WHEREAS, Edward H. Peeples, Jr., a longtime educator at Virginia Commonwealth University and a passionate advocate for civil rights and social justice, died on September 7, 2019; and
WHEREAS, a native of Richmond, Edward "Ed" Peeples relocated to Ohio to seek employment after high school, but ultimately returned home to the Commonwealth and enrolled in what was then the Richmond Professional Institute (RPI); and
WHEREAS, while at RPI, Ed Peeples became involved with the early civil rights movement, protesting segregation on campus, and in 1960, he spontaneously joined in the sit-in at the Thalhimers department store lunch counter; and
WHEREAS, Ed Peeples served his country as a member of the United States Navy and continued his education at the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned a master's degree; his thesis on the condition of segregated schools in Prince Edward County garnered national attention for its comprehensive research documenting disparities between white and black schools; and
WHEREAS, Ed Peeples began teaching at the Medical College of Virginia (MCV) School of Nursing in 1963, and he was at the forefront of many new programs when RPI and MCV merged to form Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in 1968; and
WHEREAS, during that time, Ed Peeples continued to fight for the dignity and fair treatment for all people throughout the United States and served as executive director of an Encampment for Citizenship leadership course in Tennessee, the first such course held in the southern United States; and
WHEREAS, over the course of his 30-year career in education, Ed Peeples helped establish the African American studies program, a master's in public health degree program, and the Virginia College Council on Human Relations; and
WHEREAS, Ed Peeples also expanded his advocacy efforts to include women's rights, gender issues, prison reform, and equal treatment of the poor in hospital care and disaster relief, touching countless lives through his leadership and unfailing kindness; and
WHEREAS, among his many awards and accolades for his good work, Ed Peeples received the 2015 Civil Rights Unsung Hero Award from the Richmond Branch of the NAACP and the inaugural Edward H. Peeples, Jr., Award for Social Justice from the VCU Alumni Association; and
WHEREAS, Ed Peeples will be fondly remembered and greatly missed by his wife, Karen; his daughters, Suzannah, Kathryn, Cecily, and Camille, and their families; and numerous other family members and friends; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED by the Senate, the House of Delegates concurring, That the General Assembly hereby note with great sadness the loss of Edward H. Peeples, Jr.; and, be it
RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the Senate prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the family of Edward H. Peeples, Jr., as an expression of the General Assembly's respect for his memory.