Flora D. Crittenden
| Flora D. Crittenden | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Virginia House of Delegates from Newport News | |
|
In office 1993 – January , 2004 |
|
| Preceded by | W. Henry Maxwell |
| Succeeded by | Mamye BaCote |
| Personal details | |
| Born | August 10, 1924 Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Raymond C. Crittenden Jr. |
| Children | Raymond C. Crittenden III, Thursa, Alonzo |
| Alma mater |
Virginia State University Indiana University |
Flora Lonette Davis Crittenden (born August 10, 1924) is retired Virginia schoolteacher and civil rights activist who served part-time as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from Newport News, Virginia for eleven years.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, as a child Flora Davis moved to Scarsdale, New York where her parents worked as caretakers at a mansion, then back to Brooklyn after she experienced racial discrimination as an eight-year-old girl. She spent summers with relatives in Virginia's Hampton Roads area, and after she graduated from elementary school in Brooklyn, came to Newport News, Virginia to live with her grandmother and aunts in the all-black Southeast Community. Flora Davis attended and graduated from the former Huntington High School in Newport News (the only all-black high school in the area until George Washington Carver High School was built in 1949) in 1941, then attended Virginia State University, receiving a bachelor's degree in physical education in 1945 (although she had wanted to study mathematics at Spellman College in Atlanta). She pledged with the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, but her class and work schedule were too heavy to permit full involvement, although she later joined the graduate chapter.
For 65 years she was married to Raymond C. ("Coach") Crittenden Jr. (1926-2010), born in Richmond and also an athlete at and graduate of Virginia State University. For fifty years Coach Crittenden also worked as teacher, athletic coach and administrator in the Newport News public schools. They had three surviving children.
Upon receiving her bachelor's degree, Crittenden then taught physical education, English and social studies at the new Carver High School in Warwick (which would later be incorporated into Newport News) for seven years. She found its principal Homer L. Hines supported his teachers as well as the community. In 1956, she and her husband moved their young family to Indiana where they experienced racial segregation while she earned a Master of Science degree in physical education, health sciences and counseling from Indiana University. Both Crittendens received their graduate degrees from that university in 1959. Their children also experienced racially integrated schools and more personalized programs than available in Virginia. In 1971 Flora Crittenden studied Advanced Guidance Theory at the University of Louisville in Kentucky, which helped her to establish a career counseling program at Carver High School.
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