Virginia N. Coverson ‘48 Celebrates 100 Years of Life, A Century of Faith, Education, Service and Legacy
Long before Virginia Novella Horton Coverson became a mother, educator and proud 1948 North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University alumna, she was a determined young woman from Lenoir, North Carolina, raised in a close Christian family that believed education could open doors.
As Coverson approaches her 100th birthday July 24, 2026, her life reflects courage, independence, faith and an enduring devotion to family and service. Her journey has stretched from a small western North Carolina community to classrooms throughout Philadelphia and New Jersey, and through extraordinary social, cultural and technological change.
Her daughters, Edwina Coverson-Barnes and Rolanda Coverson-Durham, describe her as intelligent, strong-willed and generous.
“She’s always had an independent spirit,” Rolanda said.
That independence began early. Coverson was born the second of six surviving children of Larkin Horton Sr. and Effie Lipford Horton. (Two siblings died in infancy.) She helped with household responsibilities, cared for her younger siblings and assisted with her grandfather, who also lived beyond age 100.
Her father was a craftsman, furniture-industry worker and small-business owner who built the family home. It included one of the first indoor bathrooms available to a Black family in their community. Coverson recalled classmates following her home from school because they wanted to see it.
The realities of segregation shaped her childhood in other ways. As a young caregiver, she once looked after a baby for a local white family but was not permitted inside the home, leaving her to sit on the back porch while caring for the child. Experiences like these exposed her early to racial barriers, but did not diminish her resolve.
Larkin Horton strongly believed each of his children should attend college. According to the family, he used income from his work and business ventures — and, when necessary, sold business assets — to support their education. When it was time for Coverson to begin her freshman year at N.C. A&T, he drove her to Greensboro in one of the family’s taxis.
That ride represented more than transportation. It carried the hopes of a family that viewed education as both an opportunity and an investment in the future.
Coverson arrived at what was then North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College after graduating as valedictorian of her high school class. She earned a bachelor’s degree in education in 1948 and prepared for a career teaching home economics, nutrition and science. On campus, she played field hockey, participated in student life and appeared throughout her college yearbook. She also became a member of Iota Phi Lambda Sorority, Inc., adding scholarship, professional development and service to the community she built at A&T.
College also brought a defining personal relationship into her life. During the years following World War II, returning Black veterans entered historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in growing numbers through the educational benefits of the G.I. Bill. Among them was Willie E. Coverson, a World War II veteran who graduated from A&T in 1949. Virginia met Willie while they were students, and the two became college sweethearts. He affectionately called her “Muffin” because of her round cheeks.
After graduation, Coverson returned to Lenoir and taught at the local elementary school she had once attended. A few years later, she moved to Philadelphia to reunite with and marry Willie, beginning a partnership rooted in their shared A&T experience.
The relationships Coverson formed in college extended beyond marriage. Edwina recalled that her mother stayed in contact with her college roommate for decades, exchanging cards and remaining connected as their lives changed. Those bonds reflected what Coverson later encouraged her daughters to seek through the HBCU experience: friendship, community and a strong sense of belonging.
“She was very much an advocate that we consider” attending HBCUs, Rolanda said.
When Coverson first arrived in Philadelphia, she did not immediately return to education. She worked as a factory seamstress making uniforms and met Daisy, who became her best friend for more than 50 years and godmother to her eldest daughter. Sewing was more than employment; it was a lifelong talent. Coverson made detailed garments, including heavy coats and Easter dresses for her daughters, and later taught sewing to earn additional income.
“She could sew a coat,” said Rolanda, emphasizing that her mother’s work went far beyond simple patterns or basic alterations.
Coverson eventually resumed her calling as an educator. She taught night school at South Philadelphia High School and later became the first Black woman to teach at Camden Catholic High School in New Jersey. She went on to teach home economics and science within the School District of Philadelphia for more than 38 years.
Her career included service at Shoemaker, Sayre, South Philadelphia High School, Cooke Middle School, Overbrook High School and the Youth Study Center. She remained committed to professional growth, completing more than 30 additional credits at Drexel University and participating actively in the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers. Even after retiring in the late 1980s, she returned to the district as a substitute teacher.
Over the years, former students in both North Carolina and Philadelphia recognized her and shared memories of her influence. Those encounters demonstrated a career built on not only instruction but also compassion, practical knowledge and high expectations.
As a teacher, Coverson helped students build confidence and useful skills. As a mother, she created a household where education was expected and possibility was never restricted.
“If there’s somebody that’s a CEO, if that’s what you decide to do, you can do that,” Rolanda recalled her mother saying. “She never put any ceilings on anything. It just was like, how are you going to navigate it?”
Coverson and her husband began their family later in life. She was 40 and 44 when she gave birth to their daughters, Edwina and Rolanda, at historic Mercy-Douglass Hospital in Philadelphia. She later welcomed two granddaughters, Breya and Bethany Barnes, a blessing she once wondered whether she would experience.
Coverson was a longtime member of Metropolitan A.M.E. Church, where she served in Sunday school and the Young People’s Department. Alongside her husband, she participated in Prince Hall-affiliated organizations, including the Daughters of Isis and Order of the Eastern Star.
In her younger years, she loved dancing the jitterbug. She enjoyed reading, cooking, tending to plants, playing the piano on occasion, and expressing herself through fashion and hair. Even now, family members and caregivers hear her notice an outfit, hairstyle or pair of shoes and offer an appreciative, “That’s nice.”
Coverson opened her home to relatives and friends who needed a place to stay, food, financial help or encouragement. She and Willie purchased a home in Southwest Philadelphia’s Kingsessing neighborhood in the mid-1950s and became the second Black family on their South 50th Street block. She lived there for more than 50 years and maintained friendships with longtime neighbors across generations.
Her daughters describe her as a protective “mama bear” who has never hesitated to stand up for someone in need. Even at 100, they say, that feisty determination remains part of who she is.
Coverson’s philosophy mirrored the course of her own life. She left North Carolina when most of her siblings remained in the South, built a future in Philadelphia and established herself in classrooms that had not always welcomed Black women. Her life showed that barriers could be acknowledged without being allowed to define the limits of one’s future.
Across nearly 100 years, Coverson witnessed segregation, the civil rights movement, expanding educational and professional opportunities for Black Americans, major technological advances and the election of the nation’s first Black president. Her daughters remember how meaningful it was for both of their parents to see Barack Obama elected.
The most enduring part of Coverson’s story is found in the values she passed down: faith, education, generosity, determination and service. Her example showed her family that strength can be quiet, leadership can take many forms and opportunity should be pursued without apology.
Her 100th birthday is an opportunity for her family to honor the sacrifices, lessons and love that shaped several generations. It is also a celebration of an Aggie whose life exemplifies the transformative power of an HBCU education.
Coverson entered A&T at a time when opportunities for Black women were severely restricted. She left prepared to teach, lead, serve and build a life of her own. Nearly eight decades after her graduation, the foundation she gained in Greensboro remains visible in the students she taught, the family she raised and the community she strengthened.
At 100, Virginia N. Coverson is worthy of celebration — with an Aggie legacy built to last.
By: Deja Huggins, Advancement Communications Coordinator
