We often wonder what will happen to us when we complete our 12 years of education and focus on entering college or becoming part of the workforce.
About 70% of the students who graduated from Bowling Green Sr. High School back in the 1970’s continued their education. Angela Edwards was one of them.
“Her parents taught her the importance of living up to her potential.” Angela completed high school in 1972 then entered Virginia Tech. She earned her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science in just three years graduating in 1975, then matriculated to law school at Emory University in Atlanta Georgia earning a juris doctor degree in 1980. She was an honor student throughout her educational years.
Adele Uphaus –Conner, a Free Lance Star reporter, interviewed Angela in 2018 and the following remarks come from this interview. “Angela still remembers the moment she decided she wanted to be a lawyer. It was in 1967 and she was in the seventh grade in Caroline County. She was flipping through a Scholastic Weekly Reader in social studies class when she saw a picture of Patricia Harris, the black female attorney who had just been appointed ambassador to Luxembourg by President Lyndon Johnson. That made Harris the first African-American women to serve as an envoy of the American government.”
“Seeing her picture and reading the article had a huge impact on me. It is so important for young people to see people who look like them in positions of authority.” From that time on, Roberts knew she wanted to be a lawyer and she never deviated from that goal.”
“In 1990 Angela made history herself when she became the first black women to serve as a judge in Virginia. She was elected by the General Assembly to the Richmond Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court and served 26 years retiring in 2016.”
“Roberts said she had a happy childhood growing up in Bowling Green. Her father, Edgar Edwards owned a cab company and her mother, Annie, was a stay-at-home mom…. Though Roberts has largely positive memories of her childhood, she does remember that it was a segregated community. Blacks and whites had completely separated social lives. Schools were still segregated when she started Kindergarten in 1960. They were integrated in 1968, when Roberts was in high school.”
According to The Library of Virginia, Changemakers files, she helped implement reforms to streamline court administration and improve case scheduling. She worked to reduce the reliance on detention for juveniles awaiting trial. In 2000, Roberts established an annual Adoption Day ceremony to celebrate the final adoption of children in Richmond’s foster care system.
“Roberts has served on numerous state boards and commissions and has received many honors for her work on an off the bench. The YMCA named her one of its Outstanding Women in Law of Central Virginia in 2005 and the Old Dominion Bar Association honored her with its Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016.” Angela continues to be a fervent supporter of educational opportunities for youth in the Commonwealth.
Encouragement and support are key to her remarkable career, her home and her private life. During the past thirty plus years, Angela’s husband Roscoe and two sons, Anthony and Justin, along with family and friends afforded her with the opportunities to pursue her profession and lifestyle. This year, the Caroline Historical Society honors Judge Angela Edwards Roberts as a 2021 Caroline Women in History.
Dale Brittle, Secretary
Caroline Historical Society
March 2021
Richmond Justice Stories and Portraits, “Judge Roberts”, December 16, 2016
Changemakers, “Angela Edwards Roberts (1953- )”, Library of Virginia, Feb., 2018
The Free Lance Star, “Caroline Native Earns ‘Strong Woman’ Award”, Adele Uphaus-Conner, March 4, 2018