HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 21 Offered January 11, 2006 Prefiled December 15, 2005 Celebrating the life of Julia E. Major. ---------- Patron-- Lewis ----------

WHEREAS, Julia E. Major, revered citizen of Painter and past chairwoman and first African American elected to the Accomack County Board of Supervisors, died September 4, 2004; and

WHEREAS, Julia Major, during her 21-year tenure as a county supervisor, provided strong, well-reasoned opinions and vigorously pursued public policies that benefited her beloved Pungoteague District and the Eastern Shore; and

WHEREAS, graduating in 1953 from Mary N. Smith High School, the county's all-black high school at the time, Julia Major attended Norfolk State University and returned home to the Eastern Shore to begin an impressive career as a public servant and impassioned activist; and

WHEREAS, as a socially conscious young leader, Julia Major was highly committed to registering black voters in her community who were required to pay the state poll tax, a prerequisite for voting, which disfranchised many African Americans and poor whites; and

WHEREAS, numerous black, male candidates tried to win a seat on the county board throughout the 1970s and not until Julia Major was successfully elected to the Accomack County Board of Supervisors in 1983 was representation finally achieved for the Eastern Shore's large black population; and

WHEREAS, throughout her exemplary public service career, Julia Major deliberated every issue with great compassion and a profound understanding of its impact on the quality of life of each resident of District 9; and

WHEREAS, committed to the students and parents of Pungoteague, Julia Major worked for 38 years in the Accomack County public school system, serving the children at Pungoteague Elementary School for the majority of that time as their cherished school health aide; and

WHEREAS, a unique and giving person, Julia Major, a single mother who never drove an automobile, wrote original poems and stories and affectionately recited them to honor the special people in her life at school, church, and occasionally at county meetings; and

WHEREAS, Julia Major served her community with ardent devotion and great enthusiasm and will be fondly remembered by her family, her numerous friends and admirers, the congregation of Shiloh Baptist Church, and the citizens of Accomack County; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby note with sadness the passing of a fine Virginian, Julia E. Major; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the family of Julia E. Major as an expression of the respect in which her memory is held by the members of the General Assembly.