Last updated: May 12, 2021
Place
Quality Row
NPS Photo/Maggie L. Walker NHS
Quick Facts
Location:
Leigh Street in Jackson Ward
Significance:
Neighbors of Maggie L. Walker
OPEN TO PUBLIC:
No
The East 100-block of Leigh Street was known as “Quality Row,” not only for the residences but for the outstanding achievements of its former residents.
107 East Leigh was the former home of Dr. David A. Ferguson, an 1899 graduate of Howard University’s dental school. He would go on to found the National Dental Association and become the first non-physician president of the National Medical Association.
110 East Leigh was the former home of Dr. Leon Reid and his family. Dr. Reid, a leading African American dentist, served as president of the National Dental Association and served on the Board of Directors of the Consolidated Bank and Trust. Dr. and Mrs. Reid’s son, Dr. William Ferguson Reid, would become a surgeon and become the first African American elected to the Virginia General Assembly in the 20th century.
The corner residence is 118 East Leigh Street. Although it is now a part of the Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site, it once housed the law firm of noted civil rights attorney Oliver W. Hill and his associates. Oliver Hill and colleagues, Martin A. Martin and Spotswood Robinson, argued many desegregation cases. However, their most celebrated case was Dorothy Davis et al. vs. the county School Board of Prince Edward County. This case became one of the five cases heard before the United States Supreme Court as a part of the landmark Brown vs. Board of Education decision of 1954. This pivotal case overturned the separate-but-equal doctrine.
107 East Leigh was the former home of Dr. David A. Ferguson, an 1899 graduate of Howard University’s dental school. He would go on to found the National Dental Association and become the first non-physician president of the National Medical Association.
110 East Leigh was the former home of Dr. Leon Reid and his family. Dr. Reid, a leading African American dentist, served as president of the National Dental Association and served on the Board of Directors of the Consolidated Bank and Trust. Dr. and Mrs. Reid’s son, Dr. William Ferguson Reid, would become a surgeon and become the first African American elected to the Virginia General Assembly in the 20th century.
The corner residence is 118 East Leigh Street. Although it is now a part of the Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site, it once housed the law firm of noted civil rights attorney Oliver W. Hill and his associates. Oliver Hill and colleagues, Martin A. Martin and Spotswood Robinson, argued many desegregation cases. However, their most celebrated case was Dorothy Davis et al. vs. the county School Board of Prince Edward County. This case became one of the five cases heard before the United States Supreme Court as a part of the landmark Brown vs. Board of Education decision of 1954. This pivotal case overturned the separate-but-equal doctrine.