St. Helena Extension

The St. Helena Extension was a division of the College of William and Mary established especially for veterans of World War II.

During World War II the Navy had erected 10 temporary buildings at the Norfolk Navy Yard in the St Helena corner. After the war these buildings were no longer needed. Norfolk was a good site for the location of Virginia's veterans' college because it was the heart of a heavily populated area and because the departure of Navy personnel had made the housing shortage less serious there than elsewhere in the state. In 1946 College of William and Mary President John E Pomfret, Bursar Charles J Duke and Herbert W.K. Kitzroy established the Saint Helena extension of the College of William and Mary. Before the war, Kitzroy had been the Assistant Dean at Princeton. The buildings were painted and converted into classrooms, laboratories, dormitories, dining hall, library and a gym. On September 20, 1946, Saint Helena opened its gates to 625 students. The school closed in June, 1948.

Material in the Special Collections Research Center

• William & Mary Alumni Magazine, Summer 2014, pages 46-49
• St. Helena Extension in the Special Collections Database

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A Note About The Contents Of This Wiki

The information available in this wiki is the best available from known documents and sources at the time it was written. Unfortunately, many of the early original records of William & Mary were destroyed by fires, military occupation, and the normal effects of time. Information in this wiki is not complete as new information continues to be uncovered in Swem Library's Special Collections Research Center and elsewhere. Researchers are strongly encouraged to use the Special Collections search tools for their research as the information contained in this wiki is by no means comprehensive.