The Graduate

Eighteen year old Leonie Helen Holmes graduated from the Class of 1909, from Richmond Colored Normal and High School.

In this photograph, Leonie Helen Holmes (1891 - 1985), holds a diploma while a second, framed diploma sits at her feet. The diploma on the floor is her diploma from Richmond Colored Normal and High School; the one in her hand is probably a diploma from a six- to eight-week summer "normal"—a special program designed to train teachers. Summer normals were instituted around 1906 as part of the state's efforts to reform public schools by establishing standards for teachers.

A short time later she would marry W. S. Watkins, who established a funeral parlor (located at 619 Brook Avenue) in Richmond, Virginia. She helped her husband open the business. Though she and her husband eventually divorced, they remained close throughout their lives.

W.W. Foster, Foster Studio
Virginia Historical Society