The Virginia General Assembly has adopted a resolution honoring Joan Trumpauer Mulholland for her efforts during the civil-rights movement of the 1960s and other achievements in the ensuing decades.
Mulholland “played an iconic role in the civil-rights movement as a prominent white member of numerous sit-ins, protests and other historic events, enduring great personal hardship to stand up for equality and social justice,” notes the resolution, which was patroned by state Sen. Barbara Favola with the backing of the local delegation. It passed both houses of the legislature without opposition.
Mulholland is a lifelong resident of Arlington. In the early 1960s, she joined the Nonviolent Action Group, an affiliate of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee at Howard University. She participated in sit-ins in Virginia, Maryland and South Carolina and faced ostracism from her community for her actions, the resolution noted, before heading to the Deep South to continue her efforts.
In 1961, Mulholland was arrested in Jackson, Miss., ultimately serving a two-month sentence at Parchman Farm Penitentiary for her organizing activities. After being released from prison, she became the first white student to enroll at Tougaloo College in Mississippi, in an effort to promote racial integration in higher education.
She later returned to Arlington to raise her five children and work at the Smithsonian Institution, the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. Department of Justice, before pursuing a fulfilling 30-year career as an elementary-school teacher’s assistant.
The resolution also commended Mulholland’s “ongoing commitment to educating others about equality and advocating for social justice.”
A copy of the resolution will be prepared for presentation to Mulholland later in the year.
