Mrs. Mae Breckenridge-Haywood
African American Society - Administrative
Mae Breckenridge-Haywood was born in Portsmouth, Virginia on July 7, 1940. She attended the Public Schools in Portsmouth, and graduated from I. C. Norcom High School in January 1958. She is the daughter of Pattie B. Griffin and Walter Griffin, Sr. who are both deceased. Mrs. Breckenridge-Haywood has three brothers. Two of her siblings are residents of Portsmouth. She attended Virginia State College (now Virginia State University) in Petersburg, Virginia; majored in Library Science and upon graduation from Virginia State University (1962) worked in Centreville, Md. as a teacher-librarian at Kennard High School. In 1963 she moved back to Portsmouth and took a job as librarian at East Suffolk High School in Nansemond County. East Suffolk High School was later renamed John F. Kennedy High School. Mrs. Breckenridge-Haywood was at John F. Kennedy High School during the years of 1963-1971. She has two children, Lolita Evette and Leonard E. Breckenridge, III. Mae is married to Freddie Haywood, USN Retired.
Mae Breckenridge-Haywood has been an enthusiastic and creative librarian. After working at John F. Kennedy High School, she worked at Norfolk State University in the Circulation Department. She begin working as a librarian for the Portsmouth Public School System in 1972, and was librarian at Brighton Elementary School, Churchland Academy, Emily Spong, Woodrow Wilson High, and finally she was assigned to I. C. Norcom High School, her alma mater. She retired from I. C. Norcom High School in 200l. She is a co-author of two books, Inscriptions in Triumph with Dinah Walters, and co-author of Black America: Portsmouth, Virginia with Dr. Cassandra Newby-Alexander. She has received several awards: She received the Zeta Phi Beta Community Service Award in 2003, The ACTSO Award from the NAACP in 2002, and a Meritorious Award from the African American Historical Society of Portsmouth, 2004. Mrs. Breckenridge-Haywood is the historian of the I. C. Norcom Alumni Association, Inc. and she is the current president of the African American Historical Society of Portsmouth.
Mae Breckenridge-Haywood has been an enthusiastic and creative librarian. After working at John F. Kennedy High School, she worked at Norfolk State University in the Circulation Department. She begin working as a librarian for the Portsmouth Public School System in 1972, and was librarian at Brighton Elementary School, Churchland Academy, Emily Spong, Woodrow Wilson High, and finally she was assigned to I. C. Norcom High School, her alma mater. She retired from I. C. Norcom High School in 200l. She is a co-author of two books, Inscriptions in Triumph with Dinah Walters, and co-author of Black America: Portsmouth, Virginia with Dr. Cassandra Newby-Alexander. She has received several awards: She received the Zeta Phi Beta Community Service Award in 2003, The ACTSO Award from the NAACP in 2002, and a Meritorious Award from the African American Historical Society of Portsmouth, 2004. Mrs. Breckenridge-Haywood is the historian of the I. C. Norcom Alumni Association, Inc. and she is the current president of the African American Historical Society of Portsmouth.
Christina Carlton
Military - Researcher
Born in Morehead City, NC and an Associates graduate from University of Maryland University College. She joined the US Navy in April of 1993 and is now stationed in Hampton Roads, Virginia. She has always been interested in family research and completing entries for online cemetery databases. While driving along Interstate 264, she saw a few headstones through the trees and decided to investigate. Since then, she has been constantly busy working on docementing the cemetery and ensuring that Portsmouth City Council is well aware of it's physical conditions.
Charles Johnson, Jr.
Teacher - Historian
I was born in Portsmouth, VA and attended the former George Peabody Elem., Riddick Weaver Elem., S H Clarke Jr. High, and graduated from I C Norcom in 1967. I graduated from Norfolk State College with a BA in History in 1971. I have been a Social Studies Teacher in Virginia Beach Public Schools for 38+ years.
My relationship with the cemeteries go back to my adolescent when I "whitewashed" grave sites. After the burial of my Great Grandmother, in Mt. Olive (1963), and closure of the cemetery. I observed an increase in trash, debris, and plant growth. I started to clean the immediate area of the family (Mingo) plot. I made a promise that working with individuals/groups to stop the decline of the cemeteries would be a goal. Decades later, I continue to hold to the saying "Gone but not forgotten." Respect for my Grandmother and all who rest in the cemeteries is why I return to pull the grass, clean the memorials, and tell the story.
Historian by Nature
Charles E. Johnson, Jr.
My relationship with the cemeteries go back to my adolescent when I "whitewashed" grave sites. After the burial of my Great Grandmother, in Mt. Olive (1963), and closure of the cemetery. I observed an increase in trash, debris, and plant growth. I started to clean the immediate area of the family (Mingo) plot. I made a promise that working with individuals/groups to stop the decline of the cemeteries would be a goal. Decades later, I continue to hold to the saying "Gone but not forgotten." Respect for my Grandmother and all who rest in the cemeteries is why I return to pull the grass, clean the memorials, and tell the story.
Historian by Nature
Charles E. Johnson, Jr.
Margaret Windley
African American Society - Writer
