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BIOGRAPHY: Virginia M. Price

Virginia M. Price was a leader who was recognized for her lifetime of service to her community. She was born Virginia Allen in Fairmont, West Virginia, but she was raised in Youngstown, Ohio. She graduated from Youngstown's Rayen High School in 1922 and moved to Buffalo that same year. She owned and operated her own business, the Style Beauty Salon, on Glenwood Avenue at Michigan Avenue for a number of years.

In 1932, she married Alfred D. Price, an Erie County employee and who later became a public housing manager. A downtown housing project is now named for Mr. Price.

During World War II, Mrs. Price signed up for the Women's Army Corps, despite the fact that she was married and had a home of her own in Buffalo. She served as a sergeant at Fort Des Moines in Iowa, running cooking operations at the fort. "She was ahead of her time in my ways," recalled her son, Alfred. "Although we have no way of documenting or proving it, she may have been the first African-American woman in Buffalo to own and operate her own automobile."

Mrs. Price assumed a leadership role in the Buffalo community when her son was attending School 53. She was elected president of the Parent-Teacher Association and built the school's PTA into the most active and engaged in the city - it had a 98 percent participation rate among parents. She also served three terms on the Niagara Frontier Association of PTA organizations.

She served for 33 years as a member of the Buffalo Chapter of the LINKS, a national organization of African American women. A charter member of the Buffalo chapter, Mrs. Price held a number of positions, including president, secretary, treasurer, and publicity chairwoman for the Ebony Fashion Fair, an annual scholarship benefit. During her tenure, the local group awarded about 125 scholarships to young women. Her son was awarded a National Achievement Scholarship, and she and her husband were proud that he became one of the first group of black graduates of Princeton University.

Mrs. Price represented the LINKS as an active member of the Buffalo Federation of Women's Clubs for 16 years. She was chairwoman of the education committee of the federation for 12 years.

She served on the board of governors of the National Conference for Community and Justice for 21 years, until 1991. In 1974, she received the NCCJ's Brotherhood-Sisterhood Award for her community service. In 1996, she was again presented an award by the NCCJ for her lifetime contributions.

A lifelong Episcopalian, Mrs. Price was active in her church. She served as a member of the Altar Guild at Church of the Ascension in Buffalo for more than 30 years. She was also twice elected to serve on the vestry, the church's governing body. Until her retirement from active serve at the age of 90, Mrs. Price hand-embroidered all the fair linens used on the altar of the church.

Mrs. Price's long and productive life ended on March 30, 2003 at the age of 97. She was the proud mother of one son, Alfred; one grandson; three step-grandchildren; and four great grandchildren. She is interred at Forest Lawn Cemetery.