Jump to content

Virginia Nowell

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Virginia Nowell
A middle-aged smiling white woman with dark hair in an updo
Virginia Nowell, from a 1940 newspaper
Born
Virginia Genevieve Newsom

March 7, 1892
Wake County, North Carolina, U.S.
DiedJanuary 18, 1960 (age 67)
Durham, North Carolina, U.S.
Occupation(s)Event promoter, publicist, real estate developer
Known forFounder of the Green Guards of America (1939)

Virginia Genevieve Newsom Nowell (March 7, 1892 – January 18, 1960)[1] was an American clubwoman, real estate developer, and publicist. After a series of legal and financial entanglements in North Carolina, she was founder and executive of the Green Guards of America, a short-lived national scheme to train women for emergency civil defense service before World War II.

Early life

[edit]

Virginia Newsom was born in Wake County, North Carolina, the daughter of Walter Raleigh Newsom and Margaret A. Starke Newsom.[1]

Career

[edit]

Nowell was a restaurant owner,[2] concert manager,[3] and event promoter,[4][5] based in Raleigh, North Carolina.[6] In 1922 and 1923, she and her brothers bought at least sixty lots to develop in the residential Mordecai neighborhood of Raleigh.[7] In 1926 she claimed to be "the largest builder of dwelling houses" in Raleigh,[8] and was involved in complicated lawsuits involving bank foreclosures.[9] In 1932 she tried to develop land for a "new Negro cemetery" in Raleigh,[10] and she won workman's compensation for a back injury she sustained while working as a policewoman at the North Carolina State Fair.[11] She was briefly jailed in 1933 when she failed to pay a large restaurant bill in Greenville.[12][13] In 1937, she acted as literary agent for Thomas Dixon's anti-NAACP, pro-lynching novel The Flaming Sword, intended as sequel to The Clansman.[14]

The Green Guards of America

[edit]

Nowell founded the Green Guards of America in 1939, with the stated goal of engaging American women for war preparedness with training,[15] guns,[16] uniforms,[17] medals,[18] and other military trappings.[19] She called herself "the first woman general in the U.S.",[20] and recruited directors for units in several states, including violinist Lily Nyeboe for New York.[21] A contingent of Green Guards paraded at the 1939 World's Fair in New York City.[22] Major magazines including Time and Mademoiselle covered the Green Guards and Nowell with some fascination.[23] Soon, however, Nowell was questioned by authorities,[24] and accused of mismanagement, exaggerating the membership numbers, and profiting from the effort.[25][26][27] She started selling "Liberty by Mail", a 65-page training manual for aspiring Green Guards, in 1941.[28]

Personal life and legacy

[edit]

