Maria Carter Syphax

Biography

Maria Carter Syphax, of African American and Native heritage, built a family and a life of self-reliance after gaining her freedom, securing land in Virginia and working to provide for her children during a time when such achievements were rare for women of her background.

Her descendants remember her for the courage she showed in negotiating her own legal standing and for the dignity with which she carried herself, making her a revered matriarch in the Washington area.