Juliet Fauntleroy

Juliet Fauntleroy was nothing short of an accomplished woman. A graduate from Randolph Macon Woman’s College in 1892, Juliet was a devoted teacher at Altavista High School. She was known to tutor her students in the Parlor Tower at Avoca. Perhaps more than anything, Juliet is remembered as a collector and defender of knowledge. Juliet collected a large number of Native American arrowheads over her life. In her career as a schoolteacher, she even offered students a nickel for every arrowhead they collected for her. Today, Juliet’s collection can be seen at Avoca Museum. Located in the Fauntleroy Gallery Room, Juliet’s findings are one of the largest collections of projectile points in Virginia. When she wasn’t on the hunt for arrowheads or tutoring her beloved students, Juliet was working to preserve the tradition of folk music. This so-called activity of “ballad-hunting” was a major passion of Juliet’s. She would copy down folk songs she heard in Campbell County, and ultimately the songs she collected found their way into a volume of songs published by Harvard University. This volume is called Traditional Ballads of America. Juliet understood the importance of folk music to Southern culture, and if it had not been for her vigilance in preserving it, this valuable glimpse into the past might have been lost forever.