Since March is Women’s History Month, we’re looking at six women who have left their prints on the Shenandoah Valley. Here you’ll find artists, a spy, an entertainer, and way makers. Some are still with us and they reach back to pull up younger generations. Others have passed; their stories complete. All of them are worth more than a footnote in a history book.
Patricia Buckley Moss – Waynesboro, VA
Though she was born in New York City, Patricia Buckley Moss (more commonly known as P. Buckley Moss to the world and Pat to her friends and family) makes Waynesboro, Virginia her home.
Moss is known for her unique style of painting, with her animals, people, and even trees readily recognizable to collectors. Her topics are primarily of Amish and Mennonite residents of the Shenandoah Valley, farmscapes, and even landmarks like the Natural Bridge and Meems Bottom Covered Bridge.
In 1995, Moss founded the P. Buckley Moss Foundation for Children’s Education. Herself dyslexic, Moss’s foundation “encourages the use of the visual and performing arts in all educational programs, but especially those involving children who learn differently.”
Moss has received many accolades over her career, including American Mother Artist of the Year in 1976, Virginia Women in History Award in 2008 from The Library of Virginia, honorary degrees from colleges and universities across the United States, and much more.
Collectors of P. Buckley Moss artwork will have the opportunity to meet her and have up to two previously purchased pieces signed during her upcoming Barn Show, April 19-21, 2024. As is tradition, Moss will release a new print that weekend as well.
Dr. Sheary Darcus Johnson – Harrisonburg, VA
It was the 1960s and Sheary Darcus wanted to be a librarian, but the Lucy F. Simms School seemed to be lacking in the area of college preparation. Therefore, in 1964, Darcus and five other African American students integrated the all-white Harrisonburg High School. That was step one. Step two was to find a college offering library science. Her hometown college – Madison College (now James Madison University) – was one of three she identified. In 1966, Sheary Darcus became what many believe to be the first African American student admitted to Madison College.
Johnson earned her bachelor’s degree from Madison College in 1970 and followed it with a master’s in 1974. She did go on to become a librarian and has authored two books. Johnson earned her doctorate from the University of Virginia in 1988, joined the faculty at Virginia Commonwealth University to teach library science, and is now a full-time minister. She has also founded two non-profits in the Richmond area.
In July 2020, the James Madison University Board of Visitors unanimously approved a motion to rename three buildings in the bluestone section of JMU’s campus. On September 24, 2021, Justice Studies Hall was renamed Darcus Johnson Hall in Dr. Sheary Darcus Johnson’s honor.
Patsy Cline (1932-1963) – Winchester, VA
Virginia “Ginny” Patterson Hensely is better known as Patsy Cline. She was born in Winchester, Virginia in 1932. From 1948 to 1953 and intermittently from ’53 to 1957, Cline lived at 608 South Kent Street with her mother and siblings. It was from this residence Cline saw her passion become her career as she signed her first recording contract in 1954. In 1957, “Walkin’ After Midnight” threw her into the national spotlight as it reached number two on the Billboard country music chart.
Patsy Cline was killed on March 5, 1963 when her plane from Kansas City to Nashville crashed.
Today the house at 608 South Kent Street is a National Historic Landmark named The Patsy Cline Historic House. A visit there gives you a glimpse into Cline’s past and features some of her stage costumes. She is buried nearby at Shenandoah Memorial Park in Winchester, Virginia. In 1973, Patsy Cline was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. She was the first female solo artist to receive the honor.
Visit The Patsy Cline Historic House (opens for the season April 1, 2024)
Maria Isabelle “Belle” Boyd (1844-1900) – Martinsburg, VA (now WV)
Belle Boyd. Wikipedia Commons.
As a young woman, it was probably easy for Belle Boyd to gain the attention of Union officers under the same roof as her family in Front Royal, Virginia. From what was then a hotel ran by her relatives and now known as Belle Boyd Cottage, Boyd was able to learn of forthcoming Union movements and warn Confederate Major General Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson. Delivering a message in person, Boyd was able to alert Jackson of the planned Union retreat from Front Royal. In doing so, the bridges over the Shenandoah River were saved from destruction and the Battle of Front Royal went to the Confederates. American Battlefield Trust says, “Boyd was one of the Confederacy’s most notorious spies.”
According to the Warren Heritage Society, “Belle Boyd was imprisoned three times … and arrested six times …,” yet she lived to tell of her espionage. A memoir published in 1865 entitled Belle Boyd in Camp and Prison was just the beginning as she eventually toured as a lecturer after retiring from a career in acting.
Visit Belle Boyd Cottage in Front Royal or Belle Boyd House in Martinsburg
Anna Mary Robertson Moses (1860-1961)
A skilled embroiderer and quilter, Anna Mary Robertson Moses found herself at the mercy of arthritis. Those close to her suggested she instead try painting the bucolic rural scenes she so loved. Using whatever supplies she had at hand, the 78-year-old Moses began a new craft.
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Fortunately for those who also love nostalgic homestead scenes, a New Yorker named Louis J. Caldor helped Moses find space for her art in exhibitions. She gained media attention, both positive and negative, and it wasn’t long before she was referred to as “Grandma Moses.”
According to the National Museum of Women in the Arts, “An art critic noted in a 1940 New York Herald Tribune review that her neighbors called her Grandma Moses, and the name stuck. Moses had nine grandchildren and over thirty great-grandchildren.”
Though Moses has no roots in the Shenandoah Valley, she is said to have loved visiting and found inspiration from our rolling fields of farmland. The Museum of the Shenandoah Valley in Winchester, Virginia has “Down in Shenandoah” on display. It is oil on pressed wood and dates to circa 1942.
Emma Gatewood (1887-1973)
Emma Gatewood. Wikipedia Commons.
The first woman to solo hike the entirety of the Appalachian Trail was Emma Gatewood, often called Grandma Gatewood. In her late 60s, she told her family she was going for a walk. Really, she made her way from Ohio to Maine, where she set off to tackle more than 2,000 miles of tough terrain. Gatewood had a false start during that first try in 1954, and she returned home. Her second try, this time from Georgia (and without any notice to her family), was successful. She later returned to complete the hike for a third and final time.
Interestingly, in 1955 after her first successful completion, Gatewood told Sports Illustrated she hiked the trail because she wanted to, but added, “I would never have started this trip if I had known how tough it was, but I couldn’t and I wouldn’t quit.”
While Gatewood was neither born in nor died in the Shenandoah Valley, we give her the honor of this mention because she accomplished an unlikely feat passing through this place we call home. Her grit and determination are admirable qualities, and she did it all in a pair of high-top Converse.
Header Image: Patsy Cline Historic House. Photo by Robert Harris IG: @robertharris and courtesy of Virginia Tourism Corporation.