PORTSMOUTH, Va. — The legacy of two Portsmouth trailblazers is now permanently cemented in the city.
“If you see that building you’d ask, ‘How’d all that stuff happen there?'" Jacque Kendall said.
The corner of Manteo and Grand Streets at Douglass Park in the city is one of the countless corners where Kendall’s mom, Florence, worked alongside her mentor Ruth Hendricks for years to improve athletic and other recreational opportunities for the city's youth.
"Recreation during this time was segregated, and they worked with very little. So her [Florence Kendall] and Mrs. Hendricks-- if they saw kids gathering, they would just stop, get out the car, start pulling things out to get the kids involved. That was being a trailblazer because nothing else was happening for us during this time," Jacque said.
Hendricks worked for the city for more than three decades, and Florence worked for about 26 years. At the time, Jacque said they never let that division stop them from working to better the lives of Portsmouth’s youth.
"She taught us African dancing, and she’s been nowhere near Africa,” Jacque laughed.
Much of the work they accomplished was because of the JFK Recreation Center in Douglass Park, now a preschool facility still operating on the same corner.
Exactly one month ago, city leaders voted to rename the very same building the “Hendricks/ Kendall Recreational Center” honoring their legacy in the same place they worked for change.
"People who are now adults would say, “Your mother gave me hope when I didn’t have hope,'" she said.
More than 400 people signed Jacque's online petition to change the name of the recreational center to honor the two women who left their mark on the City of Portsmouth.
"This is a long time coming, it’s going to be a big day," she said.
The exact timeline of when that name change takes place is still unknown, according to Jacqui.