Source: RICHMOND POLICE / RICHMOND POLICE DEPARTMENT
Sergeant Carol Adams of the Richmond Police Department wants to spread the word about the hiring of the Richmond Police Department’s first African-American Police officers over 70 years ago. Officers Doctor P. Day, John W. Vann, Frank S. Randolph and Howard T. Braxton made history when they were hired on May 1, 1946. The black police officers were photographed a couple of months later after receiving their uniforms.
Ruth B. Blair was the first African-American woman hired as an officer, more than three years later, on December 16, 1949, by the Richmond Police Department. Richmond Police Chief Major E. Hudson Organ hired the officers since the department was opened in 1807.
Source: RICHMOND POLICE / RICHMOND POLICE DEPARTMENT
The Richmond Black Police Officers Association and Engine Company #9 will commemorate the 70th anniversary of the first black officers on Saturday, April 30 from 6 p.m to 10 pm. at the Hilton Richmond Downtown, 501 East Board Street.
Richmond Police Chief Alfred Durham will deliver the keynote address at the event themed “Honoring Our Past, Embracing Our Future.”
Tickets are $50.
For more information, call Betty Squire at (804) 347-5289, Robert Jones at (804) 640-3621 or Thomas Williams at (804) 382-3644 or email E9andAssociates@gmail.com.
