Holly Knoll

NW-25

Robert R. Moton (1867-1940), born to formerly enslaved parents, became a nationally prominent educator and retired here to Holly Knoll, which he built in 1935. His wife, Jennie Booth Moton, was president of the National Association of Colored Women while residing here. Meetings held at Holly Knoll fostered the growth of the United Negro College Fund, founded by the Motons’ son-in-law Frederick D. Patterson in 1944. The property was a frequent gathering place for African American leaders and intellectuals during the Civil Rights Movement. Student sit-in organizers met with business executives here early in the 1960s, leading some facilities to desegregate. Holly Knoll is a National Historic Landmark.

Department of Historic Resources, 2024

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References/Bibliographic Citation:

Holly Knoll NRHP nomination (1981). New York Amsterdam News, 15 June 1963, 31 Oct. 1964. Pittsburgh Courier, 30 Jan. 1943, 18 March 1944, 13 July 1946. Gloucester Gazette, 11 April 1935. Cleveland Call and Post, 31 March 1956. Norfolk Journal and Guide, 15 June 1935, 8 June 1940, 2 Jan. 1943, 18 March 1944, 13 May, 8 July 1944, 20 July 1946, 5 July 1947, 21 June 1952. Frederick D. Patterson, Chronicles of Faith: The Autobiography of Frederick D. Patterson, ed. Martia Graham Goodson (Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 1991). Ronald L. Heinemann, “Robert Russa Moton (1867-1940,” Encyclopedia Virginia: https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/moton-robert-russa-1867-1940/ Lu Ann Jones, “In search of Jennie Booth Moton, Field Agent, AAA,” Agricultural History, vol. 72, no. 2 (spring 1998): 446-458. Marybeth Gasman, Envisioning Black Colleges: A History of the United Negro College Fund (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007). Marybeth Gasman, “The Origins of the United Negro College Fund as the Cornerstone of Private Black Colleges,” The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, no. 56 (Summer 2007): 86-89.