Hermanze Fauntleroy, the city’s first African-American mayor and the first in the state, was a giant figure in Petersburg. He graduated from Peabody High School in 1949 and was a 1954 graduate of Virginia State College, now known as Virginia State University, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree and a Masters degree in Education and Supervision. His career began teaching physics and math at Sussex Central High School for one year. He then got a job back in Petersburg teaching electronics and physics at Peabody High School for 10 years.
Hermanze Fauntleroy had a passion for civic duty and worked with a group called Petersburg Voter Education Committee. When the city annexed part of Prince George and Dinwiddie counties, the group went to the then five-member Petersburg City Council and asked for more black representation. The group eventually pursued the case to the Supreme Court which determined that the ward system needed to be implemented in the city. It wasn’t long after that before Fauntleroy ran for office.
He became mayor in 1973 and again from 1976 to 1980. He also served as past chairman of the Petersburg Planning Commission; was a member and past chairman of the Petersburg Redevelopment and Housing Authority; and past chairman of the Petersburg Democratic Committee. Additionally, he served on the Board of the Virginia Council of Human Rights for Virginia from 1987-1989. He continued to serve the public and the city right up to 2009 when he resigned from the Petersburg Planning Commission.
He was a passionate civil rights activist throughout his life; with his wife, Gerry (Germaine) Fauntleroy, he was vital to the integration of Petersburg Public Schools in the late 1960s.