Hampton

c. 1898

Margaretta S. Ridgely (1869-1949) was the youngest daughter of Charles (1830-1872) and Margaretta Howard Ridgely (1824-1904). After her mother’s death, she became an Episcopal missionary in Africa, founding a girl’s school in Liberia where she spent 28 years. The Liberian government eventually awarded her a knighthood in the “Humane Order of African Redemption.” The three children she is reading to may be children of Hampton tenant farmers.

Paper. H 8, W 8.2 cm
Hampton National Historic Site, HAMP 20430