Charles City Courthouse to be named in honor of first African-American woman circuit court clerk

By Andre Jones | December 28, 2016 3:14 pm

At the regular November meeting of Charles City’s Board of Supervisors, family and relatives of the late Iona W. Adkins submitted a letter requesting the naming of Charles City Courthouse after her. At the December meeting, county leaders voted unanimously to honor the family’s wishes.

County leaders agreed to name the building after Adkins at the Dec. 27 meeting. She was elected to the position of Circuit Court Clerk of Charles City in 1967, becoming the first African-American woman in the United States to be elected to the position since the Reconstruction Period of the country.

Adkins served 21 years as circuit court clerk before retiring in 1988. Along with her professional duties, she was active in several community organizations including the local chapter of the NAACP, Charles City PTA, Charles City Civic League, and she held several roles at St. John Baptist Church in the county.

Adkins died on Oct. 14, 2004 and received recognition from both the Virginia House of Delegates and Virginia Senate in January 2005. In 2008, a plaque was placed in the circuit court clerk’s office in her memory.

District 1 representative Gilbert Smith received a letter from the family in November and shared it with his colleagues. After a month of reflection and research, each supervisor supported the recommendation with comments of praise for Adkins.

“I remember meeting with Ms. Adkins in the late 80s and she told me I should run for the board of supervisors,” said Smith. “If it wasn’t for her I wouldn’t been doing this today.

“That woman was involved in a lot of organizations and it is only befitting of us to bestow this honor upon her,” the District 1 representative concluded.

“I didn’t know anything about Mrs. Adkins, so I did a lot of research,” chimed in District 2 leader Bill Coada. “But as I did, there was so much that I found out about her and the way she represented this county that I have to agree with my colleagues on this.”

“Mrs. Adkins was always involved with some sort of organization in the county,” added District 3 supervisor and chairman Floyd Miles Sr. “Looking back at her accomplishments and involvement does not do justice for what she has contributed to not only this county, but also the impact she had on this country historically.”