drowned she would die an innocent woman, but if she survived, it was because she was a witch. Luckily, Grace managed to escape her bonds and swam to shore, but shortly thereafter was imprisoned for witchcraft. After approximately 7 long years in jail she was released and returned to her three sons, and eventually died at the age of 80 on her farm in Pungo (now a part of Virginia Beach) in 1740. Go Grace!

GraceStatue — A statue depicting her was erected near Sentara Independence on Independence Boulevard in Virginia Beach, close to the site of the colonial courthouse where she was tried. The statue depicts Grace standing near a raccoon and holding herbs, which represent her love of animals and her nursing skills.

As a child, I struggled to understand that there was a time in history where innocent women were blamed for society’s ills and drowned just to prove their innocence. I still struggle with that thought, but I am pleased to see that Grace Sherwood’s legacy has been preserved in the Sherwood Trail, including Witchduck Road and other landmarks in Virginia Beach. Her legacy has also been preserved in many stories, books, and news articles, including a children’s book by author Louisa Venable Kyle.

WPCover — *The Witch of Pungo* *and Other Historical Stories of the Early Colonies* by Louisa Venable Kyle, ODU Libraries’ Special Collections and University Archives Rare Book Collection

Born in Norfolk, Louisa Venable Kyle studied at Mary Baldwin Seminary and graduated from Lasell Seminary. She wrote for the Virginian-Pilot and The Portsmouth Star and was one of the founding members of the Princess Anne County Historical Society. Her children’s book The Witch of Pungo and Other Historical Stories of the Early Colonies is based on seven folktales from Princess Anne County, including the tale of Grace Sherwood. The book was published in 1973 by Printcraft Press, Portsmouth, Virginia, and was reissued in 1978 and 1988 by Four O’Clock Farms Publishing Company.

WPSignature — *The Witch of Pungo* author’s signature

ODU’s Special Collections and University Archives is fortunate to have a rare, autographed hardcopy of The Witch of Pungo. The books is in great condition with a vibrant orange color, and features a wonderful collection of illustrations and short historical essays related to each folktale. I am so pleased that we can keep the legacies of both Grace Sherwood and Louisa Venable Kyle alive and well by sharing this book with our students, faculty, and community members. It’s incredible to think that we have so much important history here in Hampton Roads, and I am glad authors like Kyle have kept those stories alive for future generations.

Sources:

“Louisa Venable Kyle”. The Virginian-Pilot. October 25, 1999. Retrieved 17 October 2013.
“Grace Sherwood (ca. 1660–1740)”. The Associated Press. 9 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2013.
Grace Sherwood (ca. 1660–1740)”. Encyclopedia Virginia. Retrieved 17 October 2013.
RoadsideAmerica.com: Virginia Beach, Virginia: Witch of Pungo Statue

Further reading:
“The Virginia Case of Grace Sherwood, 1706.” In Narratives of the New England Witchcraft Cases, ed. George Lincoln Burr, 433–442. Mineola, New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 2002.Davis, Richard Beale.
“The Devil in Virginia in the Seventeenth Century.” The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 65 (April 1957): 131–149.Gibson, Marion.
Witchcraft Myths in American Culture. New York: Routledge Taylor and Francis Group, 2007.Kyle, Louisa Venable. The Witch of Pungo and Other Historical Stories of the Early Colonies. Portsmouth, Virginia: Printcraft Press, 1973.

Gimme Some Loving

by Maddie Dietrich, Music Special Collections and Research Specialist

Loving_Hendrix — Gene Loving with members of The Jimi Hendrix Experience.

We in SCUA are excited to announce the acquisition of a unique collection from the local pop music industry, the business records of AGL (A Gene Loving) Productions, a concert promotion agency that brought some of the greatest legends of pop music to Hampton Roads during the 1960s and 70s.

Who is Gene Loving?

A historical player in southeast Virginia’s music scene, both as a concert promoter and as a radio/TV personality. Loving worked his way up in the radio business as a disc jockey and later as music director for Richmond station WLEE. He got his start as a promoter when he booked Freddy Cannon for a live broadcast in 1961. He later moved to WGH where he became the first DJ to pick a Beatles record as a future hit, and over the next four decades he would become one of Virginia’s most recognized on-air personalities.

What did he donate?

