First woman executed in state, Virginia Christian story presented in Hampton
HAMPTON, Va. (WAVY) — The story of Virginia Christian, the first woman in Virginia to be executed more than a century ago, was retold in a living documentary Monday at the Hampton History Museum.
'The Tragic Case of Virginia Christian: A True Crime Exploration' is a new theater-in-the-round dramatic experience from playwright Marie St. Clair, in which she shares Christian's story, featuring actors reenacting the historical events surrounding the crime, followed by a guided discussion led by Dr. Colita Nichols Fairfax.
Christian was convicted of murdering her employer, Ida Belote, when she was 16, and was the only woman executed by the Commonwealth of Virginia in the 20th century.
According to a biography of her at the Library of Virginia, she worked as a washer woman in Hampton to support her paralyzed mother.
After a two-day trial in April 1912, she was convicted of murdering her White employer and was sentenced to death. She was executed on the day after her 17th birthday — Aug. 16. She was the only woman in Virginia between 1908, when the General Assembly had centralized executions at the Virginia State Penitentiary, and 2010, when another woman, Teresa Lewis, was executed for murder before the state abolished capital punishment 11 years later.
Fairfax shared insights into Hampton's societal culture in 1912, with the performance and discussion a blend of historical reenactment and historical analysis. The program was presented in a partnership with the city's Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
'Luther Chambers, that's my legal name — I portray Henry Christian, Virginia Christian's father,' Chambers said. 'I get a call from Dr. Jerome Lee. He's a former member of my church, and he's now a pastor of his own church.
'Then he says, 'I wanted to talk to you about that post you dropped the other day.' … He said, 'We got a show coming up.' He says, 'That's a relative of mine. … I am the great-great-nephew of Virginia Christian. It's his mother's great aunt.'
Sandra Lee Packet, a great-niece of Virginia Christian on her mother's side, shared her memories.
'Now, the picture that I've got, this is my grandma, Virginia's sister,' Packet said, pointing to a photo on the left. 'And this is my mother.'
In looking at a photo of Virginia Christian, Packet said she looked afraid.
'She looked like she realized she had to accept it, because there wasn't a choice,' Packet said.
Director Marie St. Claire said when she saw Virginia Christian's photo, 'and the … hopelessness in her eyes, I was like, 'I'm going to tell your story.''
'What happens when you're just a regular girl, 16-years-old in 1912,' St. Claire said, 'your days consist of washing clothes for people. So, somehow this everyday experience escalates to — we go from a disagreement to a murder.'
Packet said no one denied that she did it.
'The whole thing was, she didn't have a choice, and at 17, she could have been in jail,' Packet said. 'And they could [have] sent her to prison.'
St. Claire said that due to the prominence of the Belote family, they wanted Virginia Christian executed.
'The governor said right from the start, 'she was guilty. It was a heinous crime,' the worst crime he had ever heard of,' St. Claire said. 'Her mother had a heartfelt letter that she sent to the governor begging for them to commute her sentence. Nobody was trying to get her off. Everybody knew that she did commit this crime. However, commute her sentence to life in prison, as opposed to being executed.'
Said Chambers: 'All of it is tragic — the relationship maybe not so good because of the timeframe, the era, but what if there was better communication. Would this woman have survived? Would she be electrocuted?
St. Claire said in spite of the crime, she wanted to answer a key question.
St. Claire said that even though Virginia Christian did commit this murder, 'my question that I was trying to answer was 'what is the positive thing that can come from this? What is something that we can learn from this?''
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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