THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, December 29, 1995 TAG: 9512290600
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A9 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: FROM WIRE REPORTS
LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines
Virginius Dabney, historian, author, journalist and a winner of the Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing, died in his sleep Thursday at his home in Richmond. He was 94.
A native of Virginia and a grandson of a Confederate veteran, he was an early and steadfast opponent of segregation. For many years as the editor of the Richmond Times-Dispatch, he took stands against Southern sectionalism and fundamentalism that angered his conservative colleagues and neighbors.
Dabney was the author of many books on the history of Virginia and Richmond, including ``Virginia: The New Dominion,'' ``Liberalism in the South,'' ``Richmond: The Story of a City'' and ``Pistols and Pointed Pens: The Dueling Editors of Old Virginia.''
In ``The Jefferson Scandals: a Rebuttal,'' which he wrote in 1981, he challenged previous biographies that claimed that Jefferson had a long romantic relationship with Sally Hemings, one of his slaves.
Through his mother, Lily Heath Dabney, Dabney was a direct descendant of Jefferson.
An outspoken and independent writer and editor, Dabney proudly said about one of his books, ``I'm going to say whatever I think I ought to say, and if they don't like it, that's just too bad.'' Tall and patrician, he remained a courtly figure throughout his life.
He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1948 for his attacks on segregation on buses and streetcars in Richmond and for editorials seeking the end of the poll tax, which was designed to keep blacks and poor whites from voting.
In the 1950s he was criticized for not taking a stronger stand against Virginia's role in resisting the Supreme Court's 1954 school desegregation decision.
In an interview in 1969 in The New York Times, Dabney explained that he had not personally supported ``massive resistance'' but that his editorial page had reflected insufficient criticism of steps taken by the Virginia Democratic organization. He said he would have opposed it editorially if he had been the owner of The Richmond Times-Dispatch.
For many years he was known as a Southern liberal who, in Franklin's words, ``publicly sought decency, dignity and advancement for Negroes before the movement for civil rights took root.''
Dabney was born in University (now Charlottesville), Va., on Feb. 8, 1901. He was named after his grandfather, Virginius, who, in turn, received his name from the state of Virginia. Dabney's family had a long history with Richmond and with the University of Virginia. For 49 years, his father, Richard Heath Dabney, was professor of history.
After graduating from the university, Virginius Dabney taught briefly, then switched to journalism. He began as a reporter on The Richmond News Leader in 1922, and in 1928 he moved to the editorial staff of the Times-Dispatch. Six years later he became the chief editorial writer. By 1936 he was editor of the Times-Dispatch, a position he held until his retirement in 1969.
His credentials as a progressive thinker were established with his first book, ``Liberalism in the South,'' in 1932.
He is survived by a sister, Alice Parker of Franklin, Va.; a son, Richard Heath Dabney II, and two daughters, Lucy Leverty and Douglas Watkinson, all of Richmond; 10 grandchildren, six great-grandchildren and two step-great-grandchildren. MEMO: This story was compiled from reports by The New York Times and The
Associated Press.
ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Dabney was named for his grandfather, who had been named after
the state.
KEYWORDS: DEATH OBITUARY by CNB