Uncrowned Community Builders

Victoria Maxwell was a native of Liberia who traveled the world and had many occupations, from translator to principal to pianist. She settled on Buffalo's east side in the 1960s becoming a popular spiritual advisor. She was born to a prominent family in Monrovia, Liberia. She was the great granddaughter of Elijah Johnson, one of the freed American slaves who helped establish the West African country. Her grandfather Hilary Wright Johnson was the first Liberian born president. Her cousin Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was inaugurated as President of Liberia in 2006, becoming the country's and the African continent's first woman president.

She was educated in Europe and was a translator for many international firms. She moved to America in the early 60s and married Samuel H. Maxwell of Buffalo who died in 1983. In Buffalo she worked as an arts and crafts instructor at the African Culture Center and she was also an instructor at the Ingleside Home for Unwed Mothers.

Mrs. Maxwell was 98 years of age at the time of her death on January 26, 2006. She is buried at Forest Lawn Cemetery, Buffalo, NY.