Virginia Newsom married and divorced Henry H. Nowell. She raised two sons, James and Robert, who both fought in World War II;[29][30] another son, Henry Jr., died in infancy.[31] She lived in Raleigh after the war,[32][33] and worked to establish an alcohol rehabilitation facility in Raleigh.[34] She also returned to her habit of frequent lawsuits,[35][36] and was suing "11 doctors, two insurance companies", a hospital, a newspaper and its editor, and two lawyers when she died from a heart attack in 1960, at the age of 67, in a courtroom in Durham, North Carolina.[34][37] One of the properties she developed in Raleigh, the Mordecai Whitehall house, holds Raleigh Historic Landmark designation.[38]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b North Carolina death certificate of Virginia Newsom Nowell, via Ancestry.
  2. ^ "George Washington Has Opening Night". The News and Observer. 1919-12-19. p. 11. Retrieved 2025-07-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "State Social Events". News and Record. 1932-08-14. p. 16. Retrieved 2025-07-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Raleigh's New Auditorium Will be Opened Socially". News and Record. 1932-07-17. p. 15. Retrieved 2025-07-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Injunction Given to Permit Showing of 'Tobacco Road'". The Daily Dispatch. 1939-02-21. p. 3. Retrieved 2025-07-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ Perrett, Geoffrey (1985). Days of Sadness, Years of Triumph: The American People, 1939-1945. Univ of Wisconsin Press. p. 38. ISBN 978-0-299-10394-1.
  7. ^ Raleigh Historic Landmark Designation Application for Mordecai Whitehall House.
  8. ^ "Shepherd Files Answer to Suit; Asks for Judgment of $10,700 Against Mrs. Virginia Nowell". The News and Observer. 1926-12-15. p. 12. Retrieved 2025-07-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Tangled Affair in Making Loan". The News and Observer. 1926-02-24. p. 10. Retrieved 2025-07-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "New Negro Cemetery Planned for Raleigh; Mrs. Virginia Nowell Proposes Establishment". The News and Observer. 1932-12-06. p. 12. Retrieved 2025-07-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Gets Award for Sprained Back; Mrs. Virginia Nowell Tripped over Pipe While Policing Fairgrounds Bldg". The News and Observer. 1932-12-08. p. 4. Retrieved 2025-07-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Mrs. Virginia Nowell Jailed and Released". Washington Daily News. 1933-11-22. p. 1. Retrieved 2025-07-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Mrs. Virginia Nowell Issues Statement". The News and Observer. 1933-11-23. p. 5. Retrieved 2025-07-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "'Birth of Nation' Will Have Sequel; Mrs. Virginia Nowell Agent for Tom Dixon's Unfinished Novel". The News and Observer. 1937-10-22. p. 8. Retrieved 2025-07-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "The Green Guards Are In Training". The Courier-Journal. 1941-01-01. p. 14. Retrieved 2025-07-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "D.C. Women Start Defense Shootin'". The Washington Daily News. 1940-06-19. p. 13. Retrieved 2025-07-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ "'Parashots' Back National Leader". The News and Observer. 1940-08-31. p. 20. Retrieved 2025-07-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ "Crack Shot". Daily News. 1941-01-05. p. 18. Retrieved 2025-07-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ "Washington Women Train to Fight for Home Defense Prepare for National Emergency". Des Moines Tribune. 1940-12-28. p. 12. Retrieved 2025-07-13.
  20. ^ "Civil Front: Ladies in Green". TIME. 1940-08-26. Retrieved 2025-07-12.
  21. ^ "Green Guard Unit Quits; White Plains Post Dissatisfied With National Leadership". The New York Times. 1941-01-11. p. 4. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-07-13.
  22. ^ "Green Guards Call Truce, Name New D.C. Head; Curran to Sift Profiteering Charge of Past President". Times Herald. 1940-08-31. p. 3. Retrieved 2025-07-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ^ Sadler, Christine (September 1940). "Toward a Total Defense". Mademoiselle. 10: 154, 230.
  24. ^ "Inquiry Started into Lady Guard; Mrs. Nowell Questioned by Federal Attorney". The News and Observer. 1940-08-30. p. 2. Retrieved 2025-07-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. ^ Finnegan, Les (1940-08-29). "D.C. Green Guards President to Face Trial for 'Treason'". The Washington Daily News. p. 20. Retrieved 2025-07-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  26. ^ "Green Guard Commander Named in Accounting Suit; 'Partner' Demands Share of Profits". Times Herald. 1940-12-18. p. 25. Retrieved 2025-07-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  27. ^ "Says Patriotism Was Not Found; Resigned President of Green Guards Reports Furniture Repossessed". The News and Observer. 1940-08-30. p. 3. Retrieved 2025-07-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  28. ^ "'Women's National Guard' Being Organized by Virginia Nowell". The Kane Republican. 1941-01-27. p. 1. Retrieved 2025-07-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  29. ^ "The Nowells Honor New Bridal Couple". The News and Observer. 1949-12-31. p. 5. Retrieved 2025-07-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  30. ^ "Robert B. Nowell". The News and Observer. 1996-04-23. p. 18. Retrieved 2025-07-13.
  31. ^ "Tenderly Laid to Rest". The News and Observer. 1914-08-18. p. 2. Retrieved 2025-07-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  32. ^ "Open House Held by Three Hosts; Judge Grady, Mrs. Virginia Nowell, Miss Cole Entertain". The News and Observer. 1946-12-30. p. 6. Retrieved 2025-07-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  33. ^ "Mrs. Nowell Honors Miss Richardson". The News and Observer. 1948-08-07. p. 5. Retrieved 2025-07-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  34. ^ a b "Mrs. Virginia Nowell Dies During Courtroom Hearing". The News and Observer. 1960-01-19. p. 17. Retrieved 2025-07-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  35. ^ "Superior Court Opens Today with 105 Cases". The News and Observer. 1948-09-07. p. 3. Retrieved 2025-07-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  36. ^ "Mrs. Nowell's Law Suit Transferred to Wake County". The Herald-Sun. 1956-05-29. p. 13. Retrieved 2025-07-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  37. ^ "Woman Succumbs During Civil Case Hearing Here". The Herald-Sun. 1960-01-19. p. 2. Retrieved 2025-07-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  38. ^ "Mordecai Whitehall". Raleigh Historic. Retrieved 2025-07-13.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Virginia_Nowell&oldid=1300333692"