The civic contributions of 70 women across multiple centuries were honored last weekend at the Falls Church Women’s History Walk.
“Their stories deserve to be remembered, celebrated and shared,” said Sally Ekfelt. She leads the Falls Church Women’s History Group, which sponsored the event at the historic Cherry Hill Farmhouse.
During a noon program, four women — Marty Behr, Sharon Schoeller, Sandy Tarpinian and Melissa Teates — were added to those already honored with stops along the history walk.
Behr moved to the city with her husband and young family in 1968, settling in a fixer-upper on N. Cherry Street.
“We soon found we were in a special place” and “a treasured group of friends,” said Behr, who was active in education and civic leadership over the years.
Being honored with the other three represented “a very, very happy day for me,” Behr said. “I love Falls Church.”
She was inducted by Marty Meserve, herself already a member of the History Walk.
Throughout the grounds of the farmhouse, placards giving biographies of honorees were strategically placed. They honor people, some living and others deceased, who impacted Falls Church in a variety of positive ways.
Among them was Mary Riley Styles (1869-1946), who was born and raised in the Cherry Hill Farmhouse. As an adult, Styles chaired the library committee of the Falls Church Women’s Club for a quarter century, supporting library services before a government-run library was founded.
In 1977, the city renamed its library in her honor.
Some others commemorated at the event were:
- Humanitarian Nancy Stock
- 19th century abolitionist/educator Betsy Read
- Former Mayor Carol DeLong
- Educator/civil-rights leader Mary Ellen Henderson
- Former Treasurer Cathy Kaye
- Educator Mary Lee Tatum
- Historian/justice advocate Nikki Graves Henderson
- Small-business advocate Sally Cole
- City-government official Cindy Mester
- Civil-right advocate Viola Hudson
During the induction ceremony, Ekfelt noted that, for the first time in Falls Church history, four major leadership roles were held by women: mayor, vice mayor, School Board chair and School Board vice chair.
“Congratulations to the voters on their wisdom,” she said.
Also honored during the day’s events were students designated Young Women of Action, representing two city schools:
- From Meridian High School: Rachel Grooms, Maya Anderson, Ela Rees, Anna Gray, Michelle Malheiro and Alba Selle
- From Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School: Elise Davis, Myla Mahr, Jane Braun, Leah Tysse and Brynn Inglehart
The Women’s History Walk was part of the city’s commemoration of the nation’s 250th birthday. Activities also featured a women’s history scavenger hunt and booths staffed by representatives of organizations like the League of Women Voters and Village Improvement and Preservation Society.
The Falls Church Garden Club’s spring plant sale and the weekly farmers’ market were held at City Hall, next door to the farmhouse and its surrounding Cherry Hill Park.
