Richmond, Virginia, has been recognized for generations as a “Gospel town,” with a vibrant tradition of African American gospel groups and choirs, and one of its most legendary figures is Pastor Maggie Ingram. Born July 4, 1930, on Mulholland’s Plantation in Coffee County, Georgia, Maggie worked in the cotton and tobacco fields with her parents. She began playing the piano and singing at an early age, developing a great love for the church and the ministry of the Gospel. Sister Maggie Ingram and the Ingramettes soon became a singing group sought after for appearances throughout Florida. Maggie moved her family to Richmond early in the 1960s, where she worked in the home of Oliver W. Hill Sr., the prominent civil rights attorney who had represented the Virginia plaintiffs in the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case. With her children, Maggie began a prison ministry, partnering with the Mt. Gilead Baptist Church in the 1970s. The Ingramettes have since become gospel icons in Richmond and have received numerous awards, including the prestigious Virginia Heritage Award. Maggie’s daughter, the Reverend Almeta Miller, has used her Virginia Folklife Program apprenticeship to record the story of her mother’s life.
Gallery
The incomparable Maggie Ingram (photo by Ashley Twiggs/Virginia Folklife Program)
Almeta Ingram-Miller and Valerie Stewart of the Ingramttes (photo by Ashley Twiggs/Virginia Folklife Program)
May 9, 2009: Cheryl Maroney-Beaver, Almeta Ingram-Miller, Valerie Stewart, and Maggie Ingram (Photo by Ashley Twiggs/Virginia Folklife Program)
Evangelist Maggie Ingram at the 2009 Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Showcase (photo by Ashley Twiggs/Virginia Folklife Program)
Maggie Ingram
(photo by Ashley Twiggs?Virginia Folklife Program)
Maggie Ingram at the Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Program in 2009 (photo by Ashley Twiggs/Virginia Folklife Program).
Almeta Ingram-Miller (photo by Ashley Twiggs)>
Cheryl Maroney Beaver of the Ingramettes
(photo by Ashley Twiggs/Virginia Folklife Program)
Maggie Ingram
(photo by Ashley Twiggs/Virginia Folklife Program)
Valerie, Mother Maggie, Almeta, and Cheryl perform at the 2010 Folklife Apprenticeship Showcase (photo by Peter Hedlund/Virginia Folklife Program)
Evangelist Maggie Ingram (photo by Peter Hedlund/Virginia Folklife Program)
Photo by Peter Hedlund
Maggie Ingram leads the Ingramettes (photo by Peter Hedlund/Virginia Folklife Program).
Almeta Ingram-Miller belts one out (photo by Peter Hedlund/Virginia Folklife Program).
Maggie Ingram on stage in 2010 at the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities (photo by Peter Hedlund/Virginia Folklife Program).
Valerie Stewart, member of the Ingramettes (photo by Peter Hedlund/Virginia Folklife Program).
Calvin "Koolaid" Curry on bass for the Ingramettes (photo by Peter Hedlund/Virginia Folklife Program).
Maggie Ingram (photo by Peter Hedlund/Virginia Folklife Program)
The five apprenticeship teams represent artforms with centuries-old roots in Virginia—African American storytelling and music, as well as old time fiddling—as well as the dance and music of Bolivia and Puerto Rico.
Join us on Saturday, July 8 at the Library of Virginia for an afternoon of performances, displays, and activities highlighting old and new Virginia musical traditions including blues, fiddling, shape-note singing, and more.
July 8, 2023 | 12PM – 4PM | Library of Virginia, Richmond
Join us on Friday, July 7 for a reception, film screening, and stage program honoring four teams from the broader Richmond area who completed a Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship in 2022-23.
July 7, 2023 | 5:30PM – 8PM | Library of Virginia, Richmond
As a result of profound climate change, newly revealed archaeological and paleontological finds are surfacing along the banks of the Rivanna River. We are creating a scientific field journal cataloging these incidences in a fictional case study. Lost treasures unearthed, lost landscapes exposed, lost life forms revealed or revived, lost memories recovered – we are moved by these unexpected finds. Our fictional field journal will contain many examples of these newly uncovered discoveries.