RICHMOND, Va. β Virginia has written many of America's first chapters, but this weekend, the Old Dominion will add an entirely new one shaped by the voices of women past and present.
Abigail Spanberger will be sworn in as Virginia's 75th governor on Saturday, becoming the first woman to ever hold the Commonwealth's highest office.
"Your mom is going to be the governor of Virginia, and I can guarantee those words have never been spoken in Virginia ever before," Spanberger said on election night in November.
Those words extend far beyond one family. They echo through generations of women who dared to run before winning was possible, who organized when they couldn't yet vote, who taught, protested, built, and believed.
A Commonwealth of firsts, except one
Virginia was born before the nation itself, founded in 1607 at Jamestown as the first permanent English settlement in North America. This land helped give birth to a nation, producing presidents, patriots and the very idea of self-government.
"There's no American history without Virginia history," said Maggie Creech, Director of History Education at the Virginia Museum of History and Culture. "Just about any big moment in our national story, we have a Virginia story to talk about as well."
Virginia was first at independence, first at leadership, first to adopt the Constitution, led by the first governor, Patrick Henry. And yet for 250 years, one "first" remained unfinished.
"Virginia is behind in that statistic. Many other states have elected female governors," Creech said.
Standing on the shoulders of trailblazers
Spanberger acknowledged the women who paved the way for this historic moment.
"I thank those who have come before me and Mary Sue Terry in particular," Spanberger said. "She was the first woman elected statewide in Virginia, and because of her and the continued work of so many, there will be many more women to come for generations to come."
Terry, who ran unsuccessfully for governor in 1993, spoke not of defeat but of destiny during her concession speech. She expressed certainty that the first female governor of Virginia was watching that night.
The path to this moment was built by countless women throughout Virginia's history: suffragists demanding the ballot, Maggie Walker becoming the first African-American woman to lead and charter a bank in Jackson Ward while also serving as a suffragist and educator, and Barbara Johns challenging school segregation as a teenager.
"She's the first African-American woman to lead and charter a bank in Jackson Ward. But she also was a suffragist, and she also was an educator, and she also led civil rights boycott," Creech said of Walker.
Johns, through her bravery and willingness to take a stand, changed the history of education in the United States forever.
A turning point for future generations
History proves breaking barriers isn't a solo sprint but a baton passed from one generation to the next. Creech believes this handoff changes everything.
"I think having the first female governor for the Commonwealth of Virginia is a huge turning point," Creech said. "When we think about young girls seeing a female governor, that's going to show them that's a job that can be done by women, and that's an office they can aspire to, and that's a sphere they're allowed to participate in."
Being first means carrying history on your shoulders and the future in your hands. Spanberger says she's ready for both.
"I will work so hard to ensure that every example I set is one of steadiness, is one of clear-eyed decision making, is one of clarity of communication," Spanberger said. "And ideally, I will leave this post in four years having done good work, having delivered as much as I possibly can for the betterment of Virginia."
Perfect timing for expanding ideals
The symbolic timing couldn't be more fitting. Two and a half centuries after Virginia helped ignite a revolution for freedom and representation, the Commonwealth expands that promise again.
"There's nothing more fitting than on 250 years since the American Revolution Virginia's Declaration of Independence, Virginia is swearing in its first female governor," Creech said. "That feels like a fitting expansion of those rights and a fitting realization of those ideals."
This moment will live far beyond politics. It will live in the eyes of children walking the halls of the Virginia Museum of History and Culture, where tours now end with a complete story.
"So when we give tours to students, we end on stories about Governor Wilder and about Mary Sue Terry's campaign and about Barbara Johns," Creech said. "But when you end on a story of someone saying, 'I'm proud of what I've done and I've built a bridge for the next person, but I wasn't ultimately able to shatter that final glass ceiling,' sometimes to kids, that can be a little bit like, 'Oh, I wanted a happy ending.'"
Now there is a happy ending, at least for now.
"I think from a student perspective, having a female governor is perfect full circle," Creech said. "We want our students to see themselves here in our museum and in our Commonwealth, and her story is going to make that more possible."
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