For more than five decades Maggie Ingram and the Ingramettes, one of Virginia’s premier gospel ensembles, has been bringing its music and ministry to congregations in the Tidewater and Piedmont. For Evangelist Ingram, it’s always been a family affair, and three generations are now represented in the group. For too long this exceptional family group has been one of the state’s best-kept secrets. Maggie Ingram and the Ingramettes’ commanding, spirit-filled performances demonstrate the extraordinary depth of talent in American gospel. 

Maggie Ingram’s odyssey began on a plantation in rural Georgia. She was born Maggie Lee Dixon in Douglas, Georgia on July 4, 1930, in the midst of the Great Depression. The fourth of six children born to Elder Reason and Evangelist Mother Pauline Dixon, Maggie spent her early days in the cotton and tobacco fields of the Mulholland Plantation in Coffee County where she learned to sing and to play the piano.

At age 16 she married Thomas Jefferson Ingram, and had five children before moving to Miami, Florida, where the couple became active in the ministry at the Wells Temple Church. Within a few years Maggie had formed the Imagrettes with her children, and the group was soon singing at churches, gospel fests and conferences throughout Florida. In 1958 her husband Thomas left to return to Georgia, and Maggie found herself struggling to keep the family together.

Ingram moved the family to Richmond, Virginia where they joined Love’s Temple Church of God in Christ, and began singing in and around the city. The group was soon offered a recording contract with Nashboro Records, and made several albums before switching to GosPearl Records in the 1980s.

Maggie Ingram expanded her ministry into the greater community. It was largely through her efforts that “Family Day” activities were instituted in Virginia prison camps. In 1970, the Greyhound Corporation honored Ingram as “Woman of the Year.” In 1980 Maggie Ingram became Evangelist Ingram, and several of her children have followed in her footsteps. 

Maggie Ingram and the Ingramettes is comprised of Evangelist Maggie Ingram, her son Lucious Ingram on keyboards, daughter Rev. Almeta Ingram-Miller singing first soprano, and granddaughter Cheryl Maroney-Beaver singing second alto. Rounding out the vocals is Valerie Stewart (first alto). The band includes Charles Williams (lead guitar), Marcus Washington (drums), and Vic Elliot (bass guitar).