Virginia Department of Historic Resources Virginia Department of Historic Resources
For additional information, read the Nomination Form PDF
VLR Listing Date 09/21/1976
NRHP Listing Date 12/06/1976
NRHP Reference Number 76002224
During her long and active life, Anne Spencer (1882-1975) was recognized as a lyric poet of considerable talent. For an African American woman to win recognition from her intellectual peers was a remarkable feat given the climate of the times. Through quiet dedication to her craft and causes, she gained respect not only as a writer but as a humanitarian. Although a foe of bigotry, her poems dwell more on the universal themes of love, beauty, truth, nature, and the human spirit. Among the many visitors to her Lynchburg home were W. E. B. Du Bois, Langston Hughes, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Thurgood Marshall. Mrs. Spencer’s commodious but unpretentious Queen Anne-style house of 1903 remains unchanged since her death, preserved by the Friends of Anne Spencer Memorial Foundation, Inc., and located in the Pierce Street Historic District. In the garden is Edankraal, a one-room cottage where she wrote and thought.
Many properties listed in the registers are private dwellings and are not open to the public, however many are visible from the public right-of-way. Please be respectful of owner privacy.
Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark
Updated: January 25, 2022
