Gertrude Ashton Evans, a native of Leesburg, played an important role in forging the inclusive community we have come to take for granted in Loudoun County today. Through activism and a dedication to using art and storytelling to convey her own human experience, Gertrude helped the county overcome the segregation policy that prevailed during the time of Virginia’s “Massive Resistance” to the 1954 Brown v Board of Education Supreme Court desegregation ruling. In one instance in 1963, as a 14-year-old, Gertrude and her brother, Gene Ashton, demonstrated outside the Tally Ho Theater to desegregate it. The Tally Ho would desegregate, but a similar action aimed at the Leesburg volunteer firemen’s swimming pool proved less successful. It remained segregated, was eventually sold, and was ultimately filled in with rocks and cement so Black people could never use it—events that speak to a fraught past that Gertrude and her peers faced bravely through peaceful protest.

Gertrude Evans’ professional career spans 25 years of service in Loudoun County administration. Her volunteer activity includes work on committees related to the Historic Douglass High School, where she was a graduate, and extensive involvement with public school students at all grade levels on local history, including Black History Month programs. Gertrude’s nominator for this year’s Laureate honor aptly concluded a statement of support by saying, “Her remarkable legacy of service and leadership has significantly shaped Loudoun County and she represents the very best of our community.”