This report is part of WTOP’s coverage of Black History Month. Read more stories on WTOP.com.
During a “Sisters Retreat” in 2011, the women of the Waller family got together to exchanged old family photos and shared priceless memories. They realized years later that the pictures they shared were more than old photos; they told a unique story that two of the sisters decided to write and publish.
Jewel Waller Davis and Joyce Waller Baden are authors of the book, “Our Shining Legacy: The Waller-Dungee Family Story 1900-2020.”
The book chronicles the lives of Richard and Florence Dungee Waller and their six children, Richard, Jewel, Joyce, Lillian, Betty, and Barbara growing up in segregated Richmond, Virginia.
It also traces the roots of their paternal grandfather M.C. Waller who was an early Black entrepreneur who established a jewelry business in 1900 in Richmond that still exists today, Waller & Company Jewelers.
Joyce Waller-Baden, a co-author of the book, says “I wanted to be able to leave information about our family for those coming after us, to know the sacrifices and some of the experiences that our forebearers had. ”
She says she also wanted to encourage others to write their family histories warning that if the stories are not documented they will be lost.
Waller-Baden comments on recent debates around the country and especially in Virginia on teaching Black history to students. She says students need to know, “We are a diverse population and that everyone has something wonderful to bring to the table.”
While co-author Jewel Waller Davis says with so much negative news today, “we felt that it would give a different perspective and that all people need to hear our positive story.”
Their story is one of resilience and strength. Through narrated stories, pictures and anecdotes, the sisters share how the family made it through one of the most turbulent times in our history — the 1940s through the 1960s — especially after the untimely death of Richard Waller at the age of 47.
In 2021, the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society (AAHGS) named the book the winner of the International AAHG Book Award in the Nonfiction: Historical category.
Jewel Waller Davis, a wife and mother of four, is retired from the federal government, and Joyce Waller Baden, a wife and mother of one, is retired from the Maryland state government. Both live in Maryland.