A trove of business records and promotional materials (press kits, booking agreements, correspondence, photographs and ephemera) that tell the stories of the pop, rock, and R&B legends Loving’s agency brought to Hampton Roads: the hotels where they stayed, the accommodations they required, the venues where they performed, how much they were paid, and which shows sold out (and which ones flopped). Included among the artists Loving booked were James Brown, The Yardbirds, Sonny & Cher, Jimi Hendrix, The Beach Boys, David Bowie, and The Jackson Five.

While most performances went smoothly, the records reveal occasional hang-ups, from minor contractual disputes to complete show cancellations, with a few involving local law enforcement. In his autobiography Loving Life Loving recalls an incident with The Rolling Stones during their 1966 US tour when they were scheduled to play back-to-back performances at the Dome in Virginia Beach. Extra police had been hired for security after word got out of a small riot at the Stones’ performance in Boston four days prior. For the first show at the Dome police lined up shoulder to shoulder in front of the stage in a display of force that subdued the crowd so much that they responded to each song with only mild applause. Mick Jagger was so angered by this that after the show he called Loving to the dressing room and gave him a thorough dressing-down, shouting that never in all of their shows all over the world had they endured such a humiliating performance thanks to the excessive show of force. Jagger threatened not to play the second show unless the police were removed, which they were.

Loving_Stones — Virginia Beach police lined up in front of the Rolling Stones.

Where is Gene Loving now?

After four decades in radio Loving turned to television where he was an early innovator in UHF broadcast, developing one of the largest chains of independent stations in US history. He later founded Hampton Roads Wireless. He is the recipient of countless awards in broadcast and philanthropy, and currently enjoys an active retirement lifestyle in Virginia Beach.

*Special thanks to Gene Loving for donating this collection and Dr. Tim J. Anderson for supporting our efforts to collect and promote popular music archives.

How LGBTQ+ Folks Spent Summer Vacations in the 1990s

By Mel Frizzell, Special Collections Assistant

This is a continuation of my blog posts referencing Our Own Community Press, a Virginia LGBTQ+ community newspaper which ran from 1976 to 1998.

With the Fall semester starting, I thought about the timeless “What I did on my summer vacation” essay that so many of us were asked to write upon returning to school. With so many summer activities and vacations cancelled this summer due to the current pandemic, I thought I would highlight what LGBT folks did for summer vacations in the 1990s. While many LGBT folks did the same things as everyone else – such as visiting the beach, going on cruises, or enjoying theme parks – there are LGBT specific things that are mentioned or advertised in Our Own Community Press so I thought I would highlight some of these.

One did not need to travel far to find summer activities such as sports, recreational clubs, conferences and gatherings, festivals, or other events catering to the LGBT community. Local LGBT sports teams, clubs, and activities included the Lambda Wheelers, an LGBT bicycling group; the Mid-Atlantic Amateur Softball Association; volleyball tournaments at Stockley Gardens and Northside Park in Norfolk; and the Mid-Atlantic Bowling League. Other recreational activities included canoeing, hiking, rollerblading, women’s golf, and even skydiving.

Local summer benefits included pool parties sponsored by the Tidewater AIDS Crisis Taskforce (TACT) and the AIDSCARE Sunset Sprint Music Festival held at Ocean View Beach Park in June 1997. Some LGBT folks attended the biannual Stockley Gardens Art Festival held each May.

Local cruises on the Elizabeth River were popular. The Mandamus Society, an LGBT social group, held an annual cruise on the Carrie-B during the 90s. At least one year, there was an LGBT cruise on the Spirit of Norfolk too. While “Gay Days” at Busch Gardens had not yet become a thing, the first “Gay Days” at King’s Dominion was held in July 1997. “Gay Days” at Disney World in Florida began in the summer of 1991.

Beach vacations were also quite popular. Virginia Beach had its very own “Gay Beach Resort.” The Coral Sand Motel located on Pacific Avenue catered to LGBT clientele. The Outer Banks provided nearby beach getaways for LGBT folks. Rehoboth Beach in Delaware was also a popular choice. The Mandamus Society and Dignity, an LGBT Catholic group, both planned trips there in the 1990s. Our Own contains advertisements for Rehoboth Beach Resorts.

LGBT conferences and gatherings ranged from the serious to the fun. Many catered to diverse populations within the LGBT community. Serious conferences included the annual Lesbian and Gay Health Conference and AIDS Forum; the Southeast Lesbian / Gay Conference in July 1991; the International Lesbian & Gay Conference in Acapulco in 1991; and a Lesbian Writer’s conference in 1992.

Fun favorites included many women’s festivals and gatherings such as the Richmond Women’s Festival in 1990; the Roanoke Valley Women’s Festival in 1991, an annual East Coast Lesbian Festival; and WomenFest in Key West, FL in 1997. Regular women’s festivals were held at Twin Oaks campground in Luisa, Virginia and the INTOUCH women’s campground in Kent’s Store, Virginia. Music festivals were especially popular among Lesbians. These festivals included the Northeast Women’s Musical Retreat; the annual Virginia Women’s Music Festival held at INTOUCH; and the annual Rhythm Fest Women’s Music, Art, and Politics Festival held at Lookout Mountain in Georgia. Some men held camping gatherings too. These include the annual Gay Spirit Visions Conference in Highlands, NC and a men’s gathering held at Twin Oaks in 1993. Women’s and men’s gatherings sometimes highlighted LGBT-affirming alternative spiritual beliefs including New Age, Pagan, and Earth-based spirituality.

Film festivals were also popular among LGBT folks. Among these were the North Carolina Gay and Lesbian Film Festival the summer of 1997 and Outfest, an annual gay and lesbian film festival held in Los Angeles.

Many conferences highlighted the diversity among LGBT folks – the Golden Threads Lesbian Celebration for Lesbians over age 50 in 1990; the National Gay Young Adults Conference also in 1990; a 1990 gathering of North and South American Native American LGBT folks; a 1996 conference and AIDS institute for gay men of color; and an annual “Women Celebrating Our Diversity” Gathering at Twin Oaks Campground. Gay geeks weren’t left out as the Gaylaxicon science fiction convention, which was founded in 1988, continued throughout the 1990s and beyond.

Other big events of the 1990s included the Gay Games, an Olympic style event for LGBT athletes. The Gay Games started in 1982 and continues to this day. In the 1990s, the event was held in 1990, 1994, and 1998. Many LGBT folks also attended the 1996 International Summer Olympics in Atlanta, GA. The Atlantic States Gay Rodeo is mentioned in Our Own articles for 1996 and 1997. Many LGBT folks attended the GALA performing arts festival held in Tampa, FL in 1996. Maya Angelou was a keynote speaker at the event.

The 1990s were a great time for LGBT vacation packages. In the 1990s the travel industry took note of a perceived “disposable income” within the LGBT community. The idea is that many LGBT professional couples have extra income that isn’t going toward raising children that they can spend on leisure instead. While this myth persists even today, and there are many affluent people in the LGBT community, there are also many LGBT folks who aren’t especially wealthy or have dependents – LGBT parents (notably Lesbian mothers), LGBT folks from low income communities, and LGBT folks who have met with job discrimination. During the 1990s the LGBT travel industry flourished. Companies such as Toto Tours and Alyson Adventures offered tours, cruises, and destinations specifically for LGBT travelers. Sometimes there were separate women’s and men’s vacations, and other times the events were mixed. Local travel agencies such as Moore Travel (Norfolk), UNIGLOBE ITA Travel (Norfolk), and Four Seasons Travel (Williamsburg) arranged LGBT vacation packages. Bed and breakfasts and private resorts catering to LGBT folks offered options for those looking for smaller, low-key vacations.

LGBT travel magazines and guides promoted the LGBT travel industry. Such publications included magazines like Our World and Out and About; global guides such as Damron’s many guides, Ferrari’s Places of Interest: Worldwide Gay & Lesbian Guide, and Women Going Places 1993/94: A Women’s Complete Guide to International Travel; and city specific guides like Betty & Pansy’s Severe Queer Review of San Francisco and Washington, D.C.: An Alternative Guide For Those Who Don’t Necessarily Travel the Straight and Narrow.

So, while most of us are hoping that 2021 will be a better time than 2020 for joining in recreational activities or going on vacations, we can always look back at what folks did for fun in the 1990s. Perhaps looking through the articles, advertisements, and event listings in Our Own will provide you with nostalgia for the days when we could go out without masks and social distancing. Better yet, it might give you an idea for something to do when this pandemic is over.

Archived issues of Our Own Community Press are available digitally at: https://dc.lib.odu.edu/digital/collection/ourown