Mary Rice Hayes Allen

Mary Rice Hayes Allen (March 2, 1875 – October 10, 1935) was an American educator. She served as the president of Virginia Theological Seminary and College from 1906 through 1908.

Mary Rice Hayes Allen
Born
Mary Magdalene Rice[1]

(1875-03-02)March 2, 1875
Harrisonburg, Virginia, U.S.
DiedOctober 10, 1935(1935-10-10) (aged 60)
NationalityAmerican
Occupationeducator
Spouses
​
​
(m. 1895; died 1906)​
    William Allen
    ​
    (m. 1911)​

    Biography

    Hayes Allen née Rice was born on March 2, 1875, in Harrisonburg, Virginia.[2] She was the illegitimate daughter of former slave Malinda Rice and a former Confederate general, John R. Jones. She attended Hartshorn Memorial College.[3] In 1895 she married the educator Gregory W. Hayes with whom she had seven children, five surviving infancy.[1]

    In 1891 Gregory Hayes became the second president of the Virginia Theological Seminary and College (now Virginia University of Lynchburg). He served as president until his death in 1906. Hayes Allen served as president immediately following her husband's death through 1908 when James Robert Lincoln Diggs took over.[4][5]

    In 1911 Hayes Allen married William Allen with whom she had three children. The couple settled in Montclair, New Jersey. Hayes Allen advocated for racial equality in the local schools, fighting a losing battle to desegregate the Montclair public school.[3] She was also active in the Montclair chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in the 1920s through the 1930s.[1] She died on October 10, 1935.[2]

    Hayes Allen's daughter, Carrie Allen McCray, wrote a biography of her mother entitled Freedom's Child: The Life of a Confederate General's Black Daughter which was published by Algonquin Books in 1998.[6]

    In 2018 the Virginia Capitol Foundation announced that Hayes Allen's name would be in the Virginia Women's Monument's glass Wall of Honor.[7]

    References
    1. Williams, Lea. "A mother who fought for freedom". Greensboro News and Record. Retrieved April 24, 2022.
    2. "Mary Rice Hayes Allen obituary". The Montclair Times. October 15, 1935. p. 2. Retrieved April 24, 2022.
    3. Farrelly, Mike. "History and Heritage: Mary Allen, lady in the red hat". Montclair Local News. Retrieved April 24, 2022.
    4. "Mary Rice Hayes". Encyclopedia Virginia. Retrieved April 24, 2022.
    5. "James Robert Lincoln Diggs Biography". Dictionary of Virginia Biography. Retrieved April 24, 2022.
    6. Gordon-Reed, Annette (July 5, 1998). "The color of her childhood". Washington Post. Retrieved April 24, 2022.
    7. "Wall of Honor". Virginia Women's Monument Commission. Retrieved April 24, 2022.
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