Jessie Menifield Rattley

Newport News County · dedicated 2004 · 2901 Jefferson Avenue

Educator, politician, and Civil Rights pioneer Jessie Menifield Rattley (1929–2001) was born in Birmingham, Alabama. She graduated from Hampton University in 1951. Rattley founded the Peninsula Business College here in 1952. She was the first black woman elected to the Newport News City Council and served from 1970 until 1990. In 1986 she became the city's first black and female mayor. Rattley was the first black president of the Virginia Municipal League (1978–1979) and in 1979 was elected the first black woman president of the National League of Cities. Rattley also served on a number of commissions, delegations, and taskforces for the U.S. government and other organizations.

